He hesitated for a moment, and then finally said, “I’ll stay.”
“Fine, as of tomorrow, you’ll be on dayshift. Report for shift change at 0700.”
He nodded and pulled out his Taser, turning it so I could grip the handle. “I’ll be wanting that back once I past your test,” he said, and walked out the door. I must admit, I admired his self-confidence, but I still had a bad feeling about him.
I walked out of the conference room, and Michele jumped up from her desk and walked over to me.
“Ms. Michaels, if you would show me to my new office, I’d like to get settled in.”
“Of course, Chief. Right this way.”
I followed Michele out of the conference room without looking over at the staff in the break room. Most of them probably hadn’t made up their mind about me yet, but I thought giving them ninety days to straighten up and do their jobs right was more than fair. I didn’t tell them that I was also on probation, with 180 days to get the department turned around or I was out, too.
“Here you are, Chief. It’s not much, but just let me know what you need and I’ll get it for you,” Michele said as she showed me into a small office with a metal desk and a single bookcase with a few notebooks sitting on the shelves. On one corner of the desk was a laptop connected to two monitors. On the other corner was a two-way radio and a charger, an inbox tray, a cup of ink pens and a name plate with my name on it. Reminded me of my desk in Houston. The door had a window with venetian blinds covering it. That was the only window in the office. The hospital gray walls needed a fresh coat of paint and a picture or two. My first office with walls. At the police detective unit, the office area was open and desks were positioned by sets of two, with the desks facing each other. It was efficient for working cases where we could easily talk or view the suspect board. I miss that board.
“This will be fine,” I said, setting the Taser on the desk and opening one of the drawers. I cringed when the metal screeched. “Although, if you could find a wooden desk, I would really appreciate it.”
She grinned. “I’m sure I can find one for you.”
“Thank you. If you’ll shut the door and have a seat, I’d like to get started,” I said, sitting down in my office chair, which was a lot nicer than the metal desk. She had a peculiar look on her face as she shut the door and sat down in front of the desk.
“Are you going to fire me?” she asked pointblank.
I guess I can see why she would think that, my being new and all. I imagine that most directors bring in their own people, but I don’t have any people in Boulder, or in Colorado, for that matter. “No, I have no intention of firing you, although like the others, you will be on ninety-day probation, which is only fair, don’t you think?”
She hesitated for just a moment before answering. “I guess so.”
“Let me tell you why you’re on probation, Ms. Michaels. Administration has told me that unless I can turn this department around, everyone in it will be let go and the department will be contracted out. So, you see, both our jobs are on the line.”
“Oh, but I’m sure that’s not going to happen,” Michele said.
“And how can you be so sure?” I asked.
“Because, you’re here now, and it feels like things are already changing. That things are going to get better.”
“Interesting answer,” I replied. Is she schmoozing me or is she predicting the future? “It’s going to take a lot of work in the next ninety days to make this happen. My question to you is, are you all in?”
“Absolutely,” she replied without hesitation. “Every bit of me, even my little toe on my right foot, is ready and willing to do what it takes, Chief.”
I smothered a chuckle at the vision of her little toe wiggling in her shoe. “All right then. First, I want to see the files on every employee in this department—” She started to get up, and I waved her down. “There’s more, so you might want to take notes. I also want to see the schedule for the past six months, who called in sick and how many days off they took during the year. Get me the incident reports for the past year, any police reports or fire department visits. Get me a copy of the job description. I’d like to look over it and then have you send it to the employment offices. Finally, I need to see the schedule of fire alarm and disaster drills conducted for the past year.”
Michele shook her head. “We haven’t really been conducting them, um, much.”
I leaned back in my chair. “That is completely unacceptable. In Texas, even the police ran disaster drills to prepare for tornadoes. Didn’t I read in the newspaper a few years ago that Boulder Creek had a massive flood event that destroyed a lot of property and killed a few people?”
“Yes, back in 2013. We initiated the disaster plan; we just haven’t kept it up since.”
“I believe that a hospital should be prepared for the perfect storm, so beginning next month, we will start training staff for internal and external disasters. I’ll need your help to draw up the plans.”
“Of course. We do have a plan already, like I said. It’s kept in every department, but it will need updating.”
“We’ll work on that. Now, over the next few days, schedule individual meetings with the department heads. Starting with nursing first. A quick, fifteen to twenty-minute meeting where I can introduce myself and hear their concerns, if any. Also, set up some time with the local police, fire fighters and ambulance companies. I want to meet them and make sure they know that they have a contact with the hospital.”
She hesitated and looked at me for a moment.
“Is that doable, Ms. Michaels?”
“Of course. And very cool, too.”
“Cool? Okay, then.”
“It’s just that I don’t recall the last two chiefs going out of their way to… uh. Never mind,” she said.
“All right.” I shrugged, figuring if she wanted to explain further she would have continued. “Put me on the schedule to cover tonight’s ER. Mr. Becker will be reporting for dayshift, starting tomorrow.” She looked at me in shock, but only nodded, a smile forming on her lips. “I’ll need a set of keys, and—”
“Oh, wait just a sec,” she said and jumped up. She walked out to her desk and rifled through a drawer, then returned holding a small box. “Your business cards came in late Friday. You may want to hand them out. And here’s the last director’s set of keys.” She handed me a keyring with at least twenty keys on it. I started to object when she handed me another keyring with a single key on it. “This one is the master key that will get you into just about any department. Those other keys are to things like the CEO’s office, surgery suites, psych ward, et cetera, that for security purposes can’t be unlocked with the master key.”
“Great,” I replied, tossing the keys on the desk and pulling out a business card. I checked to make sure my name was spelled right. “Thanks, Ms. Michaels.”
“You’re welcome to call me Michele, you know?”
“I’d rather wait until after the probation period.” She shot me a look, and I realized how that must have sounded. “I have no doubt that you will pass with flying colors, Ms. Michaels, it’s the others that I’m concerned with. I believe they will give me their respect as chief if I also respect the position.”
“Oh, okay. That makes sense.”
“I’m glad you think so. Now, would you mind giving me a tour of the hospital? I’ve seen most of the outside already, but would like to visit each floor and get the lay of the land, so-to-speak.”
“No problem,” she chirped and stood up.
Chapter Four
Michele Michaels
I glanced over at my new boss as we rode the elevator to the fifth floor. She was stoic, impenetrable, aloof. She was also handsome, muscular, and mysterious. Wearing a light blue ribbed, racerback tank top under a gray blazer, with her sleeves scrunched up to the elbow, and pressed black slacks with sexy high heel ankle boots, she had such an air of confidence about her.
Unfortunately, i
f I couldn’t get her to laugh at my jokes, I knew I was doomed. Our last chief had us take one of those personality tests that asked a bunch of questions then compiled it into, supposedly, our preferred way to work and be acknowledged. I hate those things. The only thing it got right was that I couldn’t function effectively if I couldn’t make you laugh. I got the feeling Casey didn’t laugh much. When she was unguarded, like on the pediatric unit we had just toured on the second floor, her gray eyes looked dark and sad. Almost as if she were lost. It was strange. I had a sudden urge to hug her, but I didn’t think it would be appreciated.
We stepped off the elevator, and I started to type in the code on the keypad to the locked door, but Casey put her hand up.
“Would you humor me and use the phone to gain access, please?” Casey asked.
“Sure,” I said and picked up the phone beside the keypad. “Hi, it’s Michele Michaels from Security.” I looked into the camera mounted to the ceiling and smiled.
“Hi, Michele, come on in.”
I heard the lock click and the door nudged open. “After you,” I said to Casey, holding the door open for her. The door opened to a hallway and I led her down the hall to the nurse’s station. On the way, we passed the nurse’s lounge and physician offices. The patients’ rooms were at the far end of the unit. I always felt uneasy when I had to come in here. As if the people locked up in here were contagious. It takes a strong-minded person to be able to work in the psych ward.
Casey looked at everything and shook her head a time or two. She stopped and pointed at the camera mounted in the corner of the ceiling firewall. “Who watches the live feed?” she asked.
“The nurses do. They have a large LED monitor over the nurses’ station that shows all the camera angles. We have the same kind of set up in the ER, and security has a live feed monitor of every camera, inside the hospital and out, including Psych and the ER. We just don’t have anyone manning it.”
“Because we’re short staffed,” she said with a nod, her eyes darting back and forth. “Since you’ve been here, has there been any trouble on this unit? Any of the patients try to run off or someone try to break in?”
“No, ma’am. Not that I’m aware of,” I replied.
She looked at me closely. “Not that you’re aware of?”
“The nurses don’t always report the small incidents. Like if a patient wanders off and they catch her at the elevator, they’re not going to call it in.”
“That is unacceptable,” she said and started walking again.
“Oh…” I gasped when I saw the stunningly beautiful director of the department. It was involuntary. She always takes my breath away.
“What’s wrong?” the chief asked.
“Nothing. I just, um, stumbled over that invisible rock on the floor back there,” I covered with a joked. I wasn’t about to tell my boss that I almost climax every time I see the beautiful Celine Aponte, immaculately dressed in a three-piece suit that always gave a tantalizing glimpse of both cleavage and thigh. A young thirty-something, the woman had glowing red hair that flowed down her back in soft, alluring waves, accentuating her slender waist and perfect hips. A woman who was so far out of my league that I could not even meet her eyes; her dazzling green eyes with diamond chips floating in them. She was the perfect specimen of a woman, and I was terribly shy around her. And for me, that was saying a lot.
“In my former life, I was a detective, Ms. Michaels. And I did not detect an invisible rock lying on the floor.”
I laughed. My boss just made a joke, albeit a stoic one, but still, there’s hope for her yet. “Good one, Chief,” I said, then nodded toward Celine. “The classic redhead talking to that nurse is Celine Aponte, the head of the department.”
It was very subtle, only audible to me because I stood next to her, but the chief gasped when she saw Celine. She recovered quickly, which didn’t surprise me, but what did surprise me was the twinge of jealously I felt. What am I, eighteen again? I wish. Menopause was wreaking havoc on my emotions… again. “Shall I introduce you?”
She nodded, wet her lips, and said, “Yes, please do.”
We walked up to the goddess, and I made the introductions. “Dr. Aponte, this is our new Chief of Security, Casey Dennis. Chief, this is Doctor Celine Aponte, Senior Vice President over the Behavioral Health Unit.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Aponte,” the chief said suavely as she held out her hand.
“The pleasure is mine, Chief Dennis,” Celine replied, accepting the chief’s hand and holding it in both of hers. She looked the chief up and down as if she wanted to pour steak sauce on her and eat her up.
The chief smiled and said, “Please, call me Casey.”
“I thought you said… oh, um, never mind.” I stumbled over my words, feeling like an idiot. Of course she’d want the beautiful Italian to call her by her first name.
“And please, call me Celine, Casey. I look forward to working with you,” Celine replied, still holding my boss’ hand.
“If you have time on your busy schedule this week, I’d like to sit down and discuss your needs… uh… in relation to security, of course.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” Celine said. It seemed to me like she was disappointed.
“I’ll call Teresa this afternoon and set up a meeting,” I inserted.
“Well, Casey,” Celine said, ignoring me. “If you’re not busy right now, I was about to take an early lunch break.”
“Splendid. I am a bit hungry,” the chief replied eagerly.
“All righty then, I’ll, um…just… um.” I looked down at my feet, wishing I was anywhere else.
“Are you new to Boulder, Casey?” Celine asked.
“Yes. I’m originally from Houston and just moved up here last week.”
Celine smiled. “I thought I recognized a little bit of Texas twang in your voice.”
“Oh, really? And here I was trying so hard to cover it up from y’all,” the chief said with an extra thick drawl.
Oh, my God, she’s flirting with the woman. Oh yeah, now I really am jealous. Not so jealous though that I wasn’t making mental notes. The suave, debonair chief was so charming that she already had Dr. Aponte asking her out. Oh yeah, you’re never too old to learn new tricks, even in your fifties. Especially in your fifties when your only companion is a cat with a hairball problem.
“And isn’t there just a lilt of Italian in your voice?” Casey asked, finally letting go of Celine’s hand.
“Very good. You have an ear for linguistics,” Celine responded.
I was mentally rolling my eyes, even as my heart was breaking. Well, maybe not breaking, but it did hurt, having to stand there and watch the woman I’ve had a crush on since the first moment I laid eyes on her three years ago, flirt with my boss. If only I’d had the courage to speak to her… just once in all those years. If only I had the courage to speak to any woman, period.
“Since you’re new to Boulder, why don’t you let me take you to my favorite restaurant and we can talk there?” Celine asked with an incredibly beautiful smile.
“That sounds like my kind of meeting,” the chief replied. “I’d, uh, offer to drive, but I don’t have a car, just a motorcycle.”
“Really? You moved up here from Texas on a motorcycle?” I asked inquisitively.
“I was just going to ask the same thing,” Celine inserted.
The chief laughed and looked from me to the redheaded bombshell. “I have a mid-sized motorhome that I live in. Which reminds me…” the chief turned back to me. “Ms. Michaels, please let the staff know that I have the CEO’s approval to hook up my RV in the Admin parking lot. Actually, he gave me ninety days, and then I needed to find a more permanent solution. In the meantime, I’d appreciate it if you’d cancel that ticket one of them left on my windshield.”
“How cool are you?” I blurted and then tried to cover. “I mean, sure, no problem. I’ll let them know.”
“I agree, that does sound cool,” Celine
replied jauntily. “And I have my car here, I don’t mind driving. Let me just get my purse.”
“Sounds good,” the chief said and watched as Celine walked toward her office. Then she turned to me. “Thank you, Ms. Michaels. I’ll be back in a little while.” She pulled out her cellphone and punched a button, then showed the screen to me. “This is my cell number, use it if you need to get a hold of me when I’m off campus, okay?”
I pulled out my own cellphone and punched in the numbers, then I pulled up the camera app and snapped a picture of the chief. She wasn’t smiling. “Got it, thanks. Have fun, Chief. Oh, uh, I mean…” Darn my mouth.
“It’s a working lunch, Ms. Michaels. Nothing more.”
Ordinarily, I would have believed her when she said a working lunch, but I’m not an idiot. I saw the way she looked at Celine, and what’s worse is the way Celine cleverly arranged a “working lunch” date with her not even five minutes after meeting her. I have never understood how it is so easy for some people, and so hard for others. Perhaps it’s because people are attracted to beauty like Celine, or strength like Casey. I just need to find the person attracted to slightly overweight, graying, fun, fifty-year-olds. Yeah, like that’s going to happen in my lifetime.
I went back downstairs to the cafeteria and got a cup of soup and a sandwich. I saw Dorey sitting by herself in the eating area so I joined her. “Why are you over here all by yourself?” I asked as I set my two-way radio on the table and sat down across from her. I like to sit on the side where I can see people coming and going, but Dorey does, too, so I sat with my back to the door.
“I’m waiting on Josh,” she explained as she sipped her cola. “We’re going to gossip about the new boss. Want to join us?”
“It’s like you read my mind,” I quipped. I opened the plastic wrap on the six crackers, pulled them all out and crushed them up with my hands, letting them fall into my steaming cup of soup. “Um, Dorey. While we wait, can I ask you a personal question?”
Better the Devil You Don't Know Page 3