Black-Belt Cop Choked a Nurse in Sparring — Then Her Navy SEAL Past Made Him Regret It
Chapter 23
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"The use-of-force reviews that were closed early," he said. "Hensley didn't close them alone. There are communications connecting a third party, someone outside the department. A civilian." He paused. "Someone who has been a member of this gym for four years."The floor shifted under her in a way that had nothing to do with physical balance. She looked around the room at the people who were still there: Steph, Becks, Petra, Theo, three or four others she recognized from months of Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings."Who?" she said.Quinn's voice dropped to something just above quiet. "Garrett Wills," he said.She looked at Garrett Wills standing behind his desk.The same desk. The same man who'd told her to come on Tuesdays and Thursdays and not jump into intermediate classes too fast. The man who'd hesitated before the choke demonstration and then said, Keep it light, and looked the other way when light wasn't what happened.Four years. The number sat in her chest like something swallowed wrong."How long have you known?" she asked Quinn."Three days. I wanted to confirm before I told you. Sandoval pulled his phone records yesterday morning." He kept his voice low and his body angled away from the desk. "Garrett was the connection between Hensley and Rork that made the closure reviews move fast. He's not law enforcement; he can't formally close anything. But he provided character documentation and witness statements for both reviews that were factually incomplete, possibly fabricated."She looked at Garrett again. He was sorting through papers; his hands weren't steady. He knew that she knew. She could see it in the set of his shoulders, the way he wasn't looking at the room."Does Sandoval have enough to move on him?" she said."Enough to interview him formally. Enough to subpoena his records. Whether it becomes criminal depends on what the documents show." Quinn picked up his bag. "We need to leave now, before either of us says something to him that affects the investigation."She picked up her bag. She walked past the front desk without stopping, without looking at Garrett, without saying the 17 things she wanted to say.The door swung open, and the cold November air hit her face. She walked to her car, got in, and sat there.Quinn knocked on the passenger window. She unlocked it and he got in. Neither of them spoke for a moment."He buried the complaint the other woman filed," she said. "A year ago, he had it and he put it in a drawer.""Yes.""If he hadn't, Rork would have been reviewed before I ever walked into that gym.""Yes," Quinn said again.She put both hands on the wheel and looked at the windshield. Outside, the gym's blacked-out windows looked the same as they always had: opaque, giving nothing away.She thought about all the Thursday evenings she'd driven past this building before she finally stopped. She thought about Cassandra Vale in her thin coat. She thought about the two women who'd left without saying why, whose names she still didn't know."Okay," she said. "Okay. Call Sandoval. Tell him everything we just talked about. I want to be on that call."Quinn pulled out his phone.