The voice changed.
“Is Mr. Vale physically restrained?”
Trent looked toward Duncan.
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
“Our security team.”
“Has he been injured?”
“No.”
“Do not move him.”
Trent smiled toward Marissa as if that sounded favorable.
The line disconnected.
Duncan looked at his watch.
“Interesting interpretation.”
“What?” Trent asked.
“Nothing.”
Marissa called Gareth.
He answered from his office.
“Marissa?”
“We have Vale here.”
A pause.
“At the warehouse?”
“Yes.”
“You entered?”
“We took possession.”
Gareth’s voice sharpened.
“What do you mean, took possession?”
“We executed the recovery.”
“Under what court order?”
“The enforcement packet.”
“What enforcement packet?”
“The one your office prepared.”
“I prepared a draft demand notice.”
Marissa went silent.
Gareth continued.
“Marissa, did you enter that building without a signed order?”
“We have lien rights.”
“That is not what I asked.”
Trent stepped away.
Duncan watched his face.
Confidence was disappearing.
Gareth spoke louder.
“Do not touch anything else. Do not remove anything. Do not sign anything. Do not alter records. I’m coming there.”
Marissa hung up.
Duncan raised an eyebrow.
“That sounded encouraging.”
“Terry,” Marissa said to another guard, “move him away from the bay door.”
Before anyone could, engines approached outside.
Heavy.
Multiple.
Three dark SUVs entered through the broken gate.
Not local police.
The first stopped facing the loading bay.
The second angled left.
The third held near the entrance.
Doors opened.
Deputy Jonah Greer stepped from the lead vehicle.
Jonah was forty, lean, calm, and had worked under Duncan for nearly five years.
Two other deputies followed.
Nobody drew a weapon.
Nobody shouted.
They did not need to.
Jonah scanned the scene.
Private guards.
Association boxes.
Duncan’s truck.
The new sign.
Then Duncan.
Plastic restraints.
Jonah stopped.
“Who restrained him?”
Trent stepped forward.
“We did. He was trespassing.”
Jonah looked at the warehouse.
Then back at Trent.
“On whose property?”
“Stonebridge Ridge.”
Duncan said quietly:
“Jonah.”
Jonah’s eyes went to him.
“Sir.”
Marissa stepped forward.
“This man is claiming to be a federal officer, but we are dealing with a private property enforcement issue.”
Jonah looked at her.
“He isn’t claiming.”
Marissa’s face changed.
Jonah looked again at Duncan’s wrists.
Then at Trent.
His voice remained almost conversational.
“Why are you detaining our commander?”