Officer Mallory

Officer Mallory was a member of Brighton Police Department.

## Relationships

Mallory did not get along with his partner or any of his fellow officers, and all of them seemed to think he’s an asshole. The mother of his daughter died nine years before the start of the story, and he presumably lacked any other alive family members besides his daughter, Melissa Mallory.

## History

After witnessing the murder of a ten year old boy by Geoffrey, Mallory was called on to be a key witness in the court case. To stop him from testifying, Joseph Rofal sent five men to his house to kill him. Hector, alerted by Garovel, arrived at the same time as them and incapacitated four (with the fifth killed by Mallory), but not before Mallory was shot in the side. Mallory was taken to the hospital by the ambulance he called and received surgery, but they didn’t manage to give him blood transfusion in time, resulting in his death.

## References

1. ↑ ‘*He doesn’t get along with his partner or any of his fellow officers here. Everyone seems to think he’s an asshole.*’ - Excerpt from page 31
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mallory’s daughter was supposed to be in protective custody for the remainder of the night, and Garovel had initially wanted Hector to get some rest. But then the reaper heard some of the officers talking privately. Each of the four guards assigned to her expected Rofal’s men to come for her by night’s end, and only Officer Colt seemed to harbor any notion of standing in their way. And it hadn’t taken the other three long to talk him down.

Having no need of further direction, Hector waited until the man at the reception desk wasn’t looking and snuck past. He held his bag close at his side and tried not to make eye contact with any of the passing attendants.

Mallory had been taken to the rear wing of the hospital for surgery, and according to Garovel, his daughter sat in the waiting room. Hector peeked around the corner and saw the four officers standing at the other end of the hall.

‘*I see the room*,’ he thought. He took a seat out of the officers’ sightline.

‘*Good. I’m with the daughter.*’

‘*Learn anything new?*’

‘*Her name is Melissa. A bit on the short side, looks a couple years older than you, brown hair, ponytail in a braid, green shirt with a cute dog on it, blue pants, white sneakers--*’

‘*That--uh--that’s a lot of information...*’

‘*You may need to know what she looks like.*’

‘*Uh... yeah, okay. Thanks. I meant more, um... about the mother or about Rofal, maybe...*’

‘*The mother is not alive.*’

‘*Oh...*’

‘*The nurse asked Melissa about it. She said her mother died nine years ago. She didn't mention any other family.*’

‘*Geez... and now this...*’

‘*Yeah. Wait. Here comes the doctor. The surgery’s over already?*’

Hector held his breath.

‘*...They couldn’t give him a blood transfusion in time. He’s dead.*’

He exhaled and shut his eyes.

‘*Melissa’s a wreck.*’ - Excerpt from pages 34 and 35
3. ↑ “Wh-who sent these men to kill you?”

Mallory squinted. “How old are you? You sound like a kid.” At Hector’s silence, he said, “Rofal. Joseph Rofal.”

“Because you’re testifying in court a-against him?”

“Not against him. His little shit stain of a nephew. I was there. I saw him murder that boy. No more than ten years old. Dropped a cinderblock on top of the kid’s head. And then *laughed*. Fuckin’ little bastard--” He broke off for a pained cringe and began coughing. His skin had grown pale. Sweat covered his face. “And now I’m dying ‘cuz of that little fuck? I should’ve just... sh-should’ve just shot that piece of... stupid piece of shit...” The dreary look in his eyes seemed to suggest he had forgotten what he was saying. Or that he no longer cared. - Excerpt from page 36
4. ↑ ‘*Officer Mallory is in his house. You should keep your distance until--*’ Garovel stopped when they both saw a black van pull up in front of the house. Five men stepped out. Two started for the front door, three circled around back. ‘*You’d better put your mask back on.*’

‘*Right.*’

Dashing up to the house, he saw them knocking on the door.

‘*Deal with the ones in the back first.*’

‘*Okay.*’

He snuck along the neighbor’s fence and leapt over into the backyard. The three of them noticed him immediately and stiffened their postures, hands in their coats.

“Who the fuck are you?” said the nearest one, square-jawed and younger than the others. “What’s with the fucking mask?”

“Uh... I-I heard you had some leaky pipes?”

“Get outta here before we--”

‘*You don’t have time to chat.*’ Garovel touched his shoulder, and that familiar pain flashed through his body. ‘*Go.*’

He rushed the youngest guy, who pulled a gun, but Hector flattened him before he could fire. The man stayed down. The other two pulled, and Hector took two in the chest before reaching the next man, slugging him in the face, and kicking his gun away from him. The last one fired five more times, three of which missed Hector completely, and went down with a kick to the testicles and an elbow to the forehead.

Gunfire erupted from inside the house.

He stomped the door down and found Mallory crouched behind the kitchen’s island, clutching his side with one arm, trying to reload his service weapon with the other, and staring right back at Hector. A ponytailed gunman was in the hall, and Hector walked straight toward him. A bullet ripped through the mask and pierced his neck. Hector yanked the man’s gun away and smashed him in the face with it. A few teeth flew from his mouth and hit the hardwood floor as he did.

A gunshot made him run back into the kitchen. The last thug was slumped in the other doorway, his head blown open and bleeding all over the tile. Officer Mallory took a ragged breath and looked at Hector, doubtless wanting to ask the obvious question, but he pulled out a cellphone instead and dialed. He tried to stand but slid back down against the counter, bleeding nearly as much as the dead man.

“I’m going to assume--guh--that you didn’t come here to kill me,” said the officer. He put the phone to his ear. “Yeah, I need an ambulance.” Giving his address and eyeing Hector, he added, “And there’s someone else here in even worse shape than me... I think.” - Excerpt from pages 34 and 35