Better the Devil You Don't Know

by Mairsile Leabhair

  “Uh, Michele?”

  “Oh, yes, sorry. Please continue,” I said breathlessly.

  She studied me for a moment and I held my breath. “I’m going to fire—”

  She said fire and my mind went blank and my mouth fell open. Wait, what did Bryon have to do with my being fired? “I’m sorry, could you repeat that last part, please?”

  “I said that I’m going to fire Byron in a minute, and I would like you to be a witness to it.”

  “Oh!” Oh, thank God! “Okay, sure.” Totally not what I was thinking, and yet, gratifying that she trusted me that much.

  “Needless to say, he will be upset, but I don’t anticipate any problems,” she said.

  “May I ask what changed your mind? He told us that you approved of the way he handled things.”

  She turned a ruddy red, and I thought I saw steam coming out of her ears. Then she inhaled sharply, but let it out slowly.

  “That is exactly why I want a witness, Michele. Now I know, after reading the HR manual, that normally I would ask them to do it, but it’s the director’s prerogative, and I want to get it over with and get him out of here before he starts his shift.”

  It was a first for me, but I was sure I could handle it, though I admit, I was a little intimidated. “Shall I ask him to come in?”

  She smiled. “Yes, please.”

  When I walked back into the conference room, Byron was sitting back in his chair, his hands behind his head, his leg propped up on his knee. I almost felt sorry for him.

  “Hey, baby,” he said with a wink. “One night with me and you’ll never walk the same again.”

  Nope. Don’t feel sorry for him anymore.

  “Knock that shit off,” Robby growled.

  “Byron, the chief would like to see you for a minute,” I said, ignoring the bile in my stomach that his remarks caused.

  “Ah, another woman needs me. So many women, so little time,” he said as he stood up and smoothed his pants down.

  “You really are clueless, aren’t you?” Dorey asked, sneering at him.

  “What’s up, Chief?” Byron asked as he walked into her office.

  She pointed at the chair I had been sitting in, and he sat down. I shut the door and took a seat in a chair she must have moved in while I was getting Byron. It was tucked in the corner behind her.

  “Let me just put it out there for you, Mr. Becker,” Casey said as she leaned forward. “It’s not going to work out. I’m going to have to let you go.”

  “What?” he asked, obviously surprised. “We had a deal. You gave me ninety days.”

  “That was before I read your file. It states that you have three occurrences already, and the rule is three strikes, you’re out. I imagine it was an oversight because of the turnover in department leaders, but since I’ve gotten here, I’ve heard nothing but complaints against you, and having run into your Taser myself, I no longer feel that you are what we’re looking for to protect our patients.”

  “This is bullshit!” he shouted, jumping up out of his chair. “You can’t do this.”

  “Actually, I can and I just did. Clean out your locker, Mr. Becker, you’re done here.”

  “You fucking dyke. I’ll have your job for this,” he shouted, kicking his chair back with a thud.

  The chief stood up slowly and walked around to the front of her desk. She was cool as a cucumber, even as I was shaking in my boots. She walked past him and opened the door. “Davis, Longfellow, get in here, now.” She stepped back, her eyes staring calmly at Byron, as Dorey and Robby came running in. She motioned toward Byron. “Mr. Becker has been relieved of his positon. Please escort him to his locker, and then see that he leaves this campus.”

  It was protocol for security to escort a terminated or laid off employee from the campus, but in this case, it was also for our own safety.

  “Wait,” Casey said, and walked back to her desk. Opening the bottom drawer, she pulled out the Taser Byron had carried. She walked over to Dorey, who was standing by Byron, and handed it to her. “Give this back to him after he gets in his car.”

  “Yes, Chief,” Dorey replied, taking the weapon and slipping it inside her belt.

  “Come on, Byron. Don’t make a scene,” Robby encouraged, taking Byron’s elbow and waving toward the door.

  “Fuck you, Robby. Fuck all of you!” he exclaimed, jerking his arm away from Robby’s grasp.

  The others, who were in the conference room, came running in when they heard the shouting.

  Suddenly, Byron shoved Dorey into Robby and grabbed for the Taser. Lula jumped in front of me as the chief grabbed Byron’s wrist and twisted his arm so fast behind his back that it was almost a blur. I peeked around Lula, who had her hands out ready to fight, and saw the chief roughly push Byron up against the wall, tightening the grip on his arm. It was bent so far up his back that I expected to hear bones breaking.

  “Handcuffs,” she demanded.

  Lucas pulled out his cuffs and grabbed Byron’s free arm roughly, snapping the handcuff on his wrist. Then he wrapped Byron’s arm behind his back and secured both hands in the handcuffs. “Settle down, Byron. Just settle down.”

  When Lucas was done, the chief spun Byron around and stood an inch from his face. “I tried to give you a dignified way out, but perhaps you’d rather be arrested and spend the night in lockup?”

  “All right! All right,” Byron said, exhaling sharply. “I’ll go, damn it. But you’re going to regret this, I promise you.”

  The chief didn’t say a word, she just nodded at Robby and then stepped back. Dorey put her hand on the Taser, making sure that Byron knew she was ready to pull it out and use it if necessary. Robby and Lucas positioned themselves on either side of Byron and led him out the door. He was still cussing as he left.

  I think that was when my heart started beating again. It all happened in a flash, but it felt like slow motion. The chief was like the Goddess Athena; graceful, determined, lethal. I’d never seen a woman be so commanding and so self-assured in a confrontation like that. Actually, I’ve never seen a confrontation like that before.

  Lula turned and looked at me, putting her hands on my shoulders. “Are you all right, Michele? My, God. You’re trembling.”

  Before I could assure her that I was all right, she pulled me into her arms and rubbed her hand over my back. I was just tall enough that my head rested on her breastplate. My breath caught in my throat as I said, “I was really scared,” She held me tighter. Oh, my, God. I wrapped my arms around her waist and inhaled deeply. She smelled like the outdoors. Like a forest, only softer. Her breasts were smashed firmly against my chest. It had been so long that I reveled in the feel of them. I wish I could reach out and touch—

  “It’s all right, Michele. He’s gone now,” Lula assured me.

  “Who’s gone?” I muttered, forgetting everything but the sweet sound of her heart thumping in my ear.

  “Is she all right?” the chief asked.

  No, I’m not. Go away.

  “Yes, Chief,” Lula replied. “Just a little shaken up.”

  “Why don’t you take a break, Michele? It will be a few minutes before everyone gets back.”

  Reluctantly, I pulled away and sniffed. “Thanks, Chief.” I looked up into Lula’s hazel eyes and smiled. “And thank you, Lula, for coming to my rescue. You have a natural instinct to protect people.”

  Lula smiled back at me. “I’m a sucker for a damsel in distress.”

  “Well, stick around, I am distressed a lot,” I quipped.

  “Somehow, I don’t believe that, but I still hope to stick around,” Lula retorted. “Can I get you a cup of coffee?”

  “Oh, I have one and a bagel still lying on the table.”

  “Well, let me refresh your cup for you,” Lula said and jauntily left the office.

  I watched her as she walked out, and I began to tremble again. Damn, she’s fine. Someone cleared their throat, and I realized that the chief had been watching the whole scene
. Was that a smirk on her face?

  “Michele, you were very brave, and I’m sorry I had to put you through that.”

  “Thanks, Chief. I understand now why you wanted a witness. Did you know he’d go berserk like that?”

  “No, not to that extreme,” she replied. She had something in her hand that she was rubbing. “I made a rookie mistake, but then, this was the first time I ever had to fire someone.”

  “You’ve never fired anyone before? Wow. I’m totally impressed,” I gushed, truthfully enthralled. She had been so in control and unflappable that I thought she’d done it thousands of times.

  She shook her head and exhaled. “Well, I hope I never have to do that again. That was rough.”

  My loyalty to the chief increased tenfold when I saw the look of remorse in her eyes. I could tell that she didn’t want to fire Byron, even after learning he should have been fired a long time ago. Her compassionate heart was warring against her pragmatic brain. Not an easy place to be.

  “Did we miss anything?” Josh asked as he walked into the office, followed by Noel.

  “Nothing much,” the chief replied, stuffing her hands in her pockets. “We’re going to meet in a few minutes, but I need to talk with you first, Mr. Hamilton.”

  Josh nodded and came in and sat down.

  Oh, God. Another talk. Surely, she’s not going to fire Josh, too? “Do you need me to stay, Chief?” I asked.

  The chief tilted her head and stared at me. Then her mouth opened slightly and her eyes darted from me to Josh. “No. No need, Michele. But thank you for offering. When Ms. Davis gets back, send her in, please.”

  “Will do,” I said, and then turned to Noel. “Come with me and I’ll get you settled in the conference room.” I led Noel into the conference room and told him to have a seat, it would be a few minutes. But he was curious and wanted to know what was going on. I can’t say that I blamed him, but I was in a hurry to get back to Lula so I told him that if someone in security abuses their authority they lose their job.

  “Have you ever been abused?” he asked.

  “Mentally or physically?” I joked.

  He must have taken my answer seriously because he clicked his teeth and said, “Oh, that’s too bad.”

  I walked back to my desk and Lula handed me my cup. I smiled and wrapped my hands around it, warming my cold fingers. “Lula, I think this is the beginning of a—”

  “Beautiful friendship?” she asked.

  “Actually, I was going to say a beautiful schoolgirl crush, but that will work also.”

  She tossed her head back and laughed and my heart melted.

  “Oh, Michele, you are too funny.”

  I’m not kidding. What did Dorey say… just be yourself. Funny thing is, I was being myself. This is me, take it or leave it. But reality reared its ugly head when I remembered that I was twenty-eight years her senior. Reality demanded that I face the fact that this young, athletic, gorgeous specimen of a woman couldn’t possibly be interested in me. In the real world, May - December relationships rarely happened. I think I’ll move into the psych ward where reality doesn’t have to exist if I don’t want it to. And I don’t! I could just stare at Dr. Gorgeous all day and take my happy pills.

  “Say, Michele,” Lula started, bringing me back to reality. “Would you like to have a drink sometime?”

  Okay, don’t get excited. I’m sure she didn’t mean on a date. “Sure. You want to talk about work?”

  “Well, we could. But I’d rather talk about you,” she replied with a twinkling eye.

  Lula just bitch-slapped reality in the face! “Oh… yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Let me be sure I understand this right…”

  “Michele, I’m asking you out on a date,” Lula clarified.

  “Why me? Got a thing for older women, do you? Looking for a momma to baby you?” Why was I pushing back? Fear, pure and simple.

  “Don’t be silly. No, I don’t need a momma. I have a really good one already. But yes, I do prefer a more mature woman. One who doesn’t play games or wallow in the drama.”

  “Lula, I don’t play games and I don’t wallow, but I’m by no means mature. I mean mentally. My age is another matter.”

  “Sounds like the perfect woman to me. So, how about this evening after you get off work? Josh told me that I’m off tonight so I can come in tomorrow and train for the dayshift.”

  “Remind me to give Josh a big old wet thank you kiss,” I said happily.

  Lula smirked mischievously, gazing at my lips as if she wanted to devour them. “As long as you pucker up for me, too.”

  Chapter Ten

  Casey Dennis

  “You missed all the excitement, Mr. Hamilton,” I said, shutting the door to my office.

  “So I heard. I saw Byron being escorted out in handcuffs. Damn sorry I wasn’t there to help with that.”

  “That’s why I wanted to talk with you and Ms. Davis. I wanted to get your opinions on Ms. Ferguson. I know you’ve only been with her for one shift, but based on that, do you think she can do the job?”

  “Absolutely. She’s young and eager, but acts pretty stable. The only downside I see is that she’s only temping to see if she wants to become a police officer, so I don’t know how long she’ll stick around.”

  There was a tap on the door, and Dorey stuck her head in. “You wanted to see me, Chief?”

  “Yes. Come in and take a seat,” I said. “Everything go all right with Mr. Becker?”

  “Yes, ma’am. But I’d look over my shoulder for a while, if I were you.”

  “Why is that?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

  “He made some threats again, about how you’ll regret it. I tried to talk to him, but he was too upset to listen.”

  “Thank you for trying. Maybe when he cools off, he’ll realize it’s for the best,” I said diplomatically. Josh huffed, and I knew he wasn’t buying it either. “And if not, then I trust you two will have my back.”

  “Count on it, Chief,” Josh cheered.

  “Absolutely,” Dorey agreed.

  I nodded, pleased that they understood the situation. “I was asking Josh what he thought of Lula Ferguson, the temp who shadowed him last night. What’s your opinion of her, Ms. Davis?”

  “I haven’t really had much interaction with her other than dinner in the cafeteria. She was very pleasant, and very interested in learning the ropes. I believe she hopes to be hired on here full time. And honestly, after seeing her in action when she came in here during Byron’s outburst and positioned herself in front of Michele, who was defenseless, says all I need to know about her.”

  “She did that?” Josh asked, and Dorey nodded. “Well then, she’s aces in my book.”

  I had my poker face on, but I totally agreed with them. When I saw her protecting Michele, my worry was gone and I could concentrate on Byron. Surprisingly, that meant a lot to me. “Do either of you see a downside to hiring Ferguson to replace Becker?” I asked.

  They looked at each and then back at me. “No, ma’am.”

  “What about the other temp, Mr. Collins?”

  “As you know,” Josh began, “I worked with him last night, and I just didn’t get the same feeling about him. He was just there for a paycheck.”

  “All right then. We’ll keep him on as a temp and hire Ms. Ferguson to start immediately. Now, I know you haven’t had much time to work on it, but have either of you come up with anything on our in-house suspects?”

  The two looked at each other and Josh nodded for Dorey to go first.

  “I talked with the nurse who Byron was supposedly protecting,” Dorey said. “And the man who…” Dorey held up her fingers and did the quote sign. “Supposedly attacked her was Sam Caldwell, her husband. They are back together.”

  Shaking my head, I said, “Cross him off the list. It sounds like it was a domestic dispute that has been settled.”

  “It also sounds like Byron got caught with his pants down,” Jos
h inserted.

  Dorey shivered. “Thanks, I really needed that vision in my head.”

  Josh chuckled and looked at her. “And now you’ve put that in my head, too.” He turned back to me with a more serious expression on his face. “I made some calls and found out that Gena Laporte is back in the mental hospital. She was admitted yesterday morning, before the victim was killed so she’s a dead end,” he said, looking disappointed.

  “That’s good work, both of you. Detective work is all about the process of elimination.”

  “Anything from the police?” Josh asked.

  “No, nothing yet, but it could take a while. They have had a couple of hundred calls from the television interview, but most of them were bogus. All right, if there’s nothing else then let’s get back to work.”

  Jeff glanced at Dorey, then back at me. “Uh, Chief. There is one other thing I’d like to talk to you about.”

  “As long as it’s brief, go ahead,” I replied, anxious to get to the shift change meeting.

  Dorey started to get up, but Josh held up his hand to stop her. “This concerns you, Dorey.”

  She sat down and stared at him, clearly confused.

  “Chief, it’s about the rotation schedule. Barney, Robby, Lucas, Michele and I, got together and voted, and we respectfully ask that Dorey be exempt from working nights.”

  “No, absolutely not,” Dorey snapped.

  I held up my hand to quiet her. “May I ask why, Mr. Hamilton?”

  “None of us have a ten-year-old at home. In fact, Dorey’s the only one among us with a child, period. And Dorey’s husband is a cop who already rotates shifts. Most of the time it’s Dorey who takes her son to softball practice, or school activities and such.”

  “A commendable reason,” I said, impressed with their commitment to their colleague. Without realizing it at first, I pulled the bullet from my pocket and rubbed on it. I wholeheartedly wanted Dorey to have all the time she could with her son, but I needed to find a way to allow it without giving in to the pushback it will invariably bring. Still, it was a team decision, and having the team care that much for another co-worker was very important to my plan for the department.