Chief Dailey stopped writing. He closed the binder to whatever he scribbled in and leveled his gaze on Maverick. The Chief had greyed since they last met. Just a few additional hairs were sprinkled in his mustache and spread across his tapered beard. The civil unrest in the past months most certainly was the blame. With deep dark skin and pensive eyes, he had wisdom to him that Maverick never respected in the past. The Chief stared at Maverick in the same assessing manner, and then he spoke in his leveled tone that dripped authority. “I’m listening,” Dailey said.
“You know where I’ve been?” Maverick asked.
Dailey’s left brow arched at the question. He offered no reply.
“I know you’ve been in contact with a detective in Colorado. Queen Douglas? I’m sure Cliff gave you the rundown on my custody battle and the investigation into my police record,” Maverick said.
Dailey rocked back in his chair. “You have a son?”
Maverick nodded. “He’s two years old.”
“Good for him,” Dailey said. “Why are you here? I told that detective you were clean. I held up my part of the bargain. You were supposed to hold up yours and stay the fuck out of my sight.”
“That’s what it was? A bargain between you and me? Not the truth?” Maverick asked.
“You were cleared by Internal Affairs and the A.D.A. No grand jury wanted to bring charges against you. The union protected your pension. What the fuck do you want from me?” Dailey asked.
“Your respect, your advice, I dunno, maybe eventually friendship. Something more than the standard release we get around here,” Maverick said.
Chief Daily laughed. He dipped back further in his chair and let go a deep burst of laughter that made his belly shake like Santa Claus. “You never gave a shit about my respect or opinion before.”
“The world is different now,” Maverick said.
“No, shit,” replied the Chief.
“I keep telling myself I’m different now,” Maverick began. “But—”
“You don’t believe it?” Dailey asked.
Maverick shook his head. He then sat forward. It was hard as hell to get into the office to see Dailey. He had to pull some major strings with the boys in blue. He didn’t want to rehash old problems. He needed absolution. And he was prepared to make a deal. For the meeting, Maverick wore a mask and kept his distance in hopes he showed respect. Instead of focusing on his losses, he kept his focus on his mission. “Camille and my union rep got you to help me during that trial. I know there was a trade on information to do it. At the time, I reasoned it was fair. Now, I know it wasn’t. My actions... my uhm... my team was slaughtered. I killed the man who killed Camille. I broke the law, and you looked away.”
“That a confession?” the Chief asked.
“It’s the truth. I made peace with it. I moved out of the city. I started over. But now I have a son and a woman that I love. His mother.”
Dailey frowned. “Wait? The woman whose husband’s clinic experiments killed your wife? That woman? The one who went public and challenged you for custody?”
Maverick had to pause to keep his temper in check. He chose to ignore what was implied in the Chief’s tone. “Every day, I see on the news that the world is shit, and the abuse of power keeps spinning the truth. A cycle I want to break for my kid,” Maverick said.
“Camille Diaz, Alejandro Reyes, Steven Clarke, were trained and groomed by you. What did you call your team back then?”
“The Renegades,” Maverick mumbled.
“Right. Renegades. Let me look that up. The Chief typed into his computer and shook his head at the result. “Definition of a renegade; a person who deserts and betrayed an organization, country, or set of principles. Having treacherous or changed allegiance. You chose to name your squad that. Now that I think about it, it sounds about right.”
“We were a team,” Maverick replied.
“You broke the rules, and everyone looked away. Jose Garcia was a piece of shit hitman that should have never been on the streets. A murder sheet longer than the charges we could stick to him. He didn’t deserve his freedom, but you had no right to take his life.”
Maverick clenched his hands into fists. “He killed her. Brutally. He killed them all.”
“But why was that? Because you taught them to disobey the rules, to make their own. If they had called backup to that warehouse, they wouldn’t have been ambushed. That’s the problem with cops like you. If you don’t respect the law, it makes you no better than the fuckers on the street breaking the law. And the Jose Garcia’s of the world know it. That’s your kryptonite. Your bullshit arrogance and prejudice—”
“I’m not a racist,” Maverick spoke up. “I loved Camille and Alejandro and Steve.”
“You prejudged anyone that wasn’t in the blue and living in that borough. You profiled all of them. Some deserving and some not,” the Chief shrugged. “But it didn’t matter. It only mattered to protect your renegades. And they died not knowing that lesson. I do think you were a bad cop. As bad as any of the others I investigated, Maverick. It’s why I made a deal with you to back off the investigation and let you go.”
“I don’t understand? Why help me?” Maverick asked.
The Chief smirked. “I wasn’t helping you, asshole. The intel you gave me helped me blast a hole in the institution that protects cops like you. Who else would be able to make that happen but one of their own?”
Maverick sat back. He couldn’t think of a valid response. He thought the flip of the charges was a second chance. Instead, it was a ticket to freedom stained in the blood of the woman he loved.
“What do you think of me now?” Maverick asked.
“Do I believe you’re a different man? A family man? Reformed? Fuck no,” Chief Daily shoved the knife deeper into Maverick’s heart. “A bastard like you doesn’t change. My guess is you went to that woman who has that kid and got in her head, the same way you got in the head of that squad of bandits you used to lead. You turned her. Now she and that baby think they have some kind of hero. She’ll see who you are. Or pay the price for her ignorance.”
“Fuck you,” Maverick said.
The Chief smiled.
“I have changed. Fuck, I would never hurt an innocent person. I never profiled to hurt innocent people. My arrest record was, is solid. What I did was protect my team out there. We had targets on us. The most violent crimes you could ever imagine we seen them all. We were there, finding victims, after victims, so much of it fucked up my head. I was in a bad state when I found Camille. I went after Garcia in that bathroom because I knew he’d walk away, and I couldn’t let that happen.”
“You’re here because you want to be absolved of your guilt.” Chief Daily put up his hand and stopped Maverick from continuing. “I’m not giving it to you. If you’re different, then prove it. Don’t come in my office looking for more clemency.”
Maverick wiped his hand down his face. He let go a deep breath. “I came for another reason.”
The Chief looked surprised. “And what is that, son?”
“I wanted to thank you. Personally,” Maverick said.