“I know it is.”
“He hit you, Marcus.”
“You’re allowed to be angry at the individual.”
“I am.”
“You don’t look angry.”
Marcus almost laughed.
“My daughter says the same thing.”
“What does angry Marcus look like?”
“Organized.”
“That is unsettling.”
His phone rang.
Maya.
Marcus looked at the screen.
Laura smiled.
“You should answer.”
“She saw the video.”
“Definitely answer.”
Marcus did.
“Hi.”
His daughter did not bother greeting him.
“Did somebody slap you at your own police station?”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“Hello to you too.”
“Dad.”
“You got kicked.”
“Technically behind the knee.”
“That sentence does not help.”
Laura turned away to hide a laugh.
Maya continued.
“Misidentification.”
“Because you did your weird secret-boss experiment?”
Marcus looked at Laura.
She raised both eyebrows.
“Maya.”
“You did.”
“I was observing.”
“You were lurking.”
“I was waiting.”
“And got body-slammed by middle management.”
“That’s inaccurate.”
“Emotionally accurate.”
Marcus smiled despite himself.
Maya’s voice softened.
“Seriously, are you okay?”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
A pause.
“Did he know you were chief?”
Another pause.
“That makes it worse.”
Marcus’s smile disappeared.
His daughter understood immediately.
Maya sighed.
“What are you going to do?”
“My job.”
“Which means?”
“Figure out why nobody stopped him earlier.”
The answer began arriving that afternoon.
At 2:40, Officer Daniel Bennett requested a private meeting.
Marcus had not yet moved into the chief’s office.
He used a small conference room instead.
Bennett entered and shut the door.
He stood rigidly.
“Sit.”
“I’m fine, Chief.”
“That wasn’t a test.”
Bennett sat.
Twenty-eight.
Four years on the department.
Excellent evaluations.
One commendation.
No discipline.
Marcus remembered him from the lobby.
“You wanted to talk.”
Bennett looked uncomfortable.
Good interviews required silence.
People filled silence when you gave them room.
Bennett finally spoke.
“I should’ve stopped him.”
“At the counter.”
“I saw what he was doing.”
“I knew you weren’t resisting.”
“I knew Emily told him you were allowed there.”
Marcus leaned back.
“Why didn’t you intervene?”
Bennett swallowed.