In Eden County, the thirty-eight-year-old sheriff's deputy Rafe Murray arrests Black man Bethl'em Aire for his crimes. As he is driving back to the police station, Murray and Bethl'em get caught in a storm. Murray pulls over and takes refuge in a garage with his prisoner. There, two other Black brothers appear at first to be scared of Murray, possibly thinking that he will arrest them, too. They offer him a seat by the stove to warm up, and Murray accepts and thanks the men. He realizes Bethl'em's wrist tie is too tight and cuts it off. Bethl'em does not talk, but the other men do. One of them tells Murray that Bethl'em has no use in talking; no matter what he says he will be taken in and killed for his crimes. Murray suggests that he saved Bethl'em by arresting him because the Black man would have died out in the storm. The other men insist that Bethl'em will die either way, and at least out in the storm, he would have died a free man. Murray begins to feel isolated and guilty, and his heart starts pounding. The men tell Bethl'em that now is his chance to escape, that they will hold back Murray to help them. Bethl'em does not move. The younger of the two brothers moves toward Bethl'em as if to help him get free. Then, the men start laughing, saying it was all a joke. Murray tells Bethl'em to go to the car, and the prisoner does. As Murray gets ready to leave, the younger brother tells him to tell the sheriff about the whole charade. He says that the sheriff will remember him. Murray goes out to the car and sits behind the wheel thinking. He thinks he will leave in a minute, maybe two.