Black-Belt Cop Choked a Nurse in Sparring — Then Her Navy SEAL Past Made Him Regret It
Chapter 33
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They left separately. She drove home, set out what she was going to wear to the hearing, went to bed at 10:00 p.m., lay awake until 11:30, and then finally slept the way you slept before things that mattered: not deeply, not easily, but enough.The Denton Police Department's Review Board convened at 9:00 a.m. on a Wednesday in December in a conference room on the fourth floor of the administrative building. The room seated 30; there were 41 people present.Savannah arrived at 8:40 with Priya and a personal attorney she'd retained the previous week: a woman named Rowan Alcott who specialized in employment and civil matters, and who had reviewed every document in the file and told Savannah without flourish that the case was as solid as she'd seen in 12 years of practice.Quinn arrived separately and sat two rows back. Cassandra Vale came in quietly at 8:55 and sat near the back wall. Dory Marsh was there: Savannah recognized her from the description Sandoval had given—a woman in her 40s with the composed expression of someone who had been waiting a long time for a room to take her seriously. Lena Voss was in the second row: Savannah hadn't met her in person before today; she was small, dark-haired, wearing a blazer that was slightly too big for her, and when she saw Savannah, she gave a single nod—not warm, not performative, just the acknowledgement of two people who understood why they were both here.Dale Rork arrived at 8:58 with his union representative and his attorney. He wore his dress uniform. He sat at the respondent's table and looked at the board panel, not at the gallery, and his face was controlled in the specific, effortful way that faces were controlled when the person wearing them was running on no good options and a significant amount of discipline.Garrett Wills was brought in separately. He sat at a witness table to the side, facing the panel rather than the gallery. He looked like he'd lost 12 pounds since October. He didn't look at Savannah.The board chair, a deputy commissioner named Hartwell whom Sandoval had described as thorough and unsentimental, opened the proceedings at 9:02 and outlined the scope of the hearing in language that was formal and efficient. He noted the panel had reviewed all submitted documentation prior to convening; he noted that testimony would be sworn; he noted that the board's finding would be issued within ten business days of the hearing's conclusion and would be a matter of public record.He looked at the respondent's table. "Officer Rork," Hartwell said, "you are here today to answer to a formal complaint of conduct unbecoming, sustained pattern of targeted physical aggression against civilian training partners, abuse of authority, and coordinated suppression of reportable incidents. Do you understand the charges as described?"Rork's attorney spoke: "My client understands and denies all charges."Hartwell wrote something. "We'll proceed with witness testimony."