The CEO Above My Desk Chapter 174

***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.

“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.”

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

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 mutters 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.

“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.

Harper’s expression hardens instantly. “You’re no longer assigned to this case.”

Marcus’s jaw flexes once sharply. “I know.”

The male Internal Affairs agent steps in calmly. “We’ll make sure the files are transferred to the new lead agent immediately upon assignment.”

Marcus nods once reluctantly.

The chief exhales heavily again through the speakerphone. “There’s enough in those files to bury half this city.”

Theo mutters under his breath, “Fantastic.”

“And one more thing,” the chief says suddenly.

Everyone stills again.

“If Hargrove realizes those cases are being reopened publicly…” He pauses. “She’s going to panic.”

Camille blinks slowly. “More than she already is?”

“Yes.” That single word lands heavily.

The chief continues quietly, “Because once those bodies get reexamined, there’s no way she talks herself out of this.”

Devin finally exhales slowly, “Chief,” he says quietly.

The older man hums tiredly through the speaker.

“Thank you.”

That seems to catch the chief off guard.

Devin continues anyway. “You could’ve buried this longer.” His voice stays calm and steady. “You could’ve protected yourself.”

A bitter laugh crackles through the phone line. “Wouldn’t have mattered.”

“No,” Devin agrees quietly. “But you still came forward.”

The chief goes silent for a second.

Then finally: “Didn’t feel like much of a choice after the DNA came back.”

Still. It matters. I can tell Devin thinks the same thing too.

He rubs a hand over the back of his neck before speaking again. “For what it’s worth…” Devin pauses briefly. “I hope Internal Affairs cuts you some slack for turning yourself in voluntarily.”

That earns another rough laugh from the chief. “Oh they absolutely fucking won’t.” The chief exhales heavily again. “But maybe…Maybe I can still keep my pension.”

The room quiets again.

“Thirty-two years,” the chief mutters quietly. “I’m hoping they let me retire early instead of dragging me through court.” Another pause. “At this point I’d settle for fishing and blood pressure medication.”

“Look,” he add quickly. “I know everybody in that room probably hates me right now.”

Nobody responds. Because honestly? Nobody knows how to answer that.

“But Violet?”

Every eye slowly turns toward her. She finally looks up from her desk again.

The chief’s voice softens slightly. “I am sorry about your brother.”

That one lands hard.

“You deserved better from us.”

Violet’s expression finally cracks slightly around the edges.

The chief continues quietly. “And your mother deserved better too.”

That’s the one that breaks her.

Her face crumples instantly.

Tears are suddenly spilling down her cheeks before she can stop them.

Oh... Fuck.

The sight hits me like a punch directly to the chest.

Violet immediately turns her face away like she’s embarrassed for anyone to see it happening, one hand coming up quickly to wipe at her eyes.

But it’s too late. The tears keep coming anyway.

Camille’s expression softens immediately. “Vi…”

And that’s it. That’s my limit.

Every instinct inside me takes over before I can even think about it.

I move across the executive floor immediately.

Violet looks up just as I reach her desk.

Her eyes are red already.

God. I hate seeing her cry.

I don’t say anything.

I just pull her against me. Firm. Protective.

Both arms wrapping tightly around her as she finally breaks completely against my chest.

And the second she folds into me, something inside my chest physically aches.

Because she’s trying so hard not to cry loudly. Trying so hard to stay composed.

But the second I hold her close, the restraint starts slipping.

Her fingers grab tightly at the front of my suit jacket while she presses her face against my chest and quietly sobs.

The sound absolutely destroys me.

I hold her tighter immediately.

“It’s okay,” I murmur quietly against the top of her head. “I’ve got you.”