Simultaneously, the trembling Captain reached into his vehicle and pulled out a heavy, aluminum clipboard. He shoved it directly into the rookie's chest, right where Marcus had pressed the registration moments ago. Pinned to the clipboard was a thick, multi-million-dollar government contract. The rookie looked down at the paper, and then up at the glowing screen in Marcus’s hand.
The visual confirmation was absolute and devastating. At the bottom of the physical document on the clipboard, stamped in bold black ink, was a signature. On the glowing screen of Marcus's phone, displaying the authorized digital copy of that exact same document, was the identical signature.
It was the signature of Marcus Vance.
The rookie's arrogance evaporated instantly, replaced by a cold, hollow dread that sank into his stomach. The man he had just racially profiled, the man he had confidently accused of driving a stolen vehicle, was not a criminal. He was the CEO of the private contracting firm that supplied the city’s law enforcement with their equipment.