“No, ma’am.”
“If somebody has compromised our authentication environment, calling a number printed on their credential could route us straight back to them.”
“The internal system independently verified it.”
“Enough.”
Ben fell silent.
Upstairs, behind the glass wall of the chief’s administrative office, a secure telephone began ringing.
Chief Daniel Mercer looked up from a budget report.
The secure line almost never rang without prior notice.
He picked up.
“Chief Mercer.”
A man answered.
“This is the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Charlotte Field Office. We need Special Agent Maya Williams placed on a secure line immediately.”
Mercer remained still.
“I’m sorry?”
“Special Agent Maya Williams. Her federal credential registered a destruction event at your facility.”
Mercer stood.
The interior window behind his desk overlooked part of the lobby.
From that angle he could see Ben at the front desk.
Rebecca near the records hallway.
A black security case with a red indicator.
Two pieces of a credential lying on the counter.
Mercer’s stomach tightened.
“She’s here.”
“Yes, Chief.”
“And you need to place her on this line now.”
Mercer pressed the handset against his shoulder and left the office.
He did not run.
Daniel Mercer had spent twenty-eight years in law enforcement, most of them learning that running inside a police building made everyone else panic before they knew why.
Still, Ben noticed the change in his face the moment he reached the stairs.
“Chief?”
Mercer raised one hand.
“Nobody touches the black case.”
Rebecca turned.
“I’ve already secured it.”
“I can see that.”
She studied him.
“What’s going on?”
Mercer looked at the broken credential.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
“Chief—”
“From the moment she walked inside.”
Rebecca crossed her arms.
“She arrived without an appointment and requested access to restricted evidence systems. She refused to identify her agency and brought a locked electronic case. The credential returned a federal authorization result, but given the circumstances I believed the system might have been compromised.”
Ben said quietly:
“It verified twice.”
Rebecca looked at him sharply.
Mercer did not.
He kept his eyes on Ben.
“Twice?”
“Yes, sir. Front reader and internal admin.”
Mercer looked at Rebecca again.
“And after the first return?”
“I ordered the screen closed while we investigated.”
“You detained her?”
“Interview room two.”
“Did she resist?”
“No.”
“Threaten anyone?”
“No.”
“Try to access any workstation after you denied access?”
“No.”
Mercer looked at the credential.
“What happened to that?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“I destroyed it.”
Mercer’s expression did not change, which somehow made the silence more uncomfortable.
“Why?”
“I believed it could be fraudulent.”
“After it verified?”
“I believed the system could have been compromised.”
Mercer picked up one half of the credential with two fingers.
He read Maya’s name.
Then he put it down exactly where it had been.
“Did you call the validation number?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Rebecca answered quickly.
“Because I wasn’t going to call a number printed on something I suspected was fake.”
Ben looked toward the floor.
Mercer turned toward the black case.
Its red indicator remained steady.
Rebecca lowered her voice.
“Chief, you don’t know what she brought inside.”
Mercer looked at her.
“Neither do you.”
“That is exactly my point.”
“No.”
Mercer glanced at the phone still in his hand.