Chapter 59: Liaisons Week at the Beach, Part I
Bobby’s POV
Ram meets me at Newark Airport. We’re headed straight to Point Pleasant from the airport and Ram has a grin on his face.
“Sir.”
“Ram.” I’m proud of Ram. He’s done a good job of acting as both Trenton’s mouthpiece and as Steph’s. Brand new and making a name for himself. And he’s great at calming clients. I’m impressed. “You look amused.”
“Looking forward to this. Steph says we’re building RangeWorld this week. The housekeepers have been in their space. It’s impressive. I can see how they’re using it and it’s creative.”
I nod, smiling. “Yes, Ella called wanting to talk about how to coordinate care for injured and sick RangeMen within it. The ladies have ideas. I’m not ready.” We chuckle.
We’re quiet for a moment before Ram speaks. “Permission to ask a question I know won’t get an answer to?”
I chuckle. “I’m not discussing Boston.”
Ram smiles. “HUA, sir!”
We catch each other’s eyes and laugh.
Rodney is already onsite when I arrive. He’s a very scared man. Adam and Thomas are looking at Rod as if they’re prepared to kill him at the slightest offense. Hector is sharpening his blades openly. Sigh. This week cannot continue like this.
Steph is upstairs in the master. I pop upstairs and stretch out on the bed next to her.
“I’m having problems looking at him. I don’t want to feel that way. I just don’t know how to start with him,” she whispers. I’m ready to break him. Steph looks pissed and I know she hates feeling that way.
“You have anything planned right now?” I ask.
“No,” she replies, looking at me.
I smile. “Good. Let me have him for a while.” She nods and I leave.
“Put ’em away,” I whisper to Hector as I pass. I motion for Rod to follow me. “Fall out,” I order Adam, Ram, and Thomas. “Start some dinner. We’ll return.”
I head toward the beach, Rod in tow. I pull off my shoes and walk the beach, enjoying the cool sand.
“You are in a dangerous position. Your colleagues are prepared to disappear your body. Your CO is having difficulty even looking at you. The CIO is mentally carving you like a Thanksgiving turkey. Me?” I look at Rod, who’s turned pale under the brown skin. “Exit interview,” I hiss.
Rod swallows hard and nods. “Yes, sir,” he whispers.
“What makes this untenable for me is reading your reports. Liaison reports are supposed to be clear, concise and factual. I should be left in no doubt as to the activities of the branch. I have to read between the lines of yours. Then there’s the fact that I know that entire activities are being left out of the report. So your reports are incomplete, which makes them a lie. That’s dereliction of duty, failure to follow instructions and directives.” Rod is breathing faster now. I whirl around in his path and he’s forced to halt again. “Explain.”
Rod’s eyes drop to his feet. The silence stretches.
“Please, Rodney, explain how Bobby and I should respond to this.” Steph’s appeared and she’s angry. “I’ve already heard Pat’s bullshit explanation. What’s yours?”
Rod looks out into the ocean for a while. Finally, “We thought we could straddle a line until Mark got his shit together.”
Steph plops down in the sand and I join her. After a moment, Rod joins us. “We wanted him to shut up about you and work with you. You have power. We didn’t want to be left out because he was being stupid. But we didn’t have anything about you to run with. No idea of what you were like as CO. Just that it seemed you were willing to take on the Leadership Core and that they would give you what you wanted. We didn’t want to be left out.”
“Left out of what, Rodney?” I ask.
“Whatever benefits the CO could bring to Boston. Mark may be acting the ass right now, but if nothing else, we’re about the bottom line up there. Maintain the number one position. Since the CO took over, we’ve dropped to three in Bonds Enforcement and we’re aware that Danny can make money hand over fist in Atlanta with that. With Chase looking at more client services and financial offerings and Bonds Enforcement going gangbusters down there, we realized we could be knocked off. Not a situation we wanted to have. Then we heard the company might be in trouble.”
“So you decided to do something completely insane in order to retain your position?”
Rod swallows. “Not insane. Just . . . unauthorized.”
I look at Rod in wonder. I literally have no response to that. Steph does. She laughs. She falls into the sand and laughs. I stare at Rod and finally, I join Steph. Every time we die down, we look at each other and start laughing again. Rod realizes how fucked up his statement is and has his blank face back in place.
“Whose idea was it?”
“Mark’s. We argued against it but . . . ” he trails off.
“You didn’t argue against it,” Steph counters. “You put up a token protest then agreed, so all three of you share the blame. Don’t throw my XO under the bus by himself. Why didn’t you inform me?”
Silence.
“Why didn’t you inform me?” I ask.
“You’re in Texas, sir, building another branch—”
“I wasn’t aware that Texas has yet to acquire telephone service,” I reply coldly. “Nor was I aware that they lack internet services. Amazingly enough, when others call me, my cell phone works. My email still works.”
Silence. Rod is trying desperately not to break down.
“So, what did Pat tell you?” Steph asks, wiping her face. She’s wiping sand all over her face, which makes me chuckle. I pass my handkerchief but she grins and pulls one out. I raise my eyebrows, impressed.
“Nothing,” Rod replies, confused. I’m watching him. No indicators he’s lying, so I nod at Steph.
Finally, Steph looks at him straight on. “At the moment, I want to demote you. I really really do. But RangeMan brotherhood is a beast. You were trying to save your XO and you thought you were doing me a favor. You were wrong in both cases.”
Steph proceeds to rip him the same new asshole she ripped for Pat and at the end of it, Rod’s ignoring the tears running down his cheeks. I’ve put my blank face back into place.
“You have a hard position this week, Rodney. Your colleagues need to trust you and the looks Adam and Thomas are giving you tell me that their strategists gave them an idea of what you guys have been up to. They aren’t pleased. Hector is ready to kill you. Ranger has already warned you. Bobby could give you your ‘exit interview’ now and allow Hector to dispose of your body. Again, I’m in the position of trying to figure out what to do with you and right now, I’m so angry at you and Pat I can barely look at you. So, tell me Rodney, since you’re so keen to have my position, tell me what you would do.”
Rod shakes his head. “Stephanie, I don’t want your position—”
“Really?” she asks. “You mean you don’t want the job of assessing men and branches? Making judgments? Calling the shots? Making decisions? Because you guys seem to be doing it anyway. Unauthorized, but you are.”
Rod is silent. Put like that, he realizes how fucked he is. Steph sighs. “I need to see you perform over this week to decide what to do with you. This is my first time meeting you and you’re already in the shit with me.”
“And me,” I add, coldly. Rod pales. “Steph’s assessment will inform mine.”
I stand and pull Steph to her feet. Rod has a lot of deep thinking to do. We start to walk away, but Steph stops. “Our conversation is not to make it back to your XO, but if you feel the need to call your partner-in-crime, go ahead.”
We return to the house and the men look at us curiously. Steph heads back upstairs and we soon hear the shower go. I turn to the men, who are nearly done with dinner.
“For the rest of the week, you will treat Rodney as if your strategist told you nothing of Boston’s behavior,” I tell them, looking each man in the eye. Hector raises an eyebrow, as does Ram. “Thomas, this is also your first time meeting your CO, and she wants him treated like a normal RangeMan so don’t gain her displeasure by doing otherwise.” Thomas nods, schooling his face back into a blank. “Adam, Ram, I know Chase and Manny gave you every detail and I know you feel deeply for the CO. Put that aside and treat Rodney as you would have a month ago. Don’t confront him, don’t make it personal. Who’s sharing the room with him?” Thomas raises his hand. “Again, don’t cut him out.“
The men nod. Rod steps in to the house moments later and stares at the men cautiously.
“We’re about to divvy up KP,” Ram says calmly. Rod nods. “You got a meal specialty?”
“Seafood,” he replies.
Thomas grins. “Fuck you. Get another one. That’s mine. Miami!” We all laugh and Rod smiles.
“Well, everything else is heavy winter food. Casseroles, braises, that sort of stuff.“
“Fine,” Adam says. “Looks like you two are doing seafood on your days.”
Steph steps back downstairs, freshly showered, and takes Rodney’s arm. He starts, then smiles and escorts her to the table, pulling out her chair and being the gentleman. We say grace and enjoy the meal. Adam and Thomas grilled lobsters and made a massive salad for dinner, and at the end of the meal we’re all patting our stomachs and smiling.
“You know what?” Steph says. We smile, waiting. “RangeMen all know how to cook! I just have to eat. This is great! Chase worked that grill like a pro last week.”
Adam snorts. “Chase is an amateur. Did he do pulled pork?” Steph nods, grinning. “Nothing compared to mine. I’m feeling like brisket is in our future.”
Ram snorts. “Well, while you put the CO to sleep with big cuts of meat, I’ve got the pasta salads.” He smiles at Steph, who perked up. “Nope, not mayo based, but you’ll like them.”
She grins. “Do I look like I care? You guys are cooking. I’m thrilled.”
“I’ll take care of her sweet tooth,” Hector says, smiling. The men look over and grin. “What? Someone has to take care of the ‘sugar hormones’.”
Ram translates for Steph, who dances in the chair. “And that is why I love my partner!”
Rodney’s POV—Starting back at the beach
I look at the departing backs of my boss and the CO and catch my breath. I’m in the fire. I can’t believe it. Trying to pull Mark back from the brink, I ended up right in it. Now I understand why Adam and Thomas looked ready to kill me. Hector made me nearly shit my pants. I didn’t expect him to be here, and watching him sharpen his blades and glare at me sent me to the bathroom twice. I never wanted to meet him and now that I have I believe the rumors.
Clearly, they all knew. They knew and were ready to kill me at first sight.
How did this happen? I shake my head. I know how it happened. I followed my XO to the brink and we overshot right into the fire. I pull my cell phone.
“Yo.”
Silence on the other end. “How’s your ass feeling?”
“How did you know?”
Pat snorts. “I’m hoping she returns my balls sometime this year. Most painful dressing down I ever got.”
I swallow to prevent more tears, but I fail. I pull myself back together and wipe my eyes. “What do we do?” I ask quietly.
“Pray. That’s all I can think of.”
“Bobby threatened me with an ‘exit interview’. Hector is here and he was sharpening blades when I walked in.”
Pat whistles. “Shit. Sorry man.”
“You think it’s too late to kill the contracts?”
“Way too late. She knows, Les knows, Bobby knows, I’m betting Tank knows. We’re committed. We’ll pay for it, I’m sure.”
“Then what?”
Pat is quiet, then, “Manny told me my job was to repair her rep here. Get the men to understand that Leadership is not to be questioned, regardless of what we’ve heard or think.”
“We did that.”
“No, we didn’t. We contributed to the idea that she should be questioned by telling the men to make their own assessment and come to their own opinions. By telling them that we would search the company for info on her. By telling them that we would assess her when she came to assess us. She’s right. We fucked up just as badly as Mark and we forgot our place. We should’ve told them to ignore Mark and be prepared to stand with the CO.”
“How could we?! Everything we knew about her was bad!”
Pat sighs. “Doesn’t matter, man. This was Leadership Core’s call. This is Ranger’s woman. The man is no idiot. Are we really suggesting he made a mistake?”
I’m silent. “No,” I exhale. “Ranger’s not known for making mistakes. Especially not when it comes to the company.”
“Exactly. I’ve started on the rebuild here. I took Vic to the mats for suggesting that Mark’s losing it. I reminded him that Leadership is not to be questioned. I see what the CO is talking about. By allowing Mark to break down the leadership here, he’s also being called into question. The problem is now reaching him.”
I sit back, stunned. Mark would never forgive Vic for that, partners or not. I see Pat’s point, but Pat’s not done.
“At the moment, we can only hope the rest of the branch passes review. She told me senior management has already failed.”
“What! Why?” Before Pat can answer, I answer my own question. “Because Leadership’s broken down.”
“Exactly.”
We’re screwed. “Why didn’t you warn me?”
“I was ordered not to. When you called, this early, I knew it had to be because they’d spoken to you. They told you to call me?”
“Yeah. Told me to consult with my partner-in-crime but I’m not to talk to Mark.”
“Same warning I got. She must be planning to rip Mark a new one too.”
I felt like half a man when she ripped my balls away. And she did it in front of my boss. That stung deeply. I’m quiet and so is Pat. Finally, I hear him clear his throat.
“I’ll continue rebuilding respect for the leadership here. You just try to make it through the week. We’ll figure out what to do later.”
Click.
He’s assuming I’ll make it to later. Hector was sharpening blades!
Dinner is calm. I’m treated much better than I expect, but it’s clear that each of the other liaisons is desperate to kill me. I realize that this is my first time meeting all of them, since I’ve only been in the position for a year, and they all hate me. Ram, especially, looks calm on the surface but when you look in his eyes, he’s furious. I get the feeling I’m in crosshairs.
A sniper, an assassin, a former gangbanger, and a former cop. Ram, Hector, Thomas, and Adam. Every single one of these guys knows how to kill and not leave a trace.
My boss? I’m trying not to think about Liam’s ‘exit interview’.
After dinner, we meet in the living room for a quick chat. The CO is sitting next to Bobby and Hector has hooked his computer up to a 50″ flat screen he brought with him.
“So, let’s talk about this week’s objectives. The main one is to get RangeWorld up and running for your use. You have the results of your working meetings and the ideas from your men. What we want to do is build out the spaces, set the security, and ensure that we have the right structure. We also want to start talking about the . . . ” She looks at Hector, who grins.
“The front facing website, the public website for the world.” Bobby is doing the translations for the CO and Ram is translating for Hector. I’m wondering how this partnership works.
“Right. I know that the strategists are just waiting on the day that we get the site set up to handle requests pouring in so that they just have to follow up on inquiries, but let’s get the back end going first.”
We spend the night agreeing on basic structures and setup. Hector creates sites and sub-sites for each branch, then ‘communities’ for each major product offering. The sites will only allow men at those branches to access the information, but the men in each group (like Bonds Enforcement or Client Services) can access the ‘communities’ to share information across the company on how to perform the job better. The CO groans when Adam tells her that the audio recordings of her skip tracing workshops will be the first items entered in the Bonds Enforcement community. Every other man grins and thanks Atlanta for recording her.
Even though the liaisons are doing a lot of the work setting up this environment this week, each branch’s working group is also ready to fill in information back at the branch. Twenty minutes after I create the Bonds Enforcement sub-site for Boston, I see Victor’s already started entering information in. He’s been ready to get this up and running for a while, and he’s doing a great job of getting everything filled in. I can see that it was good for us to plan this out over the past five months. We already know how it needed to be set up. Now we’re just filling in the info.
At 2200, the CO calls for everyone to stop. “I know everyone could probably go for hours now that we’re actually moving, but we have an entire week. Don’t forget to take breaks, enjoy the beach and feed me.” We laugh. “Oh, the second objective of this week!” She looks to Bobby, who nods. “The second objective this week is for me and Bobby to spend some time with each of you and hear your concerns, your thoughts. The liaisons are an important part of the management team at each location and I want to be sure that you guys are being heard.” We nod, smiling. That’s new.
Bobby picks up. “The job of the liaison is more than just the official mouthpiece of the branch. You are management and each of you fills the role in slightly different ways. We want to hear from you about you, your branch, and your thoughts on the company. That’s why I’m here this week, that and because Steph’s putting me to work.” We chuckle and the CO slaps Bobby’s arm. He grins. “We want to encourage you to feel free to talk to us about whatever you need to express, and we’re here to start dialogue between the levels of management. Feel free to approach us over this week and in the future.”
We nod and stand. The CO is yawning. “I’m headed to bed,” she says. “I encourage all of you to go to bed too. We have all of tomorrow to keep going.”
Everyone starts locking computers and making notes on where they left off. I’m surprised to find that Bobby is working on the San Antonio site and the CO is working on NYC. Bobby smiles. “Someone has to. NYC doesn’t have a permanent liaison and I’m it for San Antonio. So yeah, we’re working on those sites too.”
“Who’s handling the corporate site?”
“Me,” Hector replies. “I have the CO’s notes on how she would like to see it. So much for this being a beach vacation. She’s putting me to work. My work normally would be done now.”
We laugh and head upstairs to shower and go to bed. Thomas joins me in our bedroom and he’s silent. Finally, he speaks to me.
“I’ve long respected Boston’s juice, their lock on the number one position, the authority your XO has among his men and the way you guys conduct business. But this shit with the CO?” I hear him exhale. “Trenton, Atlanta, and NYC are trying to ensure that no one in their branches hears about it. Otherwise, you guys won’t have to worry about Leadership Core getting you. The other branches will skin you alive.”
“We know,” I whisper.
“Nah, you don’t have a fucking clue, but Bobby has asked us to treat you the way we would have a month ago. Use that to your advantage, because right now, Ram, Hector, and Adam are ready to disappear you.” Thomas rolls over and I’m left to pray I last the week.
Ram’s POV—Beginning during the evening
Woody and Binkie are going mad in our RangeWorld site. As quickly as I get things set up, they’re filling in info and transferring scanned files in. Binkie is mad about this project and bought a SharePoint book to study, so he was ready to get moving. He’s directing things back at the office and our site is coming up fast.
Hector leans over my shoulder and whistles. “Nice job. I see everyone’s keeping to the agreed upon standards.“
“Oh yeah. Manny’s smug because he was thrilled about getting this up and running and now, seeing it come alive?” I snort. “I’ll have to take him to the mats.“
Hector chuckles and I continue to work. A lot of the standards were my idea. I bought a few books, searched for info on best practices and really played in Manny’s temp world before the license expired. I set up the libraries to file status reports, expense reports, everything currently sitting on the Atlanta servers, and I see Benny start moving stuff in. The guys doing monitoring this week are pulling double duty. Half are watching twice as many monitors as normal while the others work on the site. Everyone switches every two hours so we stay fresh. Junior is walking the bullpen to ensure everyone is on task. Hal’s even taking a turn on the monitors to ensure that nothing is being overlooked.
Trenton is a lean operation and, with so many of our men gone, we’re leaner than ever. We’ve gone from 43 men to 30, not counting Steph, Ella, and Luis, but even there, Luis is helping on the monitors this week. I’m starting to agree with Hal. Steph’s gotta stop poaching or start picking up some monitoring shifts. It’s a running joke in the office that every time Hal gets annoyed with ‘Sis’ for poaching his men, he adds more time to the monitor duty backlog. Steph grins, but when it gets over 15 hours, she gets the point and starts taking monitor shifts like Ranger used to.
That was actually Tank’s idea. He told Hal that when Ranger started ducking too many of the in-house management duties in favor of active work, he’d add time to a private log he and Ranger kept. After 30 hours, Ranger had to sit his butt in a chair and get it back down under 10 hours. That answered a question that used to plague me when I was the head of the monitoring unit. I could never figure out how Ranger scheduled himself in because it just seemed totally random.
In any case, Hal loved the idea: a non-confrontational way to tell his beloved little sister to stop poaching his men and help and, after some initial grumbling, Steph also got the point. I think Tank may have told her the same story. Otherwise, Steph would never take monitor duty if she could help it.
Adam and I are sharing a room and we’re shit talking about our offices as we prep for bed. “Man, I’m telling you, the CO is starting to make Danny nervous now. She’s starting to poach in our office and Danny’s giving his phone the side eye now when she calls out of the blue.” Adam stretches and runs his hands through his short blond hair. That reminds me; I gotta get a haircut.
I laugh. “Shut up. You guys are in the middle of a hiring binge. Atlanta does not feel Trenton’s pain.”
“Yeah, I know but Danny hates being left out of anything going on in Trenton. ‘Trenton is the model’ is what he preaches in our offices and I swear, it’s like Danny and Hal are in a bromance,” Adam says, laughing. I’m trying not to piss myself. “If Hal is doing it in Trenton, we’re doing it in Atlanta within days.”
“Same in Trenton. Whatever’s going on in Atlanta I hear about from Hal. He’s always got his eye on what you guys are doing. Zip and Marcus are at war and I hear Mack’s declared war on both of them in redecorating. Of course, it was Brooklyn-ese so he may have just called us assholes.” I shrug and Adam buries his face in the pillow. “We’ll know soon enough.”
Adam and I are chuckling so much Bobby pokes his head in. “What’s so funny?”
I motion for him to come in and get him caught up. Bobby’s shoulders are shaking in silent laughter. “We’re watching the Trenton-Atlanta feud. I personally find it hilarious and I’ve got my money on the home team.” He and Adam high-five.
“Traitor!” I exclaim.
“Atlanta’s working hard to get the crown.” Bobby sobers but is still smiling. “Believe me, Leadership Core is extremely pleased by everything the two offices are doing. We’re proud and we’re even more proud that you seem to be pulling NYC into the rivalry.”
“We understand the CO asked our XOs to reach out to Javi. Now that he has Jorge at his back, Manny says he’s killing us in client services,” I tell Bobby, who nods.
“Jorge is determined to prove he was a good gamble and Les told him he wants him off probation soon. He’s going gangbusters in NYC. I’d like you to spend some time with him, Ram. Get him comfortable with a gun. He still feels uncertain. You too, Adam. As long as you’re posted there, work with him.”
I nod and reach for my new moleskin to write a note. Bobby takes note. “How’s the transition been?”
“Hal’s nicknamed me ‘Silver Tongue’.” Bobby grins. “I’m the man sent into the Lion’s Den, as we’ve renamed the CO’s office, every time we need to break news or ask a favor. I’m just grateful Steph loves us. Otherwise, I might need to submit an expense report for a sword and shield.”
Bobby sinks to the floor in laughter. Thomas pokes his head through the door. “Are we staying up late telling ghost stories in here or what?” That sends us all into a fit of laughter. Thomas grins and sits on the floor.
“Rod?” I ask. The room sobers.
“Asleep. A very scared man.” We nod. He should be.
“What’s the climate in Miami like?” Adam asks. We’re concerned. We don’t want Steph walking into a fire fight.
“Mixed. The Housekeepers’ War is taking its toll. The majority of the office got the point and started working with the housekeepers to assist them in their duties. We got our food and laundry service back and the men are healthy. It’s serious, sir,” Thomas says, looking at Bobby. “You may want to schedule a surprise health inspection soon. Men are losing weight, health problems are disappearing, and respect for the ladies is at an all-time high. Our only remaining issues gel around one asshole and the little clique he has.”
“Fire him,” Bobby says.
“We want to. Believe me, we want to but Mando’s in a tight spot. It’s his cousin, and his family would go ape shit. Antonio’s the beloved son. That would be like you, sir, telling Ranger to fire Les.”
Bobby cringes. “Good point. Ranger loves his family but business and family are separate. I’d like to say that Ranger would fire Les if he had to but . . . ” Bobby shrugs. “On one hand, I acknowledge that Les would have to commit murder before Ranger would abandon him and even then it would depend on who Les killed.”
I’m thinking only the deaths of Julie, Steph, and Tank would piss Ranger off that badly.
“On the other, if Les’s actions started fucking with the company, that’s different. Ranger would fire Les without hesitation and tell his family that the day they were responsible for 500 men is the day they could make business decisions for him.” Bobby looks at Thomas hard. “The difference is Les would never put Ranger in that position. Sounds like Antonio’s not that bright.” Bobby leans back and frowns. “Is that the same asshole that tried to challenge Hector for the CIO job?”
Thomas nods, grimacing. “Mando wants to. He really does. But his family pretty much lives in his house. They’re forever in his business and Antonio is the darling. I don’t think he’s prepared, yet, for the waves of criticism and bitching he’ll get when he does it. I just know that when he does, it will be because Antonio pushed him too far and Mando will be vicious when he does it.”
“Are Antonio’s fuckups affecting Mando or the branch?”
“Both.”
Bobby nods. “Keep me apprised. If the firing needs to come from a higher level, we can make that happen.”
I kick back in the bed. “Well, I think it will be a fight to determine who accompanies Steph to Miami. Hal’s determined. He wants to stop the swag where it starts.” Bingo! We’re laughing again. “I think Hector is also planning to go.”
“What’s that? I heard my name,” Hector says, poking his head through the door. We laugh and shuffle to accommodate his entry. I catch him up on the discussion and he nods. “Got that right. I’ll be damned if I let my partner go back to Miami without me.“
“Just try not to get shot this time,” I tease. “The CO scared us enough the first time. Tears? Shooting the paper man in the balls? Setting up shop in Apartment 1? Trenton was terrified and no one knew what had happened. Manny kept his mouth shut and every time we tried to ask Bombshell, she looked weepy.”
Hector laughs. We’re grinning.
“In any case, we were all thrilled to find you actually have a weakness.” Hector glares and everyone looks intrigued. “Oh believe me, it’s useless. Tears and bossy women. Honestly. Steph hates to cry and Maria . . . well, Maria was a general but I can’t see anyone else bossing Hector around like that.”
“Damn right,” Hector grumbles. We smirk. “A week of fucking bed rest. I felt like a baby, not a bad ass.”
Bobby falls over laughing. The rest of us turn red with the effort not to.
“In any case, something separate I wanted to ask about this week was communication and gossip within the company. I notice that it’s died down,” Bobby says, looking me, Adam, and Thomas in the eyes. “I don’t really expect a lot of gossip out of Trenton but even Miami is dying down.”
“We don’t have a lot to gossip about,” Thomas replies. “Ryan’s become a beast in Accounting. He’s instituted new policies, signed off on by the CO. You can’t come into the Accounting offices without an appointment and the only person you can discuss numbers with is him and his deputy. No one else. Any man found in the Accounting offices without an appointment better have a very good reason or it’s 30 minutes on the mats. I think everyone in the office forgot that Ryan is no slouch on the mats. First time Ryan took Pedro to the mats for trying to get info from Lucky reminded everyone that he’s still got it.”
Bobby nods, eyebrow raised. Thomas grins.
“And Hector here solved another huge problem for us.” Everyone looks intrigued. “We got sick of having to admit to each housekeeper that her temporary apartment might be bugged because the men were pissed about the housekeepers not taking orders from them. So we instituted new policies, signed off on by the CO and backed up by the CIO.” Thomas dips his head to Hector, who smirks.
“Any bugs put to purposes not signed off on by the management will gain you one week on the mats. No exceptions. Hector was kind enough to inform Miami management that at the first infraction he would make a special trip to Miami to ‘talk’,” Thomas finger-quotes and we’re grinning, “to the perpetrator. The men are scared to go anywhere near Electronics and Communications now.”
We fall over laughing. Damn! Bobby wipes his face and turns to Adam.
“Nothing to report in Atlanta either. Once Sam got his ass handed to him, courtesy of Hector, most of our leaks plugged themselves. I submit disinformation Boston’s way every so often, but the CO’s attitude to gossip is pretty much informing everyone’s attitudes.“
Bobby turns to me. “Your work?“
“Yes, sir. I know how much Steph hates gossip, especially gossip about her, so my first task when I took over was to start letting it be known that it needed to die.”
“Good man,” Hector says. Bobby smiles.
“I agree. Exactly what I would have expected of you, Ram.”
