Rourke’s eyebrows lifted slightly behind dark sunglasses. “Because I asked.”
Adrian remained calm. “That is not a reason.”
Several commuters passed between them. Rourke moved closer to prevent Adrian from simply walking away.
“I watched another passenger leave that there.”
“Yes.”
“You know him?”
Adrian chose his answer carefully. “I’m not discussing another passenger with you.”
That response sounded far more suspicious than he wanted. It was also true.
Rourke’s posture changed. “Open the paper.”
Adrian looked at the uniform, body camera, radio, and service weapon. “Am I being detained?”
Rourke disliked the question immediately. In his experience, innocent people usually answered questions first, while people who asked legal-status questions often had something to hide.
Adrian knew that assumption well. “Am I free to go?”
Rourke stepped closer. “Not until I know what you picked up.”
Adrian glanced toward Sloan, now nearly out of sight. Good. The source was clear.
“Then articulate what you suspect I did.”
Rourke stared. “You were watching another passenger. He left something. You took it.”
“That describes picking up a newspaper.”
“Open it.”
“No.”
The answer was quiet. Rourke’s jaw tightened.
Lena heard everything through Adrian’s open line. “Mercer, we can burn the meet,” she said softly. “Credential if needed.”
Adrian did not move toward his credentials. Reaching beneath a coat during an escalating police encounter was not something he intended to do without explaining first.
“I can identify myself,” he told Rourke. “My identification is inside my coat. I’m going to use my left hand.”
Rourke raised one hand. “Keep your hands where I can see them.”
Adrian stopped. “Fine.”
“Put the newspaper down.”
“I’m not putting it down.”
“Why?”
“Because it belongs to me.”
Rourke laughed once. “You just admitted somebody else left it.”
“No. I said it belongs to me.”
The wording aggravated him. Rourke believed Adrian was playing games.
“Let me see your ID.”
Adrian’s expression barely changed. “You just told me not to reach for it.”
“Slowly.”
Adrian moved his left hand toward the inside of the trench coat. Rourke immediately stepped forward.
“Stop.”
Adrian stopped.
A commuter nearby turned to watch.
“You understand the problem here?” Adrian asked.
Rourke’s tone hardened. “The problem is you refusing simple instructions.”
“No. The problem is you changing them while I’m following them.”
People had started slowing around them. Adrian disliked the attention almost as much as the escalating contact.
The FBI surveillance team could intervene. Lena had already asked for permission to move in, but Adrian knew multiple unidentified agents suddenly approaching an already tense officer could create a worse problem.
“Call your supervisor,” Adrian said.
Rourke laughed again. “You don’t get to order me to call anybody.”
“I’m suggesting a way to resolve this without turning it into something else.”
Rourke moved directly in front of him. “You think you’re in control here?”
Adrian looked at him. “I think both of us should be.”
That answer should have slowed the encounter. Instead, Rourke heard disrespect.
“Against the wall.”
Adrian glanced toward the glass shelter. “For what?”
“I’m detaining you while I investigate.”
“What crime?”
“Possible theft.”
Adrian almost looked toward the abandoned newspaper because the accusation was so absurd in context. “Of a free commuter paper?”