His attorney called the city attorney's office within the hour. Travis Webb came to Serena's office at 2:00 p.m. He knocked and waited. She told him to come in. He stood in the doorway.
"I should have submitted those notes when I wrote them," he said. "Both of them. I knew something was off. I wrote it down and I didn't do anything with it. " "Why not? " she asked. He thought about it honestly.
"Because it was easier not to. Because Dutton had more time on the job than me and I told myself I might be wrong. " He paused. "I wasn't wrong. " "No," she said. "You weren't. " "I'm requesting a transfer to community liaison," he said. "I already spoke to Deputy Chief Hale.
I think I need to rebuild some things about what this job means to me and how I do it. She looked at him for a moment. That request is approved, she said. And Webb, submitting those notes yesterday took integrity. I want you to know I see that.
He nodded. Left. Mayor Denise Watkins called at 4:00 p.m. You have the council's full support, she said. Whatever resources you need for the review, whatever structural changes you need to make, I need one thing, Serena said.
I need this department to look in the mirror. Really look. Not for a press cycle. Not until the story moves on. But actually look.
A pause. You have my word, Watkins said. That evening, Serena drove home along streets she was beginning to know. Turned onto Cartwright Lane. Pulled into the driveway.
Sat for a moment with the engine off, the cold evening pressing against the windows. She got out. Walked to the front door. Stopped. On the porch was the box she'd been stepping around for weeks.
The one labeled living room in her own careful handwriting. She looked at it for a long moment. Then she picked it up and carried it inside. Six weeks later, the mandatory training began. Every officer in Hargrove City PD, every rank, every unit, every shift.