Mercer looked at him.
“Where?”
“In my trunk.”
Brooks immediately stepped forward.
Mercer raised one hand.
“Don't.”
Brooks stopped.
Mercer turned to Walter.
“Do not touch anything yet.”
Walter nodded.
Mercer asked:
“Did Samuel tell you what was on the drive?”
“Some of it.”
“What?”
Walter explained everything.
The vehicles.
The missing records.
The altered footage.
The threats.
The man who attacked him.
Mercer listened carefully.
When Walter finished, Mercer asked:
“Did Samuel tell you who was responsible?”
“No.”
“Did he mention Officer Brooks?”
Walter looked at the officer.
“No.”
Brooks exhaled.
Mercer continued.
“Then we don't assume anything.”
Walter appreciated that.
He had spent too much of the afternoon watching people make assumptions.
Mercer requested the dashcam footage.
Walter explained that the camera stored recordings on a memory card.
Mercer asked him not to remove it.
Then he called for another investigator.
Within minutes, the atmosphere around the roadside changed.
What had begun as an ordinary traffic stop had become a formal investigation.
Brooks was asked to step away from Walter.
Reed remained nearby.
Walter sat back inside his car.
His hands were still shaking.
Emily called again.
“Dad?”
“I’m okay.”
“Is someone with you?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“A federal investigator.”
Emily exhaled.
“Good.”
Walter looked toward the flash drive hidden in the trunk.
“I think Samuel knew this would happen.”
Emily was silent.
Then she said:
“Maybe he didn't know exactly what would happen.”
Walter looked at the road.
“But he knew somebody was watching.”
The flash drive contained thousands of files.
Some were ordinary maintenance records.