"I'm fine."

"You always say that before I ask."

"Because I know you."

"Did he hurt you?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

A pause.

Then:

"I watched the video."

Elijah closed his eyes.

"I wish you hadn't."

"I wish it didn't exist."

That was harder to answer.

His daughter continued.

"Are you going to do something?"

Elijah looked at the stack of legal briefs on his desk.

"I don't know yet."

But deep down, he knew doing nothing was no longer possible.

Not because he was a Justice.

Because thousands of people without his title had watched the video and recognized something familiar.

CHAPTER 7 — THE OTHER NAMES

The first letter arrived two days later.

Then another.

Then dozens.

Some were angry.

Some supportive.

Some insulting.

Elijah ignored most of them.

But Naomi placed five envelopes on his desk.

"You should read these."

"Why these?"

"They're from Milfield."

That caught his attention.

The first was from a retired schoolteacher named Leonard Price.

He described being stopped twice by Sullivan.

No citation either time.

The second came from a twenty-three-year-old nursing student named Marcus Bell.

He said Sullivan had ordered him out of his car during a traffic stop the previous year.

The third was from a father named Andre Wilson.

The fourth came from a local pastor.

The fifth had no return address.

Elijah read every page.

The accounts were allegations, not established facts. Elijah knew better than most people that accusations required investigation and evidence.

But they raised questions.

So he forwarded the letters to the appropriate investigators rather than drawing his own conclusions.

Later that afternoon, Milfield Police Chief Rebecca Hayes announced an independent review.

Sullivan was placed on administrative leave while the incident was investigated.

Officer Grant was also interviewed.

The investigation began with the simplest question.

Why had Elijah been stopped?

Sullivan's report said Elijah crossed the center line twice.

His patrol vehicle's dashboard camera showed something different.

Elijah's tires approached the center marking while passing a delivery truck parked partly in his lane.

But the footage did not clearly support Sullivan's description of repeated drifting.

Then investigators examined Sullivan's body-camera recording.

His comment was there.

Clear.

Unedited.

"People like you don't get to disobey orders."

Investigators asked what he meant.

Sullivan said he meant "people who refuse lawful police instructions."