Chapter 2 - DEREK CALLAHAN WORE A BADGE
Dr. Elena Rossi found two cracked ribs.
Not displaced.
Painful.
Harper also had a mild concussion, bruising along her shoulder, and an older wrist injury that had healed badly.
Elena documented everything.
Photographs.
Measurements.
Dates Harper could remember.
“No report without your consent unless I’m legally required,” Elena said carefully. “But because Noah is a minor, I need to know whether Derek has harmed him.”
Harper looked at her brother.
Noah stared at the floor.
“Noah?”
“He shoved me once.”
Harper’s stomach dropped.
“When?”
“Last month.”
“You said you tripped.”
“I lied.”
Harper began crying.
Noah looked angry.
“Stop.”
“What?”
“You always do this.”
“Do what?”
“Act like everything is your fault.”
He wiped his eyes.
“He’s the one doing it.”
Gabriel stood near the window.
Silent.
Then Marco entered.
He placed a folder on the desk.
Derek Callahan.
Thirty-seven.
Eight years with Boston Police.
Two civilian complaints for excessive force.
One domestic-disturbance call involving a former girlfriend.
No charges.
One internal complaint alleging intimidation of a witness.
Unsubstantiated.
And three suspiciously frequent overtime assignments connected to seizures later questioned by prosecutors.
Gabriel read.
“Who is his captain?”
“Thomas Rourke.”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
He knew the name.
Harper noticed.
“What?”
Gabriel closed the folder.
“Rourke has done favors for people I dislike.”
“That means?”
“It means Derek may be more dangerous than an abusive boyfriend.”
Harper looked away.
Boyfriend.
Technically Derek had been that once.
At first he was charming.
Protective.
He brought groceries when Harper was working double shifts.
Fixed Noah’s broken bike.
Told Harper she deserved someone who would take care of her.
Then the rules began.
Who she spoke to.
What she wore.
Why she worked at the Ashford mansion.
Why Gabriel paid staff so well.
Why Marco sometimes drove Harper home after late events.
Derek became convinced Harper was sleeping with Gabriel.
Nothing Harper said changed his mind.
Three months earlier, the violence started.
A shove.
Then an apology.
Then flowers.
Then a punch to the ribs.
Then promises.
Then worse.
Gabriel asked:
“Why didn’t you leave?”
Harper looked at him.
“I tried.”
“What happened?”
“He found us.”
She and Noah spent four nights with a coworker.
Derek appeared outside the apartment on the fifth.
Uniform on.
Police car.
Smiling.
“He said I could either come home peacefully or he could start asking whether Noah was safe with a sister who worked nights for criminals.”
Gabriel’s eyes darkened.
“He threatened custody?”
“I’m not Noah’s legal guardian.”
That surprised everyone.
Their mother had died three years earlier.
Their father had disappeared when Noah was six.
Harper had cared for Noah ever since, but the guardianship paperwork was incomplete.
Derek knew.
“He said one call to child services and they could take Noah.”
Noah whispered:
“That’s why she stayed.”
Gabriel stared at Harper.
Every piece clicked into place.
Not weakness.
Leverage.
Derek was not simply hitting her.
He had built a cage out of the legal vulnerabilities surrounding her brother.
Gabriel said:
“We fix the guardianship first.”
Harper blinked.
“What?”
“You need your own attorney.”
“I can’t afford—”
“I’ll pay.”
She immediately stiffened.
“No.”
Gabriel stopped.
Good.
Boundary.
He adjusted.
“Then the Ashford employee legal-assistance fund pays. Same program any staff member can use. You choose the lawyer.”
Harper looked at Mrs. Morrison.
She nodded.
“It exists.”
Harper had never known.
“Why?”
Gabriel’s mouth tightened.
“Apparently my benefits handbook is terrible.”
Noah almost laughed.
The next morning, attorney Rachel Kim arrived.
Independent.
Sharp.
She explained emergency guardianship options.
Protective orders.
How documented injuries mattered.
How Derek’s badge did not make him immune.
But Rachel also warned:
“If you accuse him, expect retaliation.”
Harper’s hands trembled.
Gabriel asked:
“Legal retaliation or illegal?”
Rachel looked at him.
“Both.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Then we document everything.”
Again.
Not vengeance.
Evidence.
Harper looked at him differently.
Maybe the stories about Gabriel were true.
Maybe some were worse.
But in this room, at least, he was doing something Derek never did.
He was asking what would actually make her safer.
That afternoon Derek called.
Twenty-three times.
Harper answered once with Rachel beside her.
“Where are you?”
His voice was soft.
Dangerously soft.
“At work.”
“Don’t lie.”
Harper’s pulse spiked.
“Where’s Noah?”
She said nothing.
Derek exhaled.
“You think Ashford protects you now?”
Gabriel’s face became still.
Derek continued:
“Men like him get bored.”
“Then what?”
“You come crawling back.”
Harper swallowed.
Derek lowered his voice.
“And when you do, I’m going to remind you why nobody leaves me.”
Rachel signaled.
Enough.
Harper ended the call.
Noah looked terrified.
Gabriel did not.
He looked almost bored.
Then Marco’s phone buzzed.
He read the message.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“Someone just ran Harper’s name through a police database.”
Harper froze.
“Who?”
Marco looked at her.
“Officer Derek Callahan.”
Gabriel’s gaze hardened.
Derek was not merely angry.
May you like
He was using his badge to find her.
And that gave them the first clean piece of evidence they needed.
