She pinned her badge to her lapel, stood in front of the bathroom mirror, and looked at herself for a long moment. Not performing anything. Not rehearsing anything. Just looking. Then she picked up her briefcase and went downstairs.
Zoe was in the kitchen already awake, sitting at the table with both hands wrapped around a mug of tea, her school uniform on, watching the door with an expression she was trying to make look casual and failing completely. "You didn't have to get up," Serena said. "I know. " Serena set her briefcase down and stood across the table from her daughter, and they looked at each other for a moment, with everything that didn't need to be said hanging comfortably in the space between them. "How do I look? " Serena asked. Zoe looked her up and down with the critical appraisal of a teenager who takes these assessments seriously.
"Like someone who's about to ruin several people's mornings," she said. Serena smiled. It reached her eyes. She arrived at Hargrove City PD at 7:43, 2 minutes earlier than scheduled. The desk officer at the entrance looked up when she pushed through the glass doors and stood immediately, almost knocking over his coffee.
She told him to sit down. He sat. Deputy Chief Marcus Hale met her in the lobby, 51 measured the kind of man who had spent his career being the steadiest person in any room. He'd known about Saturday since Saturday afternoon. She'd told him to stand down, and he had, which was one of the reasons she'd specifically requested him as her second.
He extended his hand. "Chief Cole. " "Marcus. " "How are you? " Ready. He held her gaze for a moment. The whole building knows. He said quietly.
It's been circulating since Saturday night. Good. She said. Let them think about it. The formal introduction was scheduled for 9:00 a.m.
In the main assembly hall. 140 officers, senior staff, administrative personnel. She spent the intervening hour in her new office reviewing personnel files. She had already reviewed three times because preparation was not about information retrieval. It was about the state of mind it produced.
Captain Rodney Gaines knocked at 8:50 and entered without waiting for an answer, which she noted. He was 58, 26 years on the force, the kind of man whose handshake was always slightly too firm. He'd been passed over for the chief position twice. And his feelings about her appointment had been adequately communicated through the tone of every interaction in the three weeks since it was announced. Chief.
He said with a half-second pause before the title that she also noted. Everything set in the hall. Thank you, Captain. I want you to know, he said stopping near the door. That whatever personal matters may have occurred this weekend, this department runs professionally.