“I’m sure he is. But if you call him, he’ll insist on seeing you. Right now, that’s not a good idea.”

Cindy waited for an explanation, but none came. Instead, Decker said, “What’s your status right now?”

“I have the day off.”

“It wasn’t out of charity,” Decker said. “They’re pulling you off active duty pending an investigation.”

“They want me to call in at noon.”

“Standard procedure.”

“What are they investigating? They don’t have the car; the license plates are stolen; no one checked into the hospital with gunshot wounds.”

“Not yet.”

Cindy was silent.

Decker said, “You were shot at, Cynthia, and you discharged your weapon. Or at least Koby did. Someone’s going to be checking out your story. So if you have something to add or subtract, now is the time to tell me.”

Leaning over, she kissed her father’s stubble-coated cheek. “I told them everything. I was completely straight with them other than the minor modification. So let them check me out.”

“You didn’t tail the car or try to stop it or—”

“No, no, no.” She was adamant. “I pulled over just to get the Nova’s license plate because the car was tailing me. I had planned to go back to the station house and run it through DMV. I didn’t try to apprehend anyone. I certainly didn’t instigate anything.”

“And they fired first?”

“That’s insulting, Dad.”

“I had to ask, Cynthia.”

“Yes, they fired first.”

“Then you should be fine.” Decker rubbed his neck and rolled his shoulders.

“Are we going?” Cindy asked.

Decker sidestepped the question. “You know, if Koby hadn’t fired back, it would have made your life simpler—”

“Dad, you weren’t there.”

“Just hear me out, okay?”

Livid, she sat back in the seat, arms crossed over her chest, immediately defensive and angry. But she kept her mouth shut. Decker knew she was listening with half an ear.

He said, “If he hadn’t fired back, it would have made your life simpler. Don’t interrupt, even though you’re dying to, all right?”

“I’m not interrupting! Go on!”

Decker said, “If he hadn’t fired your weapon, they wouldn’t have pulled you off duty. They would have just given you the day off, done a one-two inquiry, and that would have been that. Because no one in the opposing car could have possibly gotten hurt and there wouldn’t have been even the remotest possibility of a lawsuit … which now there is, of course. If someone got hurt, lots of questions are going to be asked, and guess whose derriere is in the hot seat?”

Cindy spoke through a clenched jaw. “He did the right thing!”

“Stop fuming! Why did he have to shoot?”

“Because we were under attack.”

“You couldn’t get away?”

“No, Dad, I couldn’t get away. That was the point!”

“Would you have done the same thing if the positions had been reversed? Would you have shot at the Nova?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “Yeah, I think I would have—”

“You think?”