Danny’s POV

So far, Steph’s visit has gone extremely well. We’ve been to half the satellite offices and she’s agreed with my plans for each one. I’ve been able to show improvement in my budgets and forecasting, and we finally have the reserves issues straight. We got on a conference call with Bobby, who was pleased with all the progress we’ve made here. Man, talk about relief; I hated disappointing Bobby. Having her here, in front, allowed me to land four more Hospitality contracts. She’s charmed just about everyone who has met her.

It’s official. My office loves the CO. Forget Trenton; we’ll take her any day.

Hector informed Steph that the men here have the SharePoint environment set up and ready for deployment ahead of schedule. Because he’s been spending so much time with his nephew, he left a lot of the deployment to the men and just oversaw their efforts. They were determined not to fail in front of their boss or the CO, so they pushed themselves to exceed expectations. Hector is careful to keep his blank face in front of them, but in front of me and Steph he’s free to praise them for their efforts and efficiency. Nate is nervous, and I want to reassure him that his boss thinks well of him but Hector is careful to tell me not to do that. He wants to see them under pressure.

Two nights later, it’s clear why.

I get a panicked call from Nate at 0300. Someone is launching multiple attacks at our server farm, pushing and probing our vulnerabilities, trying to take the company down.

Clearly, this is what Hector had planned.

I ask Nate if he had a plan for this and, if so, deploy it. They follow their plan and by 0900 the attacks are over. Hector shows up in the server room, amused. The men performed well after they stopped panicking. Hector showed them their vulnerabilities and where he was able to penetrate. The men are astonished to learn that their boss is a notorious hacker. He tells them the next project of the Electronics group will be acquiring some of his skills.

For Electronics and Communications, this trip is beyond all their expectations.

Right now, it’s Friday evening and Hector has plans. Hector Manuel is back with his mother for the night and Hector has asked me to find a dinner and dancing club or restaurant in Atlanta. Steph’s looking lonely, so her partner has decided that she needs a night out on the town and some fun. I called in a reservation to a salsa club and asked Cindy to round up some single girlfriends for a night out. That was easy and the men here are happy to baby-sit for us. That’s one of the best parts about being a RangeMan: We take care of our own. Cindy’s never had to worry about finding babysitters. The men are always happy to spend time with each other’s children; you just gotta remind them to put the weaponry out of reach.

I’m in my Explorer with Cindy, headed back toward RangeMan. Cindy’s been twisting my ear all day about the CO. I tried describing Steph but I finally gave up and said she’d have to form her own opinion. I like my new boss and I hope she does too.

We pull up and Hector opens Steph’s door. Steph climbs in and I make the introductions. Steph has on a short, tight blue dress and blue flats. She’s left the walking boot off, but we’ve made her promise no vigorous dancing while her leg is still healing. I can see Cindy is shocked that Steph is looking hot. I’m going to pay for that later.

We head to Loca Luna, the salsa club. Steph and Cindy are chatting, looking for common ground but they don’t find any until they hit shoes. I’ll never get it; with women, shoes can make mortal enemies friends. Cindy introduces her girlfriends to all of us and we hit the restaurant. Ram is looking thrilled with the selection of single women tonight, and he and Adam are trying out lines on the ladies. I’m trying my damnedest not to laugh. I notice that Hector and Steph both seem impatient to hit the dance floor. I can’t dance, so I’m hoping to get a pass but Cindy’s face says that it won’t happen.

Three hours later, Steph’s finally exhausted. She and Cindy are getting along great, chatting about shopping, men, food, everything. They make plans to meet up tomorrow morning and hit the malls with Rose and Sarah and anyone Cindy can pull. The ladies with us are in, so I email the office for a list of men who want to go shopping with the CO. The men love her, but there’s a limit— no malls. Even double pay draws no volunteers. Ram recommends offering the double time pay, a commendation to Leadership Core, and a three hour limit; it’s the standard Trenton bribe. That draws all the volunteers I need. Suckers. Phipps Plaza isn’t the same as the Mall of Georgia. Someone is getting the short straw.

Cindy tells me later that it was the first time in a long time that the conversation didn’t revolve around preschools, school rankings, soccer matches, Little League and carpools. No one asked her about her decision to be a stay-at-home mom. She wasn’t asked nosy questions about my job, and she didn’t have to justify our lives. Steph reminded her that she was a woman with her own interests, not just the socially polite book clubs and sorority meetings. It reminded her of what’s she’s missing, so she’s going to start making plans at least once a month to have a ‘Mommy day’ all on her own.

And since I failed to inform her of how hot my new boss is, I can sleep on my side of the bed for a little while.

---

Twenty four hours later, I can’t understand how Hector can still be smiling. I’ve been run ragged, and we only hit two of the malls Cindy recommended. I now regret introducing my wife to my boss; this is a partnership forged in malls and strengthened by shoes and panties. Those women did damage to Victoria’s Secret, and I’m thankful my salary is as good as it is. I’m hoping for a reprieve; I saw some of those bra and panty sets and I’d like the opportunity to take them off my wife. With my teeth.

Hector intends to take Steph, his son/nephew and cousin to church in the morning. Hector Manuel is technically a cousin, but he’s also Hector’s ‘son’ and heir. Glad he finally cleared that up; I was getting a headache trying to figure it out. Son? Nephew? Cousin? Whatever, he’s Hector’s. I understand that clearly. I asked Hector if we need to put monitoring on Nikki and Hector Manuel. He was silent then gave me the tracker coordinates for the ones he’s already given Nikki. I dispatched Jon to install permanent trackers on her car and gave Hector two more trackers to give Nikki. Hector says nothing, but I can tell my loyalty to the little boy has touched him. Apparently he’s been monitoring them from Trenton. No problem; we take care of our own down here, and since Hector Manuel is in our area, he’s ours to protect too. We’re another layer of eyes on him to ensure his safety.

---

I have some time to catch up on basic branch work and check in with the other XOs. First call is Hal. Hal and I are developing a close relationship, as I hoped, and Atlanta and Trenton are pretty much sister branches now.

“How’s the CO?” Hal asks.

“Doing well. Shopped till she dropped,” I reply. Hal laughs. “How Hector kept smiling I’ll never understand.”

“Man, mall duty is the most hated chore of Bombshell duty here, especially if Lula is along for the ride. Hector’s the only man who can take it.”

I’m hoping not to meet Lula. I’ve heard enough about her, and cops in Georgia don’t play with trigger happy ex-hookers. Intel says Lula is no longer with Tank, but Hal’s marking it unconfirmed. Their relationship is weird.

“Well, Hector definitely has my respect for his ability to take it. The man never dropped his version of the blank face.”

Hal laughs. “That face is scary, isn’t it? Well, how do you think you’ll do in the review?”

“I think we’ll come out of this clean. We cleaned up the bonds issues and the satellite offices are looking good. I got a panic call from Javier yesterday. He’s desperate to know what she’ll check for, but I’m not telling him and I told my men to keep their mouths closed until the review is over. What are you hearing?”

“That he had another bad quarter. His office is stagnant and he lost three men. He’s bleeding there. I need to talk to Ram tonight. Manny is determined that she should hit NYC next. I think Lester had a different plan, but NYC needs the attention more.”

“That’s what I’m thinking. It’ll be good for him. She’s good at probing for weaknesses.” Another quiet laugh from Hal. “OK, what’s so funny?”

“Yeah, Steph’s good at following a trail. Every time she follows one in the field, we end up modifying the SOPs.” We both laugh at that.

“So, what is Ram checking for while here?”

“Huh?”

“Come on, Hal. I’m not stupid. I have a ‘friendly’ subversive in my office. He can have access to whatever he wants. Just tell me what he’s supposed to be looking for so I can make sure it’s available to him.”

Hal is quiet for a moment. “He has a few objectives. One is to better understand the bid process. We’ve never had to do it, so he wants to get it down pat. Plus Steph tasked him and Chase with coming up with documented procedures so he needs to know what he’s doing before he starts trying to collect everyone’s procedures. Second objective is to understand the communication process for your satellite offices. We’ve been thinking of sticking some in Philly and Newark, but we want to understand how yours work before we attempt it. You know, structure, reporting, etc. Finally, he’s supposed to be running interference between the CO and your office in case anyone tries to subvert her authority. He told me he quit that after day two; you had that under control, not that there was anything to do. That’s all.”

That’s what I thought. “Nothing else?”

“Nope. That’s it. He says it’s been a stellar trip business wise, but she’s lonely. You need to watch that. A lonely bored Steph is a dangerous Steph.”

Crap. OK, we gotta find more things for the CO to do at night.” My men are desperate to impress her. I’m not sure what to do.”

“Well, flowers are a good start.”

“Oh believe me, we’ve got that part down. She’s getting flowers every other day and I had to negotiate to keep it at that.”

Hal chuckles. “Good job. Look, you got any men in your office with special skills? We’re trying to bring her up to RangeMan standards. Make sure Ram gets into the range with her. Consider anything that won’t affect her leg.”

I think about that for a moment. Jase doesn’t have some of the wicked stunt driving skills of NYC and Miami, but it’s impossible to tail the man. Her left leg is the one that’s hurt, so he should be able to get her out in Atlanta traffic and teach her how it’s done. Maxwell has sweet knife skills, second only to Hector. I’ll grab some cantaloupe and let him teach the CO what he knows. I start making a list to present. This should enliven her evenings.

Hal and I chat for a while before I disconnect. Time to catch up with Miami.

---

“Armando?”

“Yo, Danny! How’s it going? You set to be fired?” Armando laughs.

That shit’s not funny. I wonder if it’s fair to tell the CO that he has a leak in his branch.

“Everything here is fine. The CO is doing her thing. How’s sunny Florida?”

“We’re good. Ranger was in house for a while, but he left last week. The men can’t wait for her trip here.”

I’ll bet they can’t. I make a note to drop a warning in Ram’s ear about that office.

“Yeah, well, just understand that her partner is Hector. You know how he is.”

Total silence on the phone. I may have screwed up Hector’s element of surprise, so I need to make sure I tell him I’ve told Miami that he has a partner.

“Are you serious? Hector, our Hector, the Asesino (The Assassin), is the CO’s partner?”

I can almost smell Armando’s fear.

“Yup. It seems to be working out. Don’t understand how they’re communicating, but they have a weird sign language thing going and she definitely listens to his opinions.” I’m lying my ass off. I’ve begun to suspect Hector may understand some English. It’s the only way that partnership could work out unless Steph knows Spanish and is hiding it from the men, which I doubt because she lacks a blank face. “Either way, they manage to communicate and Hector doesn’t play about his Angelita.”

Armando is silent. Finally, “My men are still pissed about the SharePoint thing. She’s gonna get hit with that when she gets here.”

“Not if you’re smart. If you’re smart, you’ll tell them to address their grievances to Hector. She handed off control of the project to him, Manny, and Ram. She just cuts the checks and gives opinions on what they show her.” No way I let this asshole try to do an end run around Hector and attack Steph. Besides, this advice saves his ass too. Hector would put Armando’s ass in a sling if he allows his men to attack Steph, especially over a project he and Manny control.

“Still, it’s another blow. First the servers are moved then they’re cut out of a major deployment. It’s disrespectful.”

“Stuff that shit, Armando. The decision on the servers was Hector and Ranger. Miami is in Hurricane Alley. Who in their right mind locates a server farm there? It’s insane! That’s why Hector had it moved. The decision on SharePoint was Hector and Manny. The SharePoint thing was Manny’s idea so he’s in charge of the project, and Hector decided the deployment schedule. Your men are just too afraid to move against Hector. If they have issues they need to address them with the correct person. They need to quit thinking everything is a shot to their pride. Exactly what has the CO done to disrespect Miami? She’s barely had any contact with your men.”

Armando is such a weak shit. He just funnels his men’s grievances up instead of attacking them with logic. If it were me, he would be a short-timer. Thankfully, I’m just the XO of Atlanta, and that’s enough.

“Mark called me earlier. Javier is in trouble.”

“Really? Another bad quarter?” I want to see what he’ll tell me. I’ve got the scoop already from Hal.

“Oh yeah. Lost three, bleeding badly, worried about what the CO will look for when she hits his office. Where’s her next stop?”

“Above my pay grade. I get the feeling only Hector knows.” That’ll stop all calls. Hector is the ultimate shield.

Armando is silent. “Everyone is nervous about these reviews. At first it was considered a joke but . . . since we have no idea what she’ll do, everyone’s starting to get nervous. We know she has a reputation for mayhem.”

This is the best thing he’s said all night. No one in my office is talking. Wonderful! If they keep it up, I’ll throw a party when she leaves, if we pass review. The time Chase spent in Trenton helped. Our men are beginning to understand the value of not saying anything to anyone. Constant recognition of the ideal, Trenton, has helped. I’ll make sure to send a branch-wide announcement that their silence is making the other branches nervous and that it’s good; if they don’t know what the CO is looking for, the better we look in the review. The men will respond to that kind of incentive.

“All I can tell you is to be prepared for anything. I’m only half through and I’m constantly surprised.”

Armando is clearly worried. Good. Weak shit. She’s gonna tear your office apart.

---

Next call is Javier. The man needs to recognize that Shane has to be demoted.

“Javier, my man! You OK? Word on the grapevine is you’re in trouble.” Just plant the idea in Javier’s head. He’ll take off.

“Jesus, Danny, who’s talking?”

“Javier, please. No acting stupid. It’s all I’ve heard tonight.”

Javier is quiet. “Ok, I’m in trouble. I lost three men, so I’m at the wire, and I’m hemorrhaging money here. I can’t figure out how to fix it.”

“You ask for a review?”

“Come on, man. That’s just a way to fire us. Who in their right mind would ask for that shit?”

Don’t you have a degree in Public Administration from one of the most expensive colleges in the country? You can’t figure out the purpose of a management review?

“I did. I asked Steph for a review during her skip tracing workshop. I thought it would be a good idea to let her come in and look at my office with fresh eyes. See if she would catch things I’ve been missing. And if I was fucking up badly, I put myself out there instead of letting her poke around to find it on her own.”

“And?” He’s starting to consider it.

“Completely worth it. She found things I hadn’t considered and confirmed the ones I had. And this is just week one. I’m almost afraid of what else she’ll find.”

I can hear Javier thinking about it. I decide to push him along.

“Look, you’ve seen the reporting structure. She’s your boss now. Be open with her if you want to keep your job. Reconsider everything you know and let go of the secrecy with her. The secrecy that runs through this company is our biggest problem. At least with her, be honest.”

“Man, you know everyone is secretive to keep Mark out of their offices.”

“True. But don’t let that be your excuse with your boss. Always be honest with your boss. It’s what you expect of your men, right?”

“Yeah . . . but that’s different.”

“How?”

“There’s no question that I’m permanent. She’s a question mark.”

“If you think that, Javier, you’re deluding yourself. She’s permanent. You’re a question mark. Didn’t Armando fill you in?”

“Fill me in? On what?”

“Leadership Core’s been putting her on the paperwork for the past two years. She’s a partner in all but name. She has access to everything. She’s permanent. The question is, are you?”

“Seriously? She’s on everything?”

“Yeah.”

“That asshole thinks he’s set to be a partner next.”

“I don’t know. That’s a decision of Leadership Core so it’s above my pay grade. What I do know is that, regardless of whether or not Mark is right, Steph’s in charge right now. Javier, be honest with yourself. What’s the one thing you could do to improve your branch?”

Come on, Javier. Say it. Have the guts to admit it. The silence stretches out.

“I need to demote Shane. I know it. I just can’t do it.”

Thank GOD! He’s aware of the problem. “Why?”

“Because he’s a good strategist—”

“BULLSHIT! If he were a good strategist you wouldn’t have the problems you do. Maybe he is a good strategist but he’s the wrong strategist for NYC. Accept that. If you can’t bring yourself to fire him, have him transferred elsewhere. But you can’t keep him.”

I hear Javier sigh and shift. He’s loyal to his men, the ones he can keep, and he hates the idea of letting Shane go. Shane would actually be the ideal strategist for Miami.

“If you don’t want to let Shane go, have you thought about asking for him to be transferred?” I ask. Let’s see if he’s considered it.

“Yeah. He would be ideal for Miami, but you know Armando isn’t giving up Diego.” Jesus, Javier knows the problem, sees the solution, what’s the issue?

“Then ask the CO for the transfer. Ask for a short term one, let Diego help you turn it around and see if you can convince him to stay. Sell him on NYC. Try anything. Look, if you get nothing else out of our chat tonight, understand this: You have to be honest with your boss. Whenever Steph shows up, be prepared to show everything and ask for what you need. Be honest with her and with yourself.”

“How do you think you’ll make out?”

“I don’t know, but I’m trying to come out OK. Like I said, she found things I hadn’t considered and I’m sure she’s got some plans I may or may not like, but she’s completely genuine, man. It won’t hurt. She won’t bust your ass open on the mats. And believe it or not, as long as you play fair with her, she’ll preserve your authority in front of your men. She hasn’t contradicted or questioned my orders in front of my men yet. I’ve had my pride stung in private, but I haven’t been hurt in public.”

Javier needs time to think about this. I know that, so I sign off.

The nosy fucker is last. I need a Scotch for this call.

---

Chase and Adam are on the line with me when I call Mark. Again, a lesson of the Trenton branch: Core Team should always be tight. No secrets. They need to know what the party line against Mark is.

“Mark. How’s Beantown?”

“Wet. Atlanta?”

“Same. April’s a beast.”

“Yeah. Look, enough bullshit. What’s going on there? What’s she looking for? What’s she doing?”

Fucker. I’m not your subordinate. I let the silence linger.

“Danny?”

“Mark.”

“Well?”

“I think you misunderstand, Mark. I’m not your fucking subordinate. Moderate your tone.”

Silence. Mark truly believes he’s in charge.

“Fine. My apologies. Give me an idea of what’s she’s doing.”

“She’s conducting a management review and a damn good one if I say so myself. She’s sharp.”

“Oh yeah? What’s she looking at?”

“Everything.”

“That’s not an answer, Danny.” He’s annoyed now, but I’m not giving him much to build off.

“It is an answer. She’s conducting a very thorough, top to bottom management review. She’s watching my men, looking at the reports, examining the buildings, reviewing the finances, and determining if my pipeline makes sense.”

“No fucking way she’s doing that all in two weeks.”

“I promise you, she is. Like I said, she’s sharp. She’s found things I hadn’t considered, confirmed the things I had found, and given me ideas to consider. It’s completely worth the time and effort. Just be honest with her and everything will be fine.”

There’s silence on the line. Mark doesn’t want to consider that his boss might be competent. It would ruin the smear campaign he has going.

“Who’s with her?”

“Ram and Hector.”

“So Ram is accompanying her on these trips?” Adam and Chase smirk. Idiot hasn’t even considered that Hector might be the one to watch out for.

“He is on this one, but he had his own reasons. He’s trying to learn more about the bid process. I think he plans to stay an extra week to shadow Chase before he heads back to Trenton.”

“So where’s she going next?”

“No clue. Above my pay grade.”

“Who would know?”

“Hector, maybe.”

Again, silence. Now he’s considering the possibilities. “Who’s her partner?”

Congratulations, asshole. You got there in one go. “Hector.”

“You’re fucking kidding me.”

“Nope. Hector is her partner.”

“Hector doesn’t speak English.”

“Doesn’t seem to matter. They have some sort of weird sign language going. He gets his point across.” Now he knows he won’t get any cooperation out of any of the branches. Most of Hector’s direct reports are here and the men have been looking at him for a week. I know beyond a doubt that Hector has solidified his business reputation in Atlanta. Miami and NYC know the gang reputation. A man whose handle is Asesino isn’t catching a lot of problems in places where his reputation will precede him. Trenton’s been a wash since he stepped foot there; that’s her home territory and they love the CO.

“Well, if she has any sense, she’ll head to NYC next.”

“You want me to tell her you said that?” Chase and Adam snigger.

Silence. “Not amusing, Danny.”

Yes it was. That’s why I said it. “Apologies. How’s your Bonds Enforcement group doing?”

“Fuck you, Danny.” Click.

Chase and Adam fall out of their chairs laughing. I join them. God, that was the best call in a while.

The guys leave, still chuckling. One last call to make.

---

A/N: Conversation in Spanish

The new org chart gave me a chance to understand how the company is structured, or has been restructured, and there’s only one other man in the lines of authority with equal standing to an XO. I carefully consider this call and decide that it’s appropriate.

“Hector?”

“Danny. How can I help you?”

“This is more a pulse check to you. All the XOs have a set of round robin calls that we make weekly to try to get a pulse for what’s going on company-wide. Not our normal daily XO pulse check but more of a weekly fishing session. You’re not an XO but you’re a senior level manager and the only other man in the company at an XO level. I thought it appropriate.”

Silence. Yeah, this is new so I’m not sure how much Hector will tell me. Either way, I’m doing what I think is appropriate.

“The SharePoint site is at least two days ahead of schedule. I’m recommending removal of the server farm from your building.”

What! Shit, I thought we were doing well. “I thought my men handled things well, Hector. What gives?”

“You are doing well. If you can keep this up, I’m recommending buying the building next door to increase your space and building a full server farm next door. Not just for the company but for any company that wants to mirror their servers to us. Disaster recovery planning. I think Nate and the boys can handle it.”

Damn. I’m speechless. I literally am speechless. I can’t think of a single question to ask. That’s major faith in my men. Well, his men, but they’re based here.

“Of course, Steph may decide to use some of the office space we already own in the satellite offices to do it, which is why I’ve been examining all the buildings, but I would prefer not to. I prefer to keep things central.”

I finally find my voice again. “We lease most of the buildings. I think the only one we bought outright is Macon, because it was so cheap.”

“Hmmm. . . I’ll consider that. In any case, this plan is definitely a year or more off, but start thinking about it. See if you can find me some cheap buildings. In the meantime, the internal site is coming along nicely and everything looks good. Questions?”

“Is your relationship with the CO considered secret?”

“Who’d you leak to?” He sounds amused.

“Miami. Armando was prepared to throw her to the wolves, AKA his men. I thought I’d head that off. Because I told him, I went ahead and told Mark too.” The more I think about it, the more pissed I am.

“No, our relationship is not considered a secret. It simply hasn’t been discussed.”

“OK. Good. Well, heads up. Armando had planned to throw her to his men. I don’t know how well I’ve thrown his plans off, but I tried.”

“I’m sure you did fine. Anything else?”

“Are we considering alternatives to our current cameras? I saw these slick numbers in a magazine.” I read off the magazine and page number. This starts a lively conversation over the benefits of offering upgrade packages to clients to encourage them to upgrade their equipment at the end of a contract.

An hour slips by before I’m even aware. At the end of the call, I decide to tease Hector. Dangerous, but I’m feeling good.

“OK, so you know you’re supposed to call the other XOs, right?”

I hear a chuckle on the other end. “Fuck ’em. I can snoop in their shit all day long without them being aware. I’ve always known when you fuckers were lying.”

Gotta love IT. They’re such pricks. “So why not tell Leadership Core?”

“I did. They were always aware of everyone’s moves. It was the motivations that were harder to figure out sometimes.”

“Ah. By the way, who was leaking to Boston? Sam?”

“What makes you think it was him?”

“He’s walking funny.”

“Pulled hamstrings will do that to a man. He say anything?”

“No. Why?”

“No reason. Just wondered if he’d gone ahead and gotten his jaw wired. I may have knocked it out of alignment. He’ll know not to leak or to lie to me about it next time.”

Damn! That’s harsh. I need to check with Chase and make sure Sam’s on the injured/disabled list. When he’s better, mat time with me. Lying to senior management is insubordination and I take men to the mats for it each time it happens. No one slides on that, not with me.

We disconnect and I review what I’ve learned tonight.

Javier’s in serious trouble. If the topic comes up, I’ll try to push Steph to go to NYC ASAP. Armando still doesn’t know who’s leaking in his branch. Hal’s fine, as expected, and Mark is desperate to know how good Steph is. This is more than the curiosity of an egotistical control freak. I’d bet money he’s up to something. I decide to tell Hal at the next pulse check.

Now, where did I stash that bottle of Scotch?