reason why you ran a red light back there?" He removed his sunglasses as he spoke.
"What red light?" She raised an eyebrow. The trooper had a touch of green in his golden-brown gaze.
"The one just past the off-ramp from I-80." The deep gravelly quality of the trooper's voice made her want to keep him talking.
"I didn't see it. I'm sorry." She could see he had dark hair under his trooper hat but couldn't get a good look at him.
"License and registration, please."
She reached into her glove compartment, but her wallet and her credentials weren't there, then she remembered. They were somewhere at the house. Glancing at the seat beside her, she realized she'd left her purse at the nursing facility. She opened her window the rest of the way and handed the officer the registration for her mother's Buick. "I'm sorry, I left my purse at the nursing home. My wallet is inside it."
"One moment. I'm going to run this."
He returned a few minutes later. "This registration doesn't belong to you. The vehicle belongs to a Hilda Gillespie. We'll need to verify you have permission to drive it."
"That's fine. She's my mother. I'm Justine Gillespie."
He left her sitting in the car for another ten minutes before coming back to her window. "Mrs. Gillespie says she has no children and didn't give anyone permission to drive her car. Ma'am reach your arm out the window and open the driver's door from the outside. Then put your hands on the hood of the car."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes, Ma'am. Do it now."
"My mother has dementia. You need to speak with her nurse. Her not being able to identify me is not unusual."
"Do as you were requested."
"Fine, but you have no idea what you're doing." She did as he asked releasing herself from the car, then placing her hands on the hood.
He read her her rights. "Do you have any weapons or anything sharp that might poke me?"
"Yes. I have a Glock on my hip and a Sig Sauer in the glove box."
He secured the weapons and walked her over to his car. As he did so, she told him. "I'm Special Agent Justine Gillespie, FBI. I'm in town to visit with my mother."
"I'm going to take you in. We can verify your identity at the station."
"You don't have a computer in your car you can use for that purpose?"
"Like I told you earlier, you have the right to remain silent. For heaven's sake, please do so." He shut the door before she could respond.
Justine closed her eyes and counted to ten. This was so not her day.
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