Chapter 11 #2
She checked Zeus into the K-9 area, made sure his water bowl was full, then headed to the bullpen to start her shift paperwork. Riley was already at her desk, working through what looked like an incident report.
"Morning," Riley said without looking up.
"Morning."
Maddox settled at her own desk, logged into her computer, and pulled up her patrol schedule for the day. Standard route through the downtown corridor, school zone checks, then the afternoon K-9 demo at the community center. Nothing complicated.
Her email pinged.
She almost ignored it—probably another departmental memo about parking procedures or uniform standards—but something made her click over to her inbox.
It was an email from Chief Diana Marten with the subject line simply “Personnel Matter,” and a short message that said, “Please report to my office today at 10 a.m. Your attendance is mandatory.”
Maddox's stomach dropped.
She read the email again, searching for details and clues that weren't there.
Her mind immediately started cataloging recent calls, looking for mistakes.
Had she missed something in her reports?
Violated a procedure? Zeus had been flawless on every call this month, so there were no issues with searches or alerts.
Her use-of-force documentation was up to date, and she hadn't had any complaints from civilians.
What the hell did I do wrong?
"You okay?"
Maddox looked up. Riley was watching her, concern evident in her expression.
"Yeah. Fine." Maddox closed her email and pulled up her patrol schedule again, even though she'd already reviewed and memorized it.
"You don't look fine. You look like someone just told you Zeus failed his certification."
"I'm fine," Maddox repeated, more firmly this time.
Riley studied her for another moment, then shrugged and returned to her own work. "If you say so."
Maddox stared at her computer screen without seeing it. Personnel matter, mandatory attendance, the words kept circling in her head, each repetition ratcheting her anxiety higher.
She pulled out her phone, her thumb hovering over Jade’s name in her contacts. But what would she even say? Hey, got called into the chief’s office, panicking for no reason. No. Besides, Jade was probably in a session already, and this was probably nothing.
Probably.
She put her phone away and tried to focus on her paperwork, but the words blurred on the screen. Her mind kept spinning through the possibilities, each one worse than the last.
At nine-thirty, she gave up pretending to work and headed to the K-9 building. Zeus looked up from where he was lying in his kennel, his tail thumping hard against the concrete when he saw her.
“Hey, buddy.” Maddox unlocked the kennel and Zeus came out, pressing against her legs. She crouched down, running her hands through his soft fur. “Just needed to see you for a minute.”
Zeus whined, his dark eyes searching her face. He could sense her anxiety; he always could. His whole body tensed, mirroring her own tension.
“Just got to go to a meeting. Nothing to worry about.”
Zeus didn’t look convinced.
Maddox stayed with him for a few minutes, drawing comfort from his solid warmth and the steady rhythm of his breathing. Whatever this meeting was about, she’d handle it head-on as she always did.
At nine-fifty, she secured Zeus back in his kennel and walked toward the administrative wing.
The hallway was quiet, most officers already out on patrol or in briefings.
Her boots echoed against the tile floor, each step feeling heavier than the last. Chief Marten’s office was at the end of the hall, the door closed.
Maddox stopped outside it, straightening her uniform shirt and checking that her badge was positioned correctly. When she was confident she was properly composed, she knocked twice on the door.
“Come in,” Chief Marten’s voice called from inside.
Maddox opened the door and stepped into the office. Chief Marten sat behind her large mahogany desk, her expression neutral but not unkind.
She gestured to the chair across from her. “Close the door and have a seat, Shaw.”
Maddox did as instructed, settling into the chair with her back straight. She pressed her hands on the tops of her thighs. Every instinct she had was screaming danger, but she kept her face carefully blank.
“Thank you for coming,” Chief Marten said, even though they both knew it wasn’t optional. She folded her hands on the desk in front of her, and Maddox noticed a little folder there. It was thin but imposing.
About her? About a call? About—
"I'll get straight to the point," Chief Marten said. "I received a report yesterday afternoon regarding your conduct."
Maddox's heart rate kicked up, but she kept her expression controlled. "What kind of report?"
"A report alleging an inappropriate relationship with a department contractor." Chief Marten's tone was carefully professional, giving nothing away. "Specifically, with Jade Kessler."
The world tilted.
For a second, Maddox couldn't breathe, couldn't think, just sat there while her brain tried to process what she'd just heard.
They knew. Someone had reported them. Everything she'd built, everything she was, suddenly felt like it was balanced on the edge of a cliff.
"Shaw?" Chief Marten's voice cut through the static in her head. "Do you have anything to say about that?"
Maddox forced air into her lungs, forced her voice to work. "Who reported it?"
"That's not relevant to this conversation."
But Maddox already knew. Vanessa Torres. That calculating look at the committee meeting, the way she'd been watching them, she'd seen something—or thought she had—and reported it.
"Is it true?" Chief Marten asked, her tone had an edge of something that sounded almost like sympathy.
Maddox's throat was tight. Every fiber of her being wanted to deny it, to lie, to protect what she and Jade had built. But Chief Marten already knew, so the question wasn't whether the relationship existed but whether Maddox would be truthful and own up to it.
"Yes," Maddox said quietly. "It's true."
Chief Marten nodded slowly, like she'd expected that answer. "How long?"
"About a month." It felt both longer and shorter than that. Had it really been a month of nights together, mornings in each other's kitchens? A month of falling for each other…
"And Ms. Kessler is aware of the potential complications and the ethics concerns?"
“We’ve discussed it.” They had, in careful terms, discussed the boundaries and professional standards they needed to maintain at work. But Maddox suddenly realized how naive they’d been thinking careful was enough.
Chief Marten was quiet for a moment, studying her. Then she opened the file folder and pulled out a single sheet of paper.
“Here’s where we are,” she said. “Jade Kessler is a contracted therapist, not a department employee, which gives us some flexibility but not much. The wellness committee requires her regular presence, and your work with the K-9 outreach programs means frequent professional contact. The appearance of a conflict of interest exists, regardless of whether an actual conflict does.”
Maddox’s hands tightened around her thighs. She knew where this was going.
“I have three options to present to you, and I want you to think carefully about them,” Chief Marten continued.
“One: you end the relationship immediately and we document this conversation as a verbal warning. Two: Ms. Kessler’s contract is terminated effective immediately, and she releases all contracts with police department employees.
Three: you request a transfer to a different precinct effective immediately. ”
Each option hit Maddox like a physical gut punch. End it, lose Jade’s work, or leave Phoenix Ridge…leave Zeus.
“I need you to understand something, Maddox.” Chief Marten’s voice was gentler now, using her first name to ground her. “This isn’t about punishing you. But we have policies for a reason, and those policies exist to protect everyone involved, including you and Ms. Kessler.”
Maddox couldn’t speak, couldn’t process the information given to her. Her mind was spinning through the options, each one impossible.
If she ended it with Jade, she’d be destroying the best thing in her life to save her career. If Jade lost her contract with the police department, and possibly all Phoenix Ridge first responder departments, it’d be Maddox’s fault. Again, someone paying the price for Maddox’s choices.
And if she transferred…
No. Zeus wouldn’t come with her. K-9 partners didn’t transfer. Zeus would be reassigned to another handler, and Maddox would start over somewhere new, alone, without Zeus.
“I’m giving you until Monday to decide,” Chief Marten said. “That’s two days. Think carefully about what you want, Shaw. And talk to Ms. Kessler. She deserves to be part of this decision.”
Maddox managed a nod, even though she felt like she was drowning.
“Dismissed,” Chief Marten said quietly, a note of softness in her tone.
Maddox stood on legs that felt unsteady, turned, and walked out of the office. The hallway seemed longer than before, the fluorescent lights too bright, everything slightly unreal.
She made it to the locker room before her knees gave out.
Maddox didn’t remember deciding to leave.
One moment, she was in the locker room, knees on the concrete floor and staring at the metal grating of her locker, and the next, she was in her K-9 patrol vehicle with Zeus in the back, the engine running, and the parking lot sliding past her windows.
Driving.
Where? Doesn’t matter. Just moving.
Her hands gripped the steering wheel, her knuckles white.
The radio crackled with dispatch calls: routine traffic stops, welfare check on Oak Street, someone’s cat stuck in a tree.
All normal Friday things, the world continuing to spin on its axis like nothing had changed. Yet everything had changed.
Three options. Choose one. You have until Monday.