His jaw got tighter with every detail. When she finished, he typed everything into his computer, his fingers moving fast. I'm logging this as a formal complaint, he said. Case number, today's date, timestamp, all of it. This goes on record whether anybody upstairs likes it or not.
Thank you. Alice said it was the first time since last night that she felt like someone was actually on her side. I can't promise you what happens next, Fenwick admitted. That's above my rank. But I promise you this complaint doesn't disappear.
Not while I'm the one holding it. Alice left his office feeling something close to hope. That hope didn't last long. Days passed. Alice kept working her shifts, kept her head up, kept ignoring the whispers that followed her through the halls.
She waited for someone to call her in to tell her Corbin and the others were being punished. Instead, she got called into Deputy Chief Priya Osmar's office. Osmar sat behind a big desk, arms folded, looking at Alice like she was a problem that needed to be cleaned up quickly and quietly. I've reviewed the complaint, Osmar said. And I've talked to Sergeant Corbin and the others.
And Alice asked. And it sounds like a joke that went a little too far, Osmar said like she was reading off a grocery list. Rookie hazing. It happens everywhere. Every department has something like this.
Alice felt her hands curl into fists in her lap. They held me down and cut my hair off. That's not a joke. That's an assault. I understand you're upset, Osmar said in a tone that made it clear she didn't understand at all.
But I've decided verbal counseling is enough for Corbin, Miller, and Gordon. This isn't worth destroying three careers over. Three careers? Alice repeated. What about mine?
Osmar didn't answer that directly. Instead, she slid a piece of paper across the desk. A transfer order. A precinct clear across the city, one known for slow, quiet shifts. The kind of place careers went to disappear.
I think a change of scenery would be good for you, Osmar said. For your comfort, given everything that's happened. Alice stared at the paper. They weren't punishing the men who assaulted her. They were punishing her for reporting it.