The CEO Above My Desk (Mckenzie Shinabery) novel Chapter 193

Rowan

The female Internal Affairs agent suddenly steps forward.

“Chief, this is Agent Harper with Internal Affairs. Are you confirming unauthorized database access throughout the department?”

Silence and then, “…Harper?” The chief sounds genuinely confused now.

Another pause.

“Wait.” Papers shuffle loudly over the line. “Devin, who the hell is there with you?”

Theo mutters quietly, “Oh this just got awkward.”

Devin rubs a hand over his face tiredly. “You’re on speakerphone.”

I almost think he’s going to hang up.

Instead, the chief lets out one exhausted, defeated laugh.

“Well.” Another pause. “Too fucking late now, I guess.”

The agents exchange looks.

And then the chief keeps talking anyway. “Yes,” he says finally. “It wasn’t just Calder.”

The room quiets instantly again.

“It’s the whole damn department.”

That lands hard.

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“Hargrove bought new patrol vehicles last year. New systems. Equipment upgrades. Half the department practically worshipped her for it.”

His voice turns bitter.

“And because she funded everything, nobody questioned how much access she wanted.”

ne female agent’s expression hardens immediately. “What kind of access?”

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09:58 Thu, May 14

Chapter 193

The chief laughs once humorlessly. “Hell if I know anymore.” His voice sharpens. “Traffic cameras. Personnel files. CI records. Case archives.” A pause. “Probably our damn lunch schedules too if she asked for them.”

Camille mutters, “That’s horrifying.”

“No,” the chief says flatly through the speaker. “What’s horrifying is what Calder was doing with it.”

Avery slowly sinks into one of the office chairs behind me looking like she might actually throw up.

“She was feeding Calder information,” the chief continues. “And Calder was feeding her information back.”

Marcus finally speaks again quietly. “Jesus Christ.”

“No,” the chief says flatly. “Jesus left this city a long fucking time ago.”

The chief exhales heavily through the line before papers shuffle again somewhere on his end.

“And it gets worse.”

Theo immediately groans. “How is there still a worse?”

“Because I just reopened seven old cases tied to Calder.”

That gets everyone’s attention instantly.

“All of them involved suspicious deaths.” His voice grows rougher now. “Overdoses. Car accidents. Supposed suicides.”

Camille slowly lowers her coffee again. “Oh my God…”

“But after reviewing the files?” the chief continues bitterly. “None of those investigations make sense anymore.”

A cold feeling settles into my stomach.

“What kind of inconsistencies?” Agent Harper asks sharply.

“Missing evidence.” Papers shuffle loudly again. “Witnesses disappearing before statements could be finalized. Security footage somehow corrupted every fucking time Calder touched a case.”

Theo outters quietly, “Convenient.”

The chief laughs once humorlessly. “That’s one word for it.” Another pause follows. Then quieter: “I think Hargrove was

cleaning house.

The executive floor stills

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09:58 Thu, May 14

Chapter 193

“She was shutting people up before they could talk,” the chief says heavily. “Anybody who became a liability somehow ended up dead with Calder handling the investigations afterward.”

Avery physically recoils in the chair behind me. “No…” she whispers.

The chief’s voice softens slightly for the first time. “I’m sorry, kid. But yeah.”

My eyes drift briefly toward Violet. She hasn’t moved from behind her desk. Hasn’t spoken. But I can physically see her brain putting the pieces together now.

A system built to bury problems instead of solving them.

Marcus finally rubs a hand over his face roughly. “How the fuck did nobody catch this?”

“Because nobody wanted to,” the chief snaps suddenly.

That silences the room again.

“We trusted Calder,” he continues more quietly. “We trusted Hargrove. She made the department look better publicly. Funding went up. Equipment improved.” His voice turns bitter again. “And meanwhile she was using us like a private

cleanup crew.”

Agent Harper steps forward slightly now. “Chief, where are these files currently?”

“I already sent everything over to Marcus.”

Every head in the room immediately turns toward him.

Marcus looks exhausted now. Not defensive anymore. Just tired.

Comments

Samantha Henton

1 Comments-

Violet is finally operating at Rowan’s level with the boss move of going to the press and I love watching him figure it out in real time. They are so well matched for each other!!

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