Chapter 2

A few of the younger police officers in the room instinctively stood. "Good to see you, Chief Holt."

Frank gave a slight nod and let his gaze sweep the room before it settled on me. He looked at me for a couple of seconds. There wasn't a flicker of recognition in his expression.

It was just as I thought. He had no idea who I was.

"You're Quinn Avery?" He walked over to me, tapping his cane lightly on the floor.

"Chief Holt." I stood and nodded.

"Don't call me chief. I'm retired." He brushed it off with a casual wave.

His tone was casual, but there was steel under every single word. "My daughter tells me you're hiding behind the 24-hour rule and refusing to send anyone out?"

"Sir, according to protocol—"

"You think I don't know protocol?" He cut me off, his voice dropping low.

"I spent my entire career on this force. I know the rules better than you ever will. But rules don't bleed. People do.

"Right now my granddaughter might've been taken by her drug-addicted ex-husband, and the situation is urgent. You're a junior officer. Don't wave a technicality around like it gives you authority."

Denise was right there pouring fuel on the fire. "Dad, she did it on purpose! I told her who you were and she didn't even blink!"

Frank's expression darkened. He took another step forward, his cane nearly touching the edge of my desk.

"Quinn, is it? I don't care which academy you graduated from, and I don't care who's backing you up. Today, you do this the right way.

"Send officers out and find my granddaughter. If you drag your feet and something happens to her, that's on you."

I lowered my eyes. "Chief Holt, I'll handle this according to regulations."

"Regulations? You want to lecture me about regulations?" His voice rose.

"Let me tell you something. Regulations exist to serve people, not to hold them hostage. You're a nobody in this department. Don't start thinking you're somebody."

The office got even quieter.

My colleague, Doug Ramsey, tugged gently at my sleeve and whispered, "Quinn, just let it go. You don't want to cross a man like him."

Another colleague, Kevin Torres, was shooting me a look from the side. "Seriously, it's just one dispatch call. Why make it into a whole thing?"

I didn't look at either of them. I just stood there, perfectly still.

When Frank saw that I wasn't saying anything, he took it as a sign of surrender and let out a cold scoff. "Kids who don't learn respect find out the hard way."

He turned and walked toward the door with Denise, then stopped. "What was your name again?"

"Quinn Avery."

"Quinn Avery." He repeated it to himself, clearly not connecting it to anything. "I'll remember that."

The door closed.

Doug sighed. "Quinn, why do you do this to yourself? The old chief may be retired, but he's still got connections all over the department. What do you gain from making an enemy out of him?"

Kevin agreed. "Exactly. His daughter files a report, you process it by the book—done. Why dig in over the 24 hours? It's not like it costs you anything."

I took my seat without answering.

Doug tried one more time. "Listen to me on this one. Just call the old chief later and apologize. The whole thing will blow over."

I opened the case file in front of me and kept reading. "I didn't do anything wrong."

Doug shook his head and let it drop. But the whole thing didn't blow over.

The next day, Denise didn't bother waiting for the 24 hours to pass. She reached out to a handful of local bloggers and had them run hit pieces. Each headline was nastier than the last, things like "Retired Cop's Granddaughter Abducted While Female Officer Sits on Her Hands" and "She Could Have Saved a Life and Chose Not To."

Below the posts was a photo of me that had been taken without my knowledge. I was sitting behind my desk, and I had to admit my expression did look cold.

The comment sections exploded.

"This cop doesn't deserve to wear the badge!"

"Is she working with the ex-husband or something?"

"She won't even show respect to a retired deputy chief? Who does she think she is?"

"Doxx her! Make her come out and apologize!"

By that afternoon, the post was blowing up on three platforms.

The division captain, Ray Garrett, called me into his office. "Quinn, what the hell did you do?"

He threw his phone down on the desk. The screen was nothing but comments tearing me apart.

"Do you have any idea how big this has gotten? The switchboard's been ringing off the hook."

"I followed the rules," I said.

"Rules? This stopped being about rules a long time ago!" He slapped the desk.

"Chief Holt may be retired, but he spent his whole life in this department. He's got friends and allies at every level. What do you gain from making an enemy out of him?"