The dispatcher asked for her date of birth.
Cole looked at Elena.
She gave it.
He repeated the numbers.
Then came static.
A few seconds of silence.
Grant leaned close enough for Elena to smell coffee on his breath.
“What are you supposed to be?”
Elena looked at him.
“Patient.”
Grant smiled.
Then the radio came alive.
“Unit Thirty-Two.”
Cole pressed his microphone.
“Go.”
The dispatcher’s tone had changed.
That was the first thing Elena noticed.
Not relaxed anymore.
Careful.
“Confirm subject Elena Elise Brooks?”
Cole looked at her.
“Elena Elise?”
“Yes.”
He pressed the radio.
“Affirmative.”
A pause.
Then:
“Unit Thirty-Two, release physical contact with Ms. Brooks.”
Cole froze.
Grant’s smile disappeared.
Reeves took a step back.
Cole stared at the radio.
“Repeat?”
“Release physical contact.”
His fingers loosened automatically.
Elena slowly pulled her wrist free.
A red mark had already appeared where his thumb pressed against her skin.
The dispatcher continued.
“Do not conduct any further search or questioning until supervisory unit arrives.”
Cole’s face hardened.
“What’s the reason?”
Silence.
Then another voice came over the radio.
Older.
Male.
Controlled.
“Cole, this is Lieutenant Harris.”
Cole straightened.
“Lieutenant.”
“Step away from Ms. Brooks.”
Cole looked at Elena.
Grant and Reeves did too.
None of them looked amused anymore.
Cole lifted the microphone.
“Sir, we’re investigating a trespass complaint.”
“Is Ms. Brooks under arrest?”
“No.”
“Then step away.”
Grant whispered:
“What the hell?”
Elena finally reached for the towel.
None of the officers stopped her.
She wrapped it around herself.
Cole continued staring.
“Who are you?”
Elena looked at him.
“The woman you were supposed to ask before putting your hands on her.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“I know.”
The radio crackled again.
“Unit Thirty-Two, supervisor two minutes out.”
Cole stepped toward the patio.
Grant and Reeves followed.
Then Cole stopped.
He turned back.
“You called somebody?”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
“Then how the hell—”
Elena glanced at his radio.
“You ran my name.”
Cole’s face changed again.
Because now the sentence sounded different.
Not like a threat.
Like an explanation.
Lieutenant David Harris arrived less than three minutes later.
He did not come alone.
A marked SUV pulled into the Bennett driveway, followed by an unmarked dark-blue sedan.
Cole saw the sedan.
His eyes narrowed.
Grant whispered, “Who’s that?”
Cole did not answer.
Harris entered the pool area first.
Fifty-two.
Gray at the temples.
Command bars on his uniform.
His eyes went immediately to Elena.
Then Cole.
Then Grant.
Then Reeves.
Then the red mark around Elena’s wrist.