Mercer cut him off. "Price, get back in your car."
"Sir, I need to report what I saw."
"You need to remember who signs your evaluations."
Price swallowed. Reed took one step toward him. "You can speak to us away from your supervisor. You can also ask for counsel or a representative before making a formal statement about your employment. Nobody here is going to make you choose in the middle of the road."
Price looked at the black FBI coat in the cargo compartment, then at the sheriff who had ordered it opened. "I'd like to speak privately," he said.
Simone led him toward Reed's vehicle, well away from Mercer and Keller. Nia remained at the SUV, ensuring the evidence cases were repacked and the compromised cargo area kept under observation. The rear latch could no longer secure reliably, so the team arranged to place the most sensitive cases in another controlled vehicle and have the SUV transported for an independent examination of the damage.
Price kept his voice low. "Three months ago, I took a call about a warehouse alarm that didn't show up in the normal dispatch log. I asked the watch supervisor why the event number was missing. He said it was a system error. Then the next night it happened again."
"Did you document it?" Simone asked.
"Yes. I wrote a memo and sent it through our internal reporting system. I also took screenshots of the entries because I'd seen records change before."
"What happened to your memo?"
"The system marked it closed. No reply. A week later, when I went to print it for my file, it wasn't there."
"Did you ask why?"
"I asked the sheriff. He told me some matters were handled above my pay grade, and I should concentrate on stopping cars."
Price rubbed a hand across his face. "I know how that sounds. I should've gone somewhere else. But my wife was pregnant, my father had just moved in with us after his stroke, and I had a mortgage. I kept telling myself the next irregularity would give me enough to make a real complaint. Then there was another. And another."
Simone had no interest in delivering a speech about courage to a man who was finally trying to tell the truth. "Do you still have the screenshots?"
He nodded. "They aren't on the department network. I copied them at home. I can provide them through counsel or whatever process you need."
"That would be helpful. We'll document how you obtained and stored them. Don't modify them or send them around."
Price looked toward Mercer. "He knew you were coming."
The words sharpened the morning.
"Explain."
"This morning, before the stop, I heard him ask dispatch whether the black SUV from the county line had been located. He used a plate number and told the dispatcher not to put the inquiry over the main radio. I didn't know it was your vehicle then."
"Do you remember the plate?"
Price repeated it. It matched the SUV.
"And when the stop began?"