"Mitchell, get the hell off him. Now!" Reynolds roared.

Mitchell scrambled backward as if he had been burned, quickly pulling his handcuff keys from his belt. His hands were shaking so badly he dropped the keys in the grass. He fumbled for them, finally unlocking the single cuff on Marcus's left wrist.

Marcus pushed himself up slowly, his joints popping. He wiped a thick smear of mud from his cheek with the back of his hand. He didn't brush off his clothes. He wanted them to see exactly what had happened.

"Marcus, are you hurt? Do we need an ambulance?" Commissioner Davis asked, her voice trembling with outrage. She turned glaring eyes toward Mitchell. "What is the meaning of this? This man is rebuilding this entire park!"

"I'm fine, Sarah," Marcus said, rolling his shoulder to ease the ache from his old war injury. He looked at Captain Reynolds, a man he had met several times in planning meetings for the park's security infrastructure.

"Captain," Marcus said evenly.

"Mr. Vance. I... I have no words," Captain Reynolds said, his face flushed with embarrassment and fury. He turned to his subordinate. "Mitchell. Stand at attention."

Mitchell stood rigid, his face pale, sweat beading on his forehead despite the chill.

"Care to explain why you have the Mayor's chief contractor in the mud, in handcuffs, without calling it in?" Reynolds asked, his voice dangerously low.

"Sir, he was... he was lurking under the bridge. He looked out of place. I thought he was a vagrant..." Mitchell stammered, realizing how hollow and explicitly racist his reasoning sounded out loud in front of these people.

"Out of place?" Marcus stepped forward. He didn't yell. He didn't have to. The quiet authority of a combat veteran filled the space between them. "I was in work clothes, reading blueprints, doing my job. You didn't ask me my name. You didn't ask what I was doing. You looked at my skin, you made an assumption, and you drew a weapon on an unarmed man who was complying with your orders. You didn't police the park today, son. You policed your own prejudice."