Page 13 of Wild Mustang Security Firm

“Hey, boss lady,” she said brightly.

“Are you okay?” asked Willa.

“Absolutely. Why?”

“Well, usually, you’re here when we’re taking a large party out.”

“Sorry. I had everything arranged and was just going to work from home, but no worries, I can be there pretty damn quick,” Mandy said, already pulling on clothes.

“I hate to ask, but it’s a new group, and it’s the largest one we’ve had.”

“Say no more. I’m out the door in less than ten minutes.”

Mandy rushed to get ready and as promised, was out the door and on her way in record time. She was making fairly good time on the highway when she spied flashing lights in her rearview mirror. Glancing down at her speedometer, she muttered, “Shit!” under her breath. She was doing close to ninety mph in a seventy-five-mph zone. Turning on her directional signal, she slowed down and pulled onto the wide shoulder of the road. Looking in the rearview mirror, she realized it wasn’t a state patrolman but a sheriff’s deputy who had pulled her over. She sighed. She and that particular branch of law enforcement did not have a good history. She rolled down her window.

“Good morning. Well, if it isn’t Mandy Adams. Do you know why I pulled you over?” the deputy said.

Mandy knew the proper way to answer was something polite, but she and the deputies in Maricopa County had gone a few rounds. She’d punched one of them at an environmental protest, and their department had it out for her ever since. For a while, they had pulled her over for absolutely anything.

Instead of being respectful, she heard herself saying, “Because you have nothing better to do and a quota to make?”

“Ma’am, we don’t have any kind of quota.”

“Yeah, right,” she snorted. “Move it along, will you, and just write the damn ticket? I’m in a hurry.”

“That’s obvious since you were going quite a bit over the speed limit.”

“Yep, I was. Listen, deputy, if you’re going to write me up, could you just do it? I don’t fancy sitting here, listening to you lecture me. So, either write me a ticket or run your mouth, but don’t waste my time doing both.”

“Ma’am, you can’t speak to me that way. It’s illegal.”

Mandy laughed. She really hated these jackasses.

“No, it’s not. You may not like it, but the First Amendment guarantees me the right to speak to you any way I damn well please. So, if my language offends you, then shut up, write the ticket, and I’ll be on my merry way. But if I have to listen to you spout off, I’m going to feel free to do the same. Make a choice, deputy, times a-wastin'.”

“Have you had anything to drink, ma’am?”

She rolled her eyes. “Seriously? That’s what you’re going with?”

“Answer my question, Ms. Adams. Have you been drinking?”

“No, deputy dimwit, I haven’t. Well, that’s not true. I had coffee… does that count? Now, either write me up or let me go.”

The deputy backed away from her door. “Ma’am, you need to step out of the car.”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake. You and I both know I was going too fast, and we both know I’m sober. You’re just being an asshole.”

“Ma’am, I asked you to step out of the car. I’m afraid I have to insist,” he said, placing his hand on the butt of his gun.

Mandy sighed and did as requested.

Keeping his eye on her, the deputy went back to his vehicle and returned with his breathalyzer. He prepared it, then handed it to Mandy.

“I’m going to ask you to take the breathalyzer test.”

“This is bullshit, and you know it.”

He waved the portable device in her face, and Mandy swatted it away.

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