General Sterling bypassed the officers entirely, walking straight up to Marcus and stopping inches away. He looked Marcus up and down, his stern expression softening into a deep, affectionate warmth that only those closest to the general ever witnessed. “At ease, Sergeant,” General Sterling rumbled, his voice like grinding tectonic plates that carried across the entire block. Marcus let out a long, shaky breath, dropping his raised hands and offering a crisp, respectful salute, which the General instantly returned with razor-sharp precision. “Good to see you, General,” Marcus said, a faint smile breaking through the tension on his face. General Sterling turned on his heel, his eyes snapping back toward Officer Henderson with a glare that could melt steel. The general’s voice dropped into a low, terrifying register that brooked zero argument. “Care to explain, Officer, why my former combat engineer, a decorated American war hero who bled for this country while you were probably still in middle school, is standing in his own yard with his hands up like a common criminal?”
Officer Henderson stammered frantically, his face turning the color of a bruised plum as he fumbled for words. “G-General... sir, we received a 911 call reporting a suspicious person trespassing on this property, and the caller stated—claims—that the homeowner was out of town—” General Sterling cut him off with a sharp chop of his hand through the air. “You didn't verify property ownership through dispatch before your hand touched your service weapon? You took the word of a hysterical neighbor across the street without asking for identification from the man standing peaceably on his own grass?” He didn't wait for an answer, instead pointing a stiff finger across the street toward Evelyn Gable, who was now desperately trying to reverse backward through her front door and lock it before anyone noticed her. “And as for that civilian busybody committing filing fraud and weaponizing emergency dispatch for racial harassment, my legal team is already pulling the 911 audio and security footage. She’s going to be facing criminal charges for filing a false police report and civil rights violations before the sun sets tonight.”