Stevens squeezed the wooden frame.
"Why?"
"Because she told you to."
Dalton chuckled.
"You two always talk like this?"
Dominique looked directly at him.
"Only when people refuse to listen."
Dalton's smile faded.
His hand moved toward the handcuffs attached to his belt.
"Keep threatening cops, sweetheart."
He leaned toward them.
"I'll teach both of you who runs this town."
Danielle and Dominique exchanged a glance.
It lasted less than a second.
But they understood each other.
They had been doing that since childhood.
Danielle leaned back.
"Go ahead."
Dalton frowned.
"Cuff us."
His eyebrows rose.
Danielle continued.
"Then take a good look at the badges you're about to find."
For a moment, there was silence.
Then Dalton laughed.
Loudly.
Stevens joined him.
Kyle slapped the bar.
"Did you hear that?"
Nobody answered.
The customers were watching.
Luis was watching.
And beneath the confidence of the three officers, something had begun to shift.
Because Danielle and Dominique weren't afraid.
And that was the first thing Dalton didn't understand.
The Cameras Above the Bar
Rick Dalton believed fear was the same thing as respect.
He had learned that lesson long before he became a sergeant.
During his first years as an officer, he had watched people change when they saw a badge.
Arguments became apologies.
Complaints became silence.
Anger became cooperation.
He had started noticing how powerful that reaction was.
Then he started using it.
A warning here.
A suggestion there.
A reminder that he knew people at the licensing office.
A casual mention that an inspection could happen.
Nothing was ever written down.
That was the point.
Dalton understood the gray areas.
He knew where intimidation ended and plausible deniability began.
At least, he thought he did.
He didn't know Luis had cameras.
The first camera was above the main entrance.
The second covered the bar.
The third sat above the liquor shelf.
Luis had installed them after a fight several years earlier.
He rarely checked the footage unless something happened.
Tonight, something was happening.
And Luis had already activated the recording archive.
He pressed a button beneath the counter.
The small red indicator light came on.
Dalton didn't notice.
He was too busy trying to regain control.
He pulled an empty chair beside Danielle and sat backward across it.
"Here's how this goes."
Danielle looked at him.
"You apologize."
"For what?"
"For your attitude."
Dominique almost laughed.
Dalton continued.
"You buy us a round."
Danielle shook her head.
"And then?"
"Then maybe everyone forgets you came in here looking for trouble."
Danielle lifted her glass.
"We were sitting here before you walked over."
Dalton's jaw tightened.
"You calling me a liar?"
"No."
"What are you doing?"
"Describing time."
A few customers looked down to hide their reactions.
Kyle laughed.
Dalton leaned closer.
"People around here know better than to get smart with me."
Danielle glanced at his badge.
"That sounds less like respect and more like fear."
The words landed harder than shouting would have.
Dalton straightened.
Luis stopped wiping a glass.
A young customer near the wall looked up.
His name was Aaron Cole.
He was twenty-six.
He had come into Pine Hollow to meet friends, but they had canceled at the last minute.
Now he sat alone with a beer.
He had seen Dalton before.
He had also heard stories.
Aaron quietly reached for his phone.
He held it low.
The camera pointed toward the table.
Recording.
Dalton saw the movement.
"Put that phone away."
Aaron looked at him.
"I'm in a public bar."
Kyle pushed away from the counter.
"You heard him."
Aaron didn't move.
Luis stepped out from behind the bar.
"Leave my customers alone."
Dalton turned.
"Luis."
"Rick."
"Stay out of police business."
Luis folded his arms.
"You're not here on police business."
Dalton stared at him.
"You sure about that?"
"Very."
Dalton's expression darkened.
Luis had challenged him before.
But never like this.
The sergeant pointed toward him.
"You remember what happened the last time licensing inspectors came through?"
Luis's face tightened.
There it was.
The threat beneath the threat.
Everyone in the room understood it.
Dominique noticed too.
She turned toward Luis.
"He's done this before."
Dalton looked at her.
"What?"
"Used the badge to threaten someone who wouldn't give him what he wanted."
"You don't know anything about me."
Dominique smiled.
"You keep talking."
She tilted her head.
"I'm learning fast."
Mark Stevens stepped forward.
He grabbed Dominique's shoulder.
The room seemed to freeze.
Dominique looked down at his hand.
Then back at him.
"Remove it."
Stevens squeezed.
"Or what?"
Dominique's voice remained calm.
"Or you explain why an off-duty officer is touching a woman who told him to stop."
Stevens smiled.
"Nobody here cares."
Luis heard the sentence.
So did Aaron.
So did the camera.
Danielle stood.
Kyle immediately moved between the sisters.
"Sit down."
Danielle looked at him.
"You've been drinking."
Kyle's smile disappeared.
"Watch yourself."
"You're carrying a badge and restraints while intoxicated."
Dalton pointed.
"That's enough."
Danielle folded her arms.
"Then leave."
Dalton's hand moved toward his cuffs.
Mark reached for his.
Dominique looked at Danielle.
Danielle nodded once.
Neither resisted.
That surprised the officers.
Dalton grabbed Danielle's wrist.
Mark seized Dominique.
"Hands behind your backs."