Hayes glanced at it.
“You're not holding a formal meeting?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because meetings tell me what people want me to know.”
He folded the paper again.
“I want to know what happens when nobody thinks I'm watching.”
Hayes stared at him for a moment.
Then she smiled faintly.
“That is exactly why I recommended you.”
Ethan looked at her.
“You recommended me?”
“I was one of three commissioners who supported your appointment.”
“I thought the vote was unanimous.”
“It was.”
Hayes paused.
“But the recommendation wasn't.”
Ethan understood.
She had been watching his career.
She knew why he had been selected.
He had spent fifteen years in law enforcement.
He had served in patrol.
Detectives.
Professional standards.
Command.
He had taken over troubled departments before.
But Lakewood was different.
The department had experienced three acting chiefs in four years.
Morale was low.
Complaints were high.
Internal investigations had increased.
Several senior officers had retired unexpectedly.
And the city council wanted answers.
Hayes folded her hands.
“There is one more thing.”
Ethan waited.
“Mercer is not a bad officer.”
Ethan said nothing.
Hayes continued.
“He's been here eighteen years.”
“That doesn't tell me whether he's a good officer.”
“No.”
She sighed.
“It tells you that he's deeply established.”
Ethan looked at the closed office door.
“That can be more dangerous.”
Hayes's expression became serious.
“You're going to make enemies.”
“I know.”
“You haven't even started.”
Ethan picked up his folder.
“I think I started at six fifty-three.”
Hayes almost smiled.
Then her expression changed.
“Chief.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Don't underestimate what happened downstairs.”
“I don't.”
“I mean it.”
Hayes lowered her voice.
“That wasn't simply a misunderstanding.”
Ethan waited.
She continued.
“Mercer has been complaining for months about outsiders entering the department and changing procedures.”
“I'm not an outsider.”
“You are to him.”
Ethan considered that.
“Maybe that's what worries him.”
Hayes stood.
“Come with me.”
They left the office and walked toward the command conference room.
As they passed the hallway, Ethan noticed something.
A security camera was pointed directly toward the entrance to the administrative corridor.
He stopped.
Hayes turned.
“What?”
Ethan pointed.
“Who monitors that camera?”
“Communications.”
“Who has access to the recordings?”
“Shift supervisors. Command. IT.”
“Any automatic deletion?”
“Thirty days.”
Ethan nodded.
Then he continued walking.
Neither of them noticed Sergeant Mercer standing at the far end of the hallway.
He had been watching.
His face was still pale.
But now the embarrassment was beginning to disappear.
Something colder was replacing it.
Ethan Brooks had entered Lakewood Police Department expecting resistance.
He had not expected to be handcuffed.
Mercer had not expected the stranger in the command uniform to be the new chief.
But there was something neither man knew yet.
The incident in the lobby had been recorded.
Not just by the body camera on Mercer's chest.
Not just by the hallway camera.
Not just by the security system.
Someone else had been watching.
And that person had already begun sending a message.
At 7:26 that morning, while Ethan Brooks was sitting in his first command meeting, a phone in a locked office downstairs received a text message.
The message contained only six words.
“He knows the department is broken.”
A second message followed.
“Find out what he knows.”
The recipient looked at the screen.
Then deleted both messages.
Outside the office, the station continued operating normally.
Phones rang.
Officers answered calls.
Dispatchers sent units into the city.
People walked through the front doors asking for reports, permits, and assistance.
From the outside, nothing had changed.
But inside Lakewood Police Department, the arrival of Ethan Brooks had already changed everything.
And Sergeant Daniel Mercer was no longer the only person watching the new chief.
The first person to watch Ethan Brooks closely was Sergeant Daniel Mercer.
The second was someone Ethan had never met.
Her name was Lieutenant Sarah Collins.
She had been sitting near the back of the command conference room when Ethan entered with Commissioner Hayes. She had said almost nothing during the meeting, but Ethan noticed that she took notes differently from everyone else.
Most people wrote down what was said.
Collins wrote down who said it.
Ethan noticed because he did the same thing.
The conference room contained seven people.
Commissioner Hayes sat at the head of the table.
Deputy Chief Robert Langley sat to her right.
Lieutenant Collins sat near the window.
Two division commanders sat across from them.
The department attorney occupied the far end.
And Ethan sat quietly with his folder in front of him.
Hayes began the meeting by explaining the transition plan.
Ethan listened.
He asked almost no questions.
That seemed to make everyone uncomfortable.
When a new chief arrives, people expect him to announce his priorities.
They expect speeches.
They expect criticism.
They expect promises.
Ethan offered none of those things.
Instead, he listened.