Then toward his inactive body camera.
“Why isn't your camera recording?”
“Technical problem, Chief.”
“When did the problem begin?”
Cole swallowed.
“Before the call.”
“Did you report the malfunction?”
He hesitated.
“No, ma'am.”
The chief slowly lowered her phone.
She had witnessed enough to understand that the encounter required immediate independent review.
She was also a witness herself, which meant she couldn't appropriately serve as the sole investigator of Cole's conduct.
She called for an uninvolved supervisor to take control of the scene, asked that medical assistance be offered, and directed that the incident be reported through the department's formal investigative procedures.
She also contacted the appropriate outside investigative authority because the allegations extended beyond a routine policy complaint.
Then she turned toward Marcus.
“Are you injured?”
His cheek was red.
His upper arm ached where the officer had grabbed him.
But he barely noticed.
He was looking toward his daughter.
The little girl stood beside her grandmother, trembling.
Marcus's voice broke.
“I need to go to her.”
The chief stepped aside immediately.
“Of course.”
He crossed the yard.
His daughter ran toward him.
“Daddy!”
Marcus dropped to one knee and opened his arms.
She collided with his chest.
He held her tightly.
For several seconds, she sobbed against his shoulder.
Then she pulled back and looked at his cheek.
“Did he hurt you?”
Marcus swallowed.
“A little, sweetheart.”
Her lips trembled.
“Is he going to take you away?”
The question nearly destroyed him.
He looked toward the officer, who was standing near the gate speaking quietly with the supervisor.
Then he looked back at his daughter.
“No, princess. I'm here.”
She clung to him.
Marcus closed his eyes.
He remembered the promise he'd made beside his wife's hospital bed.
Don't let our daughter grow up remembering only sadness.
Now his little girl was crying in his arms on her birthday.
And he couldn't erase what she'd seen.
He pressed his cheek gently against her hair.
“I love you.”
She cried harder.
He held her until her breathing began to settle.
Across the yard, the chief was examining the circumstances of the dispatch.
The radio message troubled her.
Confirm whether the subject has been removed from the property.