Maya did not blink. “Her name is Major Naomi Jefferson. She’s an intelligence operator attached to Delta. You should really check your database before you make a mistake you can’t fix.” Lawson’s smile vanished. The hyperspecific terminology annoyed him. It sounded too real, but his ego refused to allow him to back down. He gripped her arm tight, digging his fingers in. “Get in the back of the car. We’re going to the precinct.”
At that moment, the wail of a siren pierced the air. Officer Carter Brooks, a younger cop who had only been on the force for two years, pulled his cruiser up to the intersection. Brooks stepped out, taking in the scene. The weeping but defiant teenager in cuffs. The open science project. The angry crowd of affluent parents. And Lawson, looking unhinged. “Lawson, what’s the situation?” Brooks asked, his hand instinctively staying away from his weapon. He knew Lawson’s reputation. “Suspect was transporting a modified battery explosive device. She’s detained. I’m taking her in,” Lawson stated proudly. Brooks looked at the drone on the sidewalk. He looked at Mr. Henderson, who was frantically filming on his phone. “Mitch, that’s a drone. It has propellers.” “It’s modified,” Lawson snapped. “Don’t question me in the field, rookie.”
Before Brooks could argue, a woman pushed her way through the police tape Brooks had begun to string up. It was Principal Susan Gable, a formidable woman who had run Pine Valley Middle for a decade. “Officer Lawson,” Principal Gable said, her voice icy, “you will not put that child in your vehicle.” “Step back, ma’am.” “I am the principal of this school. I am in loco parentis for her until her guardian arrives, and I’ve already called her mother,” Gable said, holding up her cell phone. “My emergency contact is a direct line to Fort Carson.” Lawson scoffed, waving a dismissive hand. “Good. Let the supply clerk come down here. Maybe I’ll cite her for reckless endangerment, letting her kid carry this garbage around.” “I don’t think you understand,” Principal Gable said softly, her eyes darting to Maya with immense sympathy. “They had to patch me through to a secure line. She’s on her way. And Officer Lawson, I highly suggest you prepare yourself.”
The next twenty minutes felt like a psychological eternity. Officer Brooks had managed to talk Lawson out of shoving Maya into the back of the sweltering cruiser, convincing him to at least let her sit on the curb, though Lawson viciously refused to remove the handcuffs. Maya sat on the concrete, her knees pulled to her chest, her face tear-stained, but her jaw set in stone. She watched her drone resting helplessly on the pavement. The crowd had not dispersed. In fact, it had grown. Word had spread rapidly through the neighborhood text chains. People were standing on their lawns. High-school students were livestreaming the standoff. The atmosphere was a powder keg. Lawson paced back and forth, puffing his chest out, occasionally barking at the crowd to keep their distance. He was heavily committed now. In his mind, he had to prove he was right, or his fragile ego, and likely his precarious career, would shatter.