by I.B. Holder
Chapter 38 Report Back
Bailey put down the phone with a smile. He had just reported the progress back to Wilkes.
He was quite proud of himself for being useful but not doing any work himself. It was the recipe for promotion at any government agency. The work, any work, could be criticized no matter how stellar, but aiding the work while remaining only a component in the outcome was a one-way ticket to a promotion. There was no one better at being adequate at his job than Bailey, and he had been well rewarded for his undistinguished participation thus far. His new challenge, to rise above his current position in charge of a local agency required either a slow progression of building a good reputation, something he didn’t believe possible, or the confluence of important people knowing his name while not associating it with anything too bad or too good. After all, no one wanted to be overshadowed by a subordinate, especially at the top, nor did they want to promote someone who made them look bad.
Bailey fluttered his fingers along a stack of folders on the case, he didn’t think that Legacy had a hopscotch chance in hell of bringing these men to justice, but he saw an angle in the case that would leave his imprint with the higher ups. He picked through the remains of pastry sticking to the tin foil that lay on the corner of his desk. There was a crumb left from his fresh lemon zest lingonberry scones, a morsel which he plucked and placed onto his back teeth. Bailey tasted a win for him in this case either way.