“Why?”
“Turn around.”
“What am I being detained for?”
“Obstruction.”
“Obstruction of what?”
Ror glanced toward Bellamy.
That glance mattered.
Bellamy stepped behind Darius.
Hands on his arms.
Darius kept his body loose.
“Sergeant, I am asking clearly. What lawful duty have I obstructed?”
Ror said:
“You refused commands.”
“I refused consent to a search.”
“Hands behind your back.”
Darius complied.
The cuffs closed.
Metal against skin.
Two clicks.
Then two more.
Darius felt pressure around his wrists.
He tested nothing.
No pulling.
No resistance.
“What is the charge?”
No answer.
Ror walked around to face him.
“You’re detained pending investigation for obstruction.”
“Obstruction requires a lawful action being obstructed.”
“I’ll make the legal determination.”
“No.”
Darius met his eyes.
“A court does.”
Something flickered across Bellamy’s face.
Keaton stopped rearranging boxes.
Ror said:
“You’re very comfortable telling police how this works.”
Darius answered:
“I know how it works.”
“Apparently.”
Ror reached into Darius’s front pocket and removed his phone.
“Unlock it.”
“No.”
Ror looked at the screen.
“Password.”
“No.”
“What’s on here?”
“Private information.”
“Something illegal?”
“No.”
“Then unlock it.”
“No.”
Ror leaned closer.
“Refusing makes me curious.”
“Then stay curious.”
Keaton made a faint sound that might have been a suppressed laugh.
Ror turned sharply toward him.
Keaton looked away.
Darius remained cuffed.
His watch pressed awkwardly between the metal and his wrist.
He thought about ending it.
Again.
Credentials would stop this now.
But he also recognized something important.
They had already crossed the critical lines.
The search existed.
The detention existed.
The demand to unlock his phone existed.
The locked case existed.
Everything necessary to establish the pattern already sat in multiple recordings.
There was no professional benefit in letting danger escalate much further.
Darius decided he would activate the emergency signal.
He moved his wrist only enough to press the recessed control on the watch.
No light.
No sound.
The alert transmitted.
Agent identifier.
Location.
Unscheduled law-enforcement contact.
Request for response.
Somewhere in the Richmond field structure, the signal would enter the duty system.
Darius breathed slowly.
Ror noticed nothing.
“Search him,” Ror said.
Bellamy steadied Darius while Ror checked pockets.
Wallet.
Keys.
Receipt.
Pen.
Ror picked up Darius’s light jacket from the passenger seat.
He searched one pocket.
Then another.
Found nothing.
Interior pocket.
His hand touched the slim credential wallet.
Darius watched Ror’s expression.
Ror pulled it free.
Opened it.
Driver’s license.
Bank card.
Small family photograph.
Then the federal credential behind the inner panel.
Gold seal.