Walter's heart began beating faster.
He reached for his phone.
There was one person he wanted to call.
Emily.
His daughter was a lawyer in another city, and she had always told him that if he ever felt uncomfortable during a police encounter, he should remain calm and document everything.
Walter pressed her name.
The phone rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
No answer.
He left a message.
“Emily, it's Dad. I'm okay. I've been stopped by the police. Call me when you get this.”
He put the phone down.
A few seconds later, Officer Brooks returned.
“Mr. Hayes?”
“Yes?”
“Where are you coming from?”
Walter answered.
“My brother's house.”
“And where are you going?”
“Home.”
“Is that all?”
Walter frowned.
“Yes.”
The officer leaned slightly toward the open window.
“Mr. Hayes, I'm going to ask you again. Where were you before you came here?”
Walter stared at him.
“I already told you.”
The officer's expression hardened.
“I need you to cooperate.”
“I am cooperating.”
There was no shouting.
No obvious threat.
Yet Walter felt the pressure growing.
The officer extended his hand.
“Give me your phone.”
Walter blinked.
“My phone?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I need to verify something.”
Walter's fingers tightened around the phone.
“No, officer.”
The officer looked surprised.
“What did you say?”
“I said no.”
The silence that followed felt enormous.
Walter had spent his life teaching students that rights meant nothing if people were afraid to exercise them.
But knowing that in a classroom was different from sitting alone in a car while a uniformed officer stood outside.
Walter looked at the dashboard camera.
The red light was still blinking.
He took a breath.
“I don't want any trouble,” he said quietly.
“Then cooperate.”
“I am cooperating.”
For the first time, Walter saw anger flash across the officer's face.
It disappeared quickly.
But Walter saw it.
And the camera saw it too.
Officer Brooks glanced at Walter's face.