Instead, she turned to Ellis.
“Get the plate and run it.”
Garrett moved suddenly.
“I already checked it.”
Sergeant Vale’s head turned.
“You said you had not.”
“I checked it before the stop.”
Miles frowned.
“You told me we hadn’t checked it.”
“I checked it through another unit.”
“Which unit?”
Garrett did not answer.
Ellis walked to the rear of the Phantom and read the plate.
He entered the number into his mobile terminal.
The response came within seconds.
His eyebrows lifted.
“Sergeant.”
“What?”
“The plate is valid.”
Garrett’s voice rose.
“Run it again.”
“It’s registered to the listed owner.”
“Who is?”
Ellis looked at me.
“Renata Cole.”
Garrett stepped toward him.
“Run the VIN.”
Ellis did.
The result took longer.
When it appeared, Ellis’s face became guarded.
“Same owner.”
Sergeant Vale turned to me.
“Ms. Cole, is this your vehicle?”
“Yes.”
“Can you prove it?”
“My identification is in the trunk.”
Garrett shook his head.
“She could have stolen the plate.”
“That would not explain the VIN,” Ellis said.
Garrett’s eyes flashed.
“You’re all making assumptions.”
“No,” Sergeant Vale replied.
“We are checking facts.”
Ruth lowered her phone.
“Facts are troublesome things.”
Sergeant Vale almost smiled.
Then the radio on her shoulder chirped.
“Sergeant Vale, dispatch has an incoming priority message for Unit Twelve.”
Garrett looked toward the radio.
“Take it.”
“Dispatch, go ahead.”
A male dispatcher’s voice answered.
“Be advised, the vehicle stopped at mile marker forty-two has generated an agency security alert.”
Every face turned toward the Phantom.
Sergeant Vale looked at me.
“What kind of alert?”
“Unable to confirm.”
“Send the details to my terminal.”
“Already transmitting.”
Garrett’s expression lost all color.
The amber indicator beneath the dashboard began blinking again.
This time, the light was red.
My stomach tightened.
The secondary transmitter had connected to headquarters.
But the alert had not identified me publicly.
It had identified the vehicle as part of a protected operation.
Sergeant Vale moved closer.
“Ms. Cole, what exactly is in that car?”
I looked through the broken window at the dark interior, at the damaged console, and at the small device now pulsing like a heartbeat.
“Something that was never supposed to be found on this highway.”
Before anyone could ask another question, the Phantom’s trunk unlocked by itself.
A soft mechanical click traveled through the silence.
Then the lid began to rise.
Inside, beneath my purse, lay a narrow black case marked with the seal of an agency that did not officially exist.
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