Chapter 1 - Go Ahead, Sergeant
Sergeant Cole Draven locked the restroom door because he thought Amara Bennett had nowhere to go.
The metallic click sounded louder than the buzzing fluorescent lights.
Amara stood at the sink, sweat running down the side of her face, black academy T-shirt damp from morning drills. She had been washing dirt from her hands after defensive tactics training, breathing hard but steady, when she saw him enter behind her in the mirror.
Black academy uniform.
Cap pulled low.
Rugged face.
Arrogant eyes.
He closed the heavy restroom door.
Then turned the lock.
Amara froze.
Her phone sat beside the sink.
Her small body camera was clipped beneath her collar, visible against the black fabric from the beginning.
She met his eyes in the mirror.
“Why did you lock the door?”
Draven smiled.
Not fully.
Just enough to tell her the question amused him.
He strode forward and slammed one palm against the mirror beside her head.
The glass shook.
Then his hand clamped around her upper arm.
Hard.
He jerked her away from the sink so violently her shoes slid half a step across the tile.
“You need to learn your place,” he said.
Amara planted both feet.
Her shoulder burned under his grip.
But panic did not take over.
Training did.
She tore her arm free.
“Take your hand off me.”
Draven’s expression sharpened.
He drew back his open hand and swung toward her face.
Amara caught his wrist before contact.
Twisted outward.
Stepped in.
Drove one compact straight punch into his upper chest.
The impact knocked the breath out of him and sent him stumbling back.
But he lunged again.
This time Amara pivoted, planted her supporting foot, and drove one powerful front kick into his torso.
Firm contact.
Natural recoil.
Draven staggered backward several feet, crashed against the locked restroom door, and dropped onto one knee.
For the first time all morning, the sergeant looked afraid.
Amara stayed balanced, fists raised, chest rising and falling.
Then the tiny indicator beneath her collar began blinking.
Draven saw it.
His rage vanished.
Amara’s voice stayed calm.
“Go ahead, Sergeant.”
May you like
Draven stared at the body camera like it had become the most dangerous thing in the room.
Because it had.
