My outrage meant nothing to him. He patted me down—torso, outside of my legs, and then up the inseam and back down. All the way down to my shoes.

“You have identification in your wallet?” he asked.

“I do.”

He removed my wallet from my back pocket. “Stay still,” he said, his hand applying less pressure but still enough to keep me in place.

I had no intention of leaving without his permission.

“Why were you in this house?” the cop asked. “Do you have permission to be in there?”

“My friend lives here.”

“Did your friend give you permission to be inside?”

“That man, the one who ran off between the houses over behind us—he opened the window and went inside first. I was trying to see what he was doing. I was worried. I think you need to talk to that man.”

“What man?” the cop asked.

“Didn’t you see him running off when you came into the backyard?”

“I didn’t see anyone,” the cop said, his voice dripping with skepticism.

“Are you kidding?”

“I don’t kid, sir.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another cop emerge from around the corner of the house. She held her hand above her holster, and when she saw me pressed against the back of the house, she said, “Is that all you got?”

“I haven’t been inside yet.”

“There’s no one else in there,” I said.

“I’ll check it out,” the second cop said, and she went past us, heading for the back door of the house.

“Hey,” my cop said. “Do you need a warrant?”

“Someone broke in. That’s good enough for probable cause.” And in she went.

“Sir,” my cop said, “for your own safety and my safety, I’m going to place you in handcuffs right now.”

“You are?”

He pulled my right hand back and brought it against my left. I heard the jangling of the cuffs, metal clanking against metal. The first one clamped onto my left wrist, tighter than I would have expected.

Before he was finished, I sensed someone coming around the side of the house. Someone in civilian clothes.

“That won’t be necessary, Officer,” she said. “He’s okay.”

“Are you sure, Detective?”

Rountree came all the way over to us and gave me a wry smile. She carried a walkie-talkie in one hand. “I’m sure. Why don’t you go look inside?”

“Do you think we need a warrant, Detective?”

“We need to make sure everyone is safe. What if the homeowner is lying on the floor in there, bleeding? Shouldn’t we help? Let him go and get in there, Officer.”