"The property is under federal warrant. Step down and keep your hands visible." Mercer looked toward the upper landing, then back at the agents. One of them removed a set of handcuffs.
"Step down now." Mercer returned to the floor. The agent placed him in handcuffs and moved him away from the stairs. Mercer did not resist, but his face remained fixed on Bennett.
"You think they will protect you?" he asked. Bennett said nothing.
Inside the eastern building, employees had been preparing vehicles for transport. Several motorcycles stood near an enclosed truck. Classic cars had been arranged beside covered trailers. License plates were stacked on a work table. Titles and registration files had been removed from folders and placed into separate boxes.
At the rear of the building, a paper shredder was still running. An agent disconnected it. Brooks entered and surveyed the room. "No one touches anything. Leave all documents where they are."
Curtis followed him. "You cannot keep 70 vehicles here overnight." "We can keep them wherever the warrant requires." "The owners abandoned most of these."
Brooks picked up one of the printed transfer sheets. "This says several were scheduled for hearings next month." Curtis did not reply. Bennett led an evidence team to the upstairs office. The door was locked.
"The night manager has the key," he said. The manager handed it over after Brooks showed him the warrant. Inside, agents found storage ledgers, auction schedules, payment records, computer equipment, and printed copies of the premium vehicle recovery list.
One file contained Maya's Ducati entry. Another contained Walter Reed's Corvette. The notation beside Walter's name instructed staff to extend storage and move the vehicle to Bellamy if he continued challenging the seizure. Brooks called the coordination office. "We are beginning the vehicle inventory."
Maya answered on speaker with Eleanor and Ruth beside her. "Send the identification numbers as they are confirmed." The first number belonged to a restored Mustang. Ruth found the matching complaint.
The second belonged to Denise Porter's delivery van. "Confirmed," Maya said. "The county file states it was released for auction, but Denise never received a final hearing notice."
The third number matched Marcus Bell's Kawasaki. "Confirmed," Eleanor said. "His motorcycle was listed as transferred to an unidentified buyer." The fourth number came from the Corvette inside the first trailer. Maya checked Walter Reed's records.
"That is Walter's car." Brooks looked toward the trailer through the open warehouse doors. "Document it before anyone moves it." An evidence photographer recorded the vehicle, its location, the transport papers, and the file bearing Walter's name.
In the coordination office, Maya kept her attention on the numbers arriving from Bellamy. She did not ask about Hale, Mercer, or Curtis. "The vehicles and records have to remain connected. Photograph every title beside the correct identification number," she told Brooks.
Brooks paused. "That is an evidence procedure, Judge Williams." Maya recognized the boundary. "You are right. I am identifying the risk, not directing the team."
"We have it covered." The inventory continued. Several vehicles officially recorded as sold were still inside the warehouse. Others had new transfer documents dated for the following morning. A stack of unsigned titles listed an out-of-state auction company as purchaser.