Chapter 4

The security office was a windowless room behind a frosted glass door, furnished with a metal desk, three folding chairs, and a ceiling light that hummed and flickered. Brooke sat in one chair, her mascara still ruined, her hands clasped in her lap. Maggie sat across from her, the blue passport on the desk between them like an exhibit. Denise had followed them in, apparently not wanting to miss the conclusion.

Officer Ramos, a heavyset man with a gray-flecked beard, had the red puffer jacket woman's phone on the desk, the footage paused on a frame of Brooke's hand closing around Maggie's passport. He looked at the screen, then at Brooke, then at the passport.

"Okay," he said, his voice carrying the patience of a man who had seen every conceivable form of human stupidity in his career. "Walk me through this again. You took your stepmother's passport... because you wanted her to stay home with the cats?"

Brooke's mouth opened and closed. "I— it was supposed to be a joke."

"A joke." Officer Ramos looked at the screen again. "A joke that involved putting someone's passport in your pocket and telling them they weren't going on their vacation."

"Other families do that kind of thing all the time—"

"Other families don't get security called on them." Officer Ramos set down the phone. "Ma'am, do you understand that tampering with someone's travel documents is a federal offense? That's not a small thing. That's— in some cases— a felony."

The word felony landed like a bomb. Brooke's face, already pale, went gray. She looked at Richard, who stood against the wall, his arms crossed, his face unreadable. "Dad?"

Richard didn't answer. Not immediately. He looked at Maggie, at the passport on the desk, at the officer. "What are her options?" he asked. His voice was steady, but his hands were shaking.

Officer Ramos leaned back in his chair. "Normally, in a case like this, we'd recommend the passenger file a formal complaint and we'd refer the matter to the district attorney's office. Given the evidence—" he gestured at the phone, "—we're looking at unauthorized possession of travel documents, which is a Class C felony in this state."

Brooke made a small noise, halfway between a gasp and a sob.