I will be, she said. Please speak to the people whose cars were taken before mine. Harris nodded. She had their names. What she needed now was a way past the officers who kept signing Crownland's seizure forms.
The tow driver, still waiting by his truck, finally opened his door. "I have copies," he said. His dispatcher had told drivers to delete messages after every pickup. He had saved them because he was afraid one day he would be blamed. Some named Ellis, some named Mercer, one named a supervisor in the department who had told them which complaints would be ignored.
Harris took his statement. She also called for a technician to preserve the truck's dispatch tablet before anyone at Crownland could reach it. By evening, Nomi's father had seen the video. He called her before she could call him. "I saw my car in the air," he said.
She told him it was back on the ground and that she was safe. He was quiet for a moment. "I didn't buy it, so you'd have to prove it was yours. " Nomi looked at the marks around her wrists. "I know, Dad. Come over when you're ready, he said.
I saved you cake. The video spread through the city that night. Many people recognized the judge first. Others recognized Ellis and Mercer from encounters that had never made the news. A teacher described paying to recover her car.
After an officer claimed she had blocked an entrance, a nurse produced a receipt for storage fees charged while she was working a hospital shift. Harris's team began taking statements from them all. Ellis and Mercer were removed from duty while investigators reviewed the evidence. Their supervisor was placed under investigation, too. Crownland's records were secured through the court process under a different judge.
Naomi stayed out of that case and cooperated as a witness in the inquiry into her arrest. Weeks later, after the tow driver's saved messages had helped investigators identify more victims, she returned to the pickup center. The Lamborghini had been repaired. Mateio recognized her as she walked through the doors and told her he was glad she had come back. Naomi thanked him for calling his manager and keeping the footage.
I almost stayed out of it. He admitted. I'm glad you didn't, she said. Outside the parking space where it had happened was occupied by an ordinary family car. No cameras were pointed at it.
Nobody stood beside it demanding an explanation. Nomi got into the Lamborghini and called her father before starting the engine. He asked what she was doing. Coming to pick you up, she said. Where are we going?
Anywhere you like. When the engine came to life, he laughed just as she knew he would. Nomi sat for a moment and thought about how differently that day might have ended without Matio, the shoppers, the tow driver, and everyone else who had decided to speak. Then she pulled carefully out of the space and drove to see her