Terrence looked directly at him.
“No.”
Mercer repeated the question.
Terrence repeated the answer.
The deputy’s expression hardened.
“Step out of the truck.”
Terrence complied.
He stood beside the rear bumper.
“Am I being cited for the lane change?”
“We’ll get to that.”
Mercer paused.
“You mind if I take a look inside?”
Terrence answered carefully.
“I don’t consent to a search.”
Mercer tilted his head.
“That a no?”
“That’s a no to consent.”
Mercer told him to stand still.
Then he opened the passenger door.
Terrence watched.
“Officer, I did not give permission for a search.”
“I have enough reason to check.”
“What reason?”
“Your behavior. The luggage. The way you're answering questions.”
Terrence almost laughed.
Instead, he remembered his father.
Do not give a man something he is already looking for.
So he stayed quiet.
Mercer began searching.
And once he started, he seemed determined to find something.
Anything.
What Was Not There
The first suitcase belonged to Evelyn.
Mercer dragged it from the truck and dropped it onto the road.
He unzipped it.
Clothes spilled across the shoulder.
A nightgown landed beside the rear tire.
A pair of slippers separated in opposite directions.
“That belongs to my mother,” Terrence said.
“Then she should've packed lighter.”
Terrence clenched his jaw.
The second suitcase contained his clothes and the wrapped birthday gift.
Mercer emptied that too.
Then came the medical supplies.
Prescription bottles.
Compression stockings.
Bandages.
A blood-pressure cuff.
A pulse oximeter.
Mercer examined everything.
“What exactly are you looking for?” Terrence asked.
“Contraband.”
“You have a specific reason to think there’s contraband?”
Mercer stood.
“You asking legal questions now?”
“I’m asking what justifies this.”
Mercer stepped closer.
“You want to make this difficult?”
“No.”
Terrence kept his voice level.
“You asked me to stand here. I’m standing here.”
Mercer stared at him.
Then he returned to the truck.
He searched beneath the seats.
Inside the glove compartment.
Inside the center console.
Under floor mats.
Inside storage compartments.
He opened packages of medical supplies.
He inspected prescription bottles bearing Evelyn Cole’s name.
Nothing.
Again and again, the deputy found exactly what Terrence had told him he would find.
Nothing illegal.
But instead of ending the search, Mercer searched harder.
Terrence finally understood.
The deputy had formed a conclusion before he had gathered the evidence.
Now the evidence was failing to cooperate.
Mercer opened the medical bag.
“You a doctor?”
“No.”
“Nurse?”
“No.”
“Then why are you carrying medical equipment?”
“My mother needs it.”
Mercer dropped the bag.
The pulse oximeter bounced onto the pavement.
A sharp crack split the air.
Terrence instinctively stepped forward.
Mercer’s hand immediately moved toward his holster.
“Stay back.”
Terrence stopped.
“That machine monitors her oxygen.”
“Then pack it better.”
For the first time, anger appeared in Terrence’s eyes.
“You're damaging things my mother needs.”
“You don't tell me how to do my job.”