She was the person who had ordered the audit.
And she had chosen Bellhaven for a reason.
Three years earlier, Elena's younger brother, Gabriel, had died during a police encounter in another city.
The official report had called it an unfortunate use-of-force incident.
Elena had never accepted that explanation.
She had spent three years studying police accountability systems.
She had become an investigator.
And when she discovered that Bellhaven had connections to several complaints similar to Gabriel's case, she had volunteered for the audit.
She had not come to Bellhaven because of Rourke.
She had come because of a pattern.
Rourke simply became the most obvious part of it.
Two days after the assault, Elena returned to the police department.
Her forehead was bandaged.
Her left wrist was bruised.
She walked into the lobby carrying the same leather satchel.
The desk officer stared at her.
“Ms. Cross.”
“Good morning.”
“You're really coming back?”
“Yes.”
Rourke was waiting.
This time, he was not smiling.
His attorney stood beside him.
So did the police chief.
The chief looked exhausted.
“Ms. Cross.”
“Chief.”
“I want to apologize.”
“For what?”
The chief hesitated.
“For what happened.”
Elena looked at Rourke.
“He should apologize himself.”
Rourke's jaw tightened.
“I acted improperly.”
“That isn't an apology.”
“I lost my temper.”
“That isn't an apology either.”
The chief intervened.
“Let's focus on the audit.”
Elena nodded.
“Agreed.”
She opened her folder.
“I have thirty-seven complaints.”
The chief frowned.
“Thirty-seven?”
“Yes.”
“We have twenty-eight.”
“You have twenty-eight in your official system.”
Silence.
Elena placed a second document on the table.
“These nine were removed.”
The chief picked it up.
“Where did you get these?”
“From victims.”
Rourke stared at the papers.
Elena continued.
“Six complaints involve excessive force.”
“Four involve altered reports.”
“Three involve missing body-camera footage.”
“And two involve officers being instructed not to file internal complaints.”
The chief looked at Rourke.
Rourke said nothing.
Elena turned another page.
“And there is one more problem.”
“What?”
“Financial records.”
The room became silent.
She placed a spreadsheet on the table.
“Over five years, this department paid more than two hundred thousand dollars in confidential settlements related to police conduct.”
The chief stared.
“Those were approved by the city.”
“Some were.”
“And the others?”
“Never officially reported.”
Rourke finally spoke.
“You're making assumptions.”
“No.”
Elena looked at him.
“I'm following money.”
That sentence frightened him.
Because money left trails.
People could forget conversations.
They could destroy paper.
They could intimidate witnesses.
But financial records were harder to erase.
Elena had discovered payments to former officers.
Payments to private consultants.
Payments to legal firms.
And most importantly, payments from a nonprofit organization called the Bellhaven Justice Foundation.