Chapter 67: Trojan Horse Redux
Steph’s POV—Monday Evening
I hate to do this again, but it has to be done. I back the XOs, but I need to see if Armando is worth backing. So far, I’m not sure how to classify him as a manager but, if I’m totally honest and fair, the word ‘shit’ is coming to mind. There has to be a reason the guys put him in charge of Miami, but I don’t see it right now and I need to in order to recommend he stay in his position.
Thomas said that, before he hired his cousin, Armando was a ‘beast‘, which I think means he was really good. The talk with Lucia helped me understand how he got where he is now, and I think this plan will work. If it doesn’t, he’ll have to be demoted. There’s no way around it.
Amazing. I think the senior XOs are going to end up on a 90-day probation.
“Les?”
“Hey, Beautiful. What’s up?”
“Tank still mad at me?”
“Nope, Little Girl. Wasn’t mad at you at all. Surprised, that’s all.”
“Hi, Tank! How’s Lula?”
Muffled laughs. “My apartment is gray.”
“Liar! Beautiful, his apartment is gray, purple, teal, yellow—”
Tank growls and I can hear the laughter in the background.
“Please tell me that it’s gray on the walls and the rest are accent colors.”
“Yeah, Little Girl,” Tank says, sighing. Bobby and Lester are really laughing now. “That’s it. And ebonized cherry wood floors.”
I take a moment to consider this and shake my head. “How did you get Lula to agree to black as a main color?”
Tank chuckles. “I didn’t. Grace, the decorator, did.”
“Can’t wait to see that. Anyway, business matters.”
The guys get quiet. “OK, Bomber, hit us.”
“I need to test Armando and I have an idea.”
“Wait, Little Girl, back up. Why are we testing Armando?”
“I can’t decide if he’s a good XO in a bad situation or a bad XO with good lieutenants. I need to pull him away from both and test him independently.”
“Well, last time worked like gangbusters,” Les says. “What are you thinking of doing?”
“Well, if this goes right, I test Armando, Rodney and Diego at the same time.”
Bobby whistles. “I like it already. Go on.”
“I want to move Armando and Rodney, with Chase, to Charlotte.”
Silence on the line.
“Let me guess,” Les says slowly. “You get Armando away from his family and his Core and make him rely on new men in a new city. If he’s a good XO, he should be able to start building Charlotte the way it needs to be done. If he’s a bad XO, it’ll show immediately.”
“Glad to see you’re following me. Plus, the man is at the edge. I think some time away from Miami and his family might be the perfect thing for him. Let’s see if he can rediscover his balls.” And finish grieving his father. And repair his marriage before it completely breaks. Mando’s already lost one supporter. If his wife divorces him, he’ll go postal.
The guys laugh. “OK, Rodney,” Les says. “Gives us a chance to see how he behaves when his ass is on the line and outside Mark’s influence.”
“Two for two, Les.”
“Bomber, I don’t understand why you’re testing Chase.”
“I’m not. He’s the Trojan Horse this time.”
Silence, then, “Explain.”
“Chase already knows the area and the landscape thanks to Atlanta and all the work the Atlanta office has been doing. Besides, I can’t send Pat because he’s on the ice with me, and Jorge is too new. Diego and Manny already did this in NYC. If I move Manny again, Hal will chain me in my office without phone or email.” The guys crack up. “I can’t move Diego because I want him to take over as XO of Miami in Armando’s absence.”
Les chuckles. “Thus giving him a chance to prove his mettle as an XO and a way to fire Antonio without putting Armando on the hook for it, right?”
“Right. Antonio reports to Diego, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You think he has the balls to fire Antonio?”
“You kidding me? Diego will be desperate to fire Antonio! Firings are an XO function. Diego has already told me he’s written Antonio up and taken him to the mats before. The moment Diego is installed as acting XO, Antonio will know his ass is on the line and that Diego is watching him closely.”
“Perfect. I can solve a lot of problems and move Charlotte along faster. Plus, it’ll really give Chase a chance to show off. We have five brilliant strategists, but Chase has kinda been lost in the shuffle. The rest have an identity as strategists. Chase needs one.”
Silence, then, “Holy Shit, that’s brilliant,” I hear Bobby mutter.
“I’m really starting to love these calls, Little Girl.” I laugh. I love Tank. “What do you need to make it happen?”
“What are the procedures for bringing up a new branch? Are they written?”
“Yeah. We have a checklist.”
“OK, I want to send the three of them to San Antonio with you guys for a week or two, then drop them in Charlotte and let them get going.”
“Sounds good. When do you think you’ll start this plan?”
“That’s the hard part. Armando’s wife is pregnant and I don’t want to move him, but if I’m going to retain him, this has to happen. I need to see what kind of XO he is. So far, I’m not impressed but I think it’s because he needs a break from Miami. He’s already starting to show signs of relaxing and thinking some things through. He needs to be ready, mentally, to take on Miami before he goes back as XO.” And his family. He needs to be ready to flip his family the finger again when he goes back.
“OK. Well just let us know, Bomber. You know we’ll back you to the hilt.”
“OK, two more things.”
“Go on, Bomber.”
“One, I’m hitting Boston for their review after this.”
Silence on the line. “So, Boston will be the second review instead of the last one?” Les asks.
“Yeah. I’ve already put senior management back in their places, I should be able to do the review and get them out of the way without any problems. It’s supposed to be a well-run, efficient office. It shouldn’t take me long to review them. I’m not taking anyone from Trenton with me on this trip. I can’t and I really need you guys to back me here. The guys are too ready to beat up the Boston Core Team. I’m taking Danny and Jorge with me on this one. Danny’s a good XO with control of his office now. Jorge is a good strategist and he’s new. He needs to see Boston.”
“Hector?” Tank asks.
“Not even Hector. Hector openly sharpened his blades in front of Rodney. The anger is entirely too high there.” I decide not to mention Mark’s snooping. They’d demand Hector go if they knew about that.
The silence is stretching. Finally, Tank says, “OK, as long as you feel comfortable with that. What’s the second thing?”
“I’m spending some extended time in Miami. I’m thinking a month or more. Since I’ve hired Candy, I want her to spend some time there with Ryan learning internal RangeMan affairs, I want to figure out where the leak is, and I want to see how Maria gets on.”
“Leak?” Les asks.
“Yeah, there’s a leak. Armando leveled with me. The moment he said it, my spidey senses went wild, so there’s more to this leak than he can tell me. I think he told me everything he knows, but I want to investigate myself.”
“What kind of leak, Little Girl?”
“He says there’s a steady loss of bodyguard contracts at the branch and he asked for my help sooner rather than later. So I figure I remove him to Charlotte for at least three months and let him pull himself back together. Meanwhile, I have some time to investigate this leak without him around. Because I’m taking Candy, Hal will demand to go and I’m OK with that. I’ll take Pat with me on that one, so I’ll either ask Javier to help Ram with the Trenton office or I’ll elevate Junior to acting XO until Hal returns. Maybe both.”
Silence. I’m moving a lot of men around and I can feel the nervousness on the line. Bobby snorts. “Don’t know why I’m nervous. She hasn’t failed in this position,” he mutters, and I can hear the snickers on the line. “OK, Bomber, just be safe. Hey! When are you going to be ready for us to clear you?”
Damn! Forgot about that and the sooner that happens, the sooner I get rid of the bodyguards. “Umm … Before Boston, I think?”
The guys laugh. “OK, give us a call and let us know.”
“Thanks, guys.” Click.
Sigh. I don’t even mind RangeMan phone manners anymore.
Armando’s POV
Flashback
“Fire him, Mando.”
“Mari, I can’t—”
She cuts me off, furious. “Yes, you can and you should. You complain about Antonio constantly. You tell me he attempts to run the office as if he’s in charge. He is forever attempting to prove he should have the power. He’s been that way since he was a child, yes?”
I nod. Mariela throws her hands up and sighs.
“Then what, my dear, are you waiting for? A sign from Christ? My God, even Ranger gave you permission to fire him.”
“Mari, it’s not that simple.”
“It is that simple, Mando. If Ranger gave you permission, you have all the coverage you need. Fire him and if anyone asks why, say you had orders from Ranger to do so. Why won’t you fire him?”
“Because Mamí and Tía will have my ass if I fire him. It would be the fifth time he’s been fired. He’s almost unemployable.”
Mariela just stares at me. Finally, she lets out a disgusted noise. “Mando,” she says softly, “there is only one woman’s opinion in this world you should be concerned about and that’s mine. I am your wife, the mother of your children. The umbilical cord between you and your mamí and tía has been cut .”
She hugs me and looks deep into my eyes. I can see all the love, and frustration, she has for me shining in her gorgeous brown eyes.
“Mando darling, when we married, you promised me that it would be me and you. ‘We are family’ you said. ‘Everyone else is relatives.’ I hesitated to marry you because I knew you were devoted to family, too devoted. You let them turn your head. Stop that. Stop listening to their opinions and stop hesitating to do what’s right because you’re concerned about their response.
Me and you. That’s it. If you need someone to talk to, I will always be here. If you want to fire Antonio, fire him. Yes, your family will complain, but that’s your job. They have no right to comment on how you do your job. No one has the right to comment on the way we live our lives.”
My Mariela is right. I married her and only her opinion matters. Matter of fact, she and I need to have a very serious talk. Perhaps it’s time to clean house in more ways than one. My mother moved in after my father’s death and it was supposed to be short term. That was three years ago and my wife is no longer queen in her own home.
That ends. I have five brothers and sisters. She’s leaving my house before the end of the year. No, she’s leaving my house before the end of this month. It’s someone else’s turn to have my overly critical, incredibly judgmental mother. Let Tía Chita visit their house and criticize them all day. My wife has endured enough. She’s a saint for having lasted so long.
My sister? She’s finished college. Time to leave my home, especially since she isn’t paying rent. My girls can finally have their own rooms and we can set up a nursery for the new baby.
The only person who’s ever told my family that Tony’s an asshole is Hector. After Tony made RangeMan standards, he applied to Ranger to become the company CIO. I tried to tell him not to bother but he persisted. He ignored my warnings about Hector’s rep and argued that his degree from Florida Tech trumped Hector’s from NJIT.
By the time Hector was done exposing every one of Tony’s failures, my family was shocked speechless. Tony was red-faced and embarrassed. He never again asked to work in IT at RangeMan and he steers clear of Hector. It was the best evening of my life and Mari and I laughed our asses off afterwards.
He’s the head of bodyguard services only because he was the bodyguard with the highest approval ratings in the office. Clients loved him. Our bodyguard department doubled because of his work. I hated, hated, promoting him but he’d earned the position and God knows I cast a wide net looking for someone else to hand the job to. I talked it over with Ranger before I did it and he told me to do what I felt best.
“Don’t ever feel you have to promote someone up, Mando,” he said. He sat back and stared at me. Finally, he nodded. “You’ve known this man since childhood. Do you feel he’s ready for the responsibility?” I nodded. “Do you think he can handle the position?” Again, I nodded. “Do you think he’s willing to submit to your authority?”
That question made me pause. I nodded, hesitantly, and Ranger stared at me. Finally, he said, “There have been many men who, on paper, have looked like ideal RangeMen. I’ve been tempted to hire them but at the end of the day, I didn’t because I questioned whether or not they would and could submit to authority. If my instinct says they won’t, I don’t hire them. If I’m unsure, I run it by Tank.” He gave me a small smile. “Tank can size up a man in 10 seconds. If I’m unsure and he says no, I don’t hire them. What does Diego think?”
“Diego thinks we should give him a trial run. Interim. Make it clear it’s not his position, but we’re allowing him to fill it while we search for the ideal candidate.”
Ranger stared at me, fingers steepled, before nodding. “Smart move.”
I hired Antonio on that basis and, after three months, gave him the position permanently because he’d earned it. That’s when my hell started. He immediately began insinuating he would make a better XO. My family believed him, of course, and starting hounding me to promote him again. I pointed out that, at the moment, Tony was as high as he could go. Now that it’s clear that Diego’s up to be an XO in San Antonio, they feel he should be the strategist under me and Antonio’s got them all on a campaign to badger me to promote him up again.
No fucking way. I’ll quit first. The only reason they aren’t on me to promote him as XO for San Antonio is because that would be too far away from Tía Chita. Her precious baby wouldn’t be right there for her to wait on hand and foot.
No one has the right to tell me how to do my job. If Antonio wasn’t such a complete shit, argumentative, entitled, sexist, and difficult, this wouldn’t be his fifth job. Antonio’s a fixture on the mats with Diego, who doesn’t take challenges lightly. Thankfully, since he’s never reported to me directly, I haven’t had that conflict of interest but I’m ending the pain. Diego has written him up time and time again. He’s fired.
One more infraction. That’s all I need and I know he’ll give it to me soon enough.
This week at the beach has been great so far. Wonderful. Clarifying. Diego and Thomas told me, before I left, to be absolutely honest with her. Danny, Hal, and Javi said the same thing and they’re all right. Stephanie Plum is a great boss and, more importantly, she cares. She’s concerned about making sure we’re OK. I mean, a boss who tells us that she’s invited us to the beach to give us a week’s vacation away from our duties and our families? That shows a concern for her men that I’ve never seen before and she was right.
If this had become a family vacation week, I would have had to deal with my mother, aunts, and cousins demanding to come along in addition to my family. It would not have been peaceful. I hate that Mariela was left behind to deal with them, but this time away from everyone has given me the courage to go back and make changes. Having time to talk to my boss about my office and my job performance has given me the wisdom to finally accept that I know what I need to do and strength to do it.
When she asked me to consider that Ranger might not return to the Miami office, I went blank. It was his home office. Of course he was coming back. Then I thought about that. Steph has more information than anybody else, that’s clear. She’s his closest friend, one of them anyway. If she really is his woman, and he tells her things like I talk to Mariela, then she may know more than anyone else, even the other members of the Leadership Core.
So I considered it and I realized that there were lots of reasons why he might not come home, his death (God forbid) being high on the list. Stephanie lives in New Jersey, as does his family. He might stay for her, if they are serious and she didn’t want to move, or his family. The Leadership Core might decide to stick together and not split.
In any case, it’s clear that they aren’t moving to their home bases anytime soon. So was I going to allow my office to continue to drive me insane for the foreseeable future?
HELL NO! My daughters need me. My wife needs me. I can’t die at 40 from bullshit and that made all the difference. Thinking of my family, i.e. my wife and daughters, grieving because I died of a stress induced heart attack at 40 was all I needed to consider in order to decide that I’d had enough.
I refuse to be my father, hounded to the grave by my mother and her irritating sister. No fucking way. Changes will be made.
I’m feeling good. I’ve made some plans. The Armando who returns to Miami will not be the same man who left. Firings are coming. Authority in the office will be tightened. The insanity will end. I’m tired of being pushed around. The CO has answered my question: I am the authority in my office. Even when Ranger returns, that office is mine to run. I’ll stop explaining things; she’s right there too. I’ll rely on my Core Team to disseminate. I’ll need to put Diego and Thomas back in their places too. I’m grateful for their help but it’s hurt me more. It’s time for me to reassert myself as XO. Time for me to show all of Miami why I was named XO in the first place.
Now, I need to find Hal. I’m turning back toward the house when my phone beeps. Stephanie, wanting to know if I’ll join her on the beach for a chat. I reply that I’m already here. I’ll look for her. I spot her moments later and wave.
“Mando.” Steph looks uncertain.
“Steph. What’s wrong?”
She takes a big breath. “I’ve changed my mind.”
I swallow hard and put my blank face into place. “About?”
“I’m changing your orders.”
I nod slowly. Please don’t make me cry like Mark. I just located my balls.
“I’ve decided that sending you back into a situation when you are clearly frustrated and annoyed is the wrong thing to do.” She motions to some chairs and we walk over and sit down. “You need a break. You’ve already let go of a lot of tension and worry since you’ve been here. You’ve relaxed, I can tell.”
Is it that obvious? Oh, and where are you going with this?
She smiles. “I’m giving you an opportunity.” I have a hint of a smile now. “I want you to go to Charlotte for at least three months.” My face falls. I open my mouth to speak but she raises her hands. “Let me explain why.” She grins. “You’re getting an explanation,” she says, sing-song.
I laugh. OK, I’ll wait.
“I want you to talk this over with your wife. When I thought this up, she was my primary concern and I know that now is not the time you want to be away from her, so talk to her about this.” I nod. I would have anyway. “This is what I need to know. I need to see the kind of XO you are when you aren’t fighting with the arrogant assholes of Miami.” She grins and I smile.
“The information I have about you is all over the place. Some of it would make me think you’re a good XO. Some of it would make me think you’re a bad XO and the remainder makes me think you’re a weak XO. Two-thirds of what I know about you isn’t great, but you say it’s a product of being in Miami.”
I nod. OK, so the gossip about me is as bad as the gossip was about Javi. I see what she means and I appreciate that she’s being honest about it. I’m being put on probation. Lucia was right. I’m dancing on the line of being fired.
“The Charlotte branch is new. The only men there are new or Atlanta so you don’t have a stigma. I want to see you surrounded by men who won’t give you an ulcer. Plus, that branch is at the point where it needs a strong leader in charge to make some decisions. You are the second longest serving XO in the company and I think we both know I’m not moving the senior XO.”
“I think it’s pretty safe to assume that,” I grin and she laughs.
“So I want to send you. Your branch to run for a three months, maybe more, men you don’t hate and who know nothing about you, and a chance to prove to both me and the Leadership Core that you really are a great XO, it’s just your men have driven you insane.”
I see where she’s going. She needs to see if it’s worth saving my ass. “Who’s taking my place in Miami?”
“Diego will serve as interim XO.”
I burst into laughter and immediately pull her out of her chair, pick her up, and twirl her around. “Holy shit! You know he’ll fire half the branch.”
She nods, smiling. “Is that a problem for you?”
I shake my head. “Hell no. Let Diego do what he wants. If I retain my position, I won’t reverse anything he’s done when I go back. I trust my Core. Diego is a good man. He’ll do what’s right.”
We sit back down and she looks at me seriously. “You realize he’s looking for a leadership role.”
I nod. “I’ve encouraged it. I want him back but I know Diego would make a great XO. So, you’re giving him a chance to prove himself as an XO candidate and allowing someone else to fire Antonio so I don’t have to?” She nods. “Then I’ll prove to you that I’m a brilliant XO. I’ll talk my wife into it. Matter of fact, can I take her with me?”
“Of course. Her pregnancy was my main concern. If it will allow you to concentrate on your duties without worrying, take your family.”
Wonderful! “When do I leave?”
“Talk to . . . Mariela?” I nod. “Talk to Mariela first. Get a firm date. I’d like to see you leave Miami as soon as possible for Texas first, so the Leadership Core can go over the new branch procedures with you. Your Core will be Chase and Rodney, but don’t say anything yet. I still need to talk to them and Mark and Danny.” She stops and looks at me solemnly. “Are you sure you’re willing to do this?”
I stop smiling and look at her seriously. “While she was in Miami, Ella told me I needed to ask for some brotherhood. Javi got it by asking you for what he needed. He leveled with you and now he’s coming back stronger than ever. That took balls. I’m willing to do the same thing. I’ve leveled with you about everything in my branch. Now I’m willing to show you I’m worth backing.”
I call Mariela immediately after Steph leaves. I’m keyed up.
“Querida, I need you to sit and listen to me.” I tell her everything Steph just said to me, ending with, “I’m not stupid. I know it’s going to be Chase’s job to assess me but if all goes well, I’ll retain my position and Diego will have solved my biggest problem for me.”
The other end of the line is silent. “Where’s the catch, Mando?”
“There is no catch, querida.”
“Oh, there’s a catch, alright. Nothing is that easy.”
“Mariela,” I say very solemnly, “All I hear about Stephanie Plum is that she’s fair and honest. As long as you are respectful of her, she respects you. You might take a sting to your pride in private, but she’ll maintain your authority in front of your men. That’s exactly what she’s doing now. She’s giving me a chance to prove I’m a good XO, just as Javi was given a chance. Plus, Diego wants an XO position. This gives him a chance to prove he can maintain order and discipline in a branch. I told her about my difficulties with Antonio. She understands so she’s giving Diego a chance to fire him. This is good all the way around, querida.”
“Are you going to tell your mamí and your tía?”
“No.” I tell her about the morning conversation, about leveling with Stephanie. “I made some decisions even before she changed my orders and one of them was that you were right. We are family and decisions will be kept inside the family. The relatives need not know.” I tell Mariela the other decisions I’ve made in the past few hours.
Mariela is silent, but I hear sniffs. “Mari?”
“Mando, this is the happiest I’ve been in years. You sound happy. Are you sure this is something you want to do? Are you sure you want to do all of it?”
“Yes!” I grin. “It’s time for us to be alone in our home. As far as work, Steph’s concern was your pregnancy. She wants me to go as soon as possible, but she’s aware that this is a bad time for us, with the baby. What are you comfortable with? She said you are free to come with me, you and the girls.”
“I’ll pack your bags now and we will be ready when you come home. We can use this as the excuse to move your mamí and sister out. The sooner you go, and prove yourself, the sooner we can return and when we return, we’ll start making permanent changes here.”
I grin. I love my wife.
Chase’s POV
A call from the CO to the strategist, with no preceding or follow-up call to the XO? I’ve seen this before and I’m grinning. Last man this happened to is now considered a superstar in the company. Me? I’m thrilled at the opportunity to show that I’m a damn good strategist. Les and Bobby want to see me get out there more and here’s a perfect opportunity to do it.
“Of course, Danny’s here so I’ll tell him shortly, but I need know if you accept the assignment.”
“Of course, Steph! What do you need me to do?”
“You’ll receive a call from Armando shortly. Once he tells me his start date, I’ll leave it to him to coordinate with you and Rodney.” I frown. Rodney is in my bad books. I wonder if I get to assess him too.
“Rodney?”
“Yes. He’s part of your assignment too.”
I love the CO. Rodney’s ass is grass with me right now. I hope he can save himself.
Rodney’s POV
My last talk with the CO was not a good one. This one makes me nervous.
“Armando will call with your orders. Simply be prepared to join him and do the liaison duties for Charlotte until I recall you. Understood?”
“Yes, Stephanie.”
“Great. Thanks, Rodney. I look forward to reading complete reports from Charlotte.” Click.
Pat and I sit back and look at each other. Pat looks ill.
“So, you’re getting a chance to redeem yourself?” He asks. I nod. “I’m still screwed.” I nod.
Pat clenches his jaw. If Pat’s dressing down was anything like mine, then he’s a very scared man. The CO hasn’t given him an opportunity to redeem himself yet.
“You think Mark’s still employed?” Pat asks.
I look at him. He looks as frightened as I feel.
The CO has power. She’s using it and, unfortunately, we aren’t being left out.
Mark’s POV
Steph calls me and Danny to the backyard. We sit, sip beer and wait for her to speak. She stares at me, levelly, then turns to Danny and stares at him. Danny raises an eyebrow and nods.
“I need a favor from both of you.” We nod. “I need to borrow Chase and Rodney.”
Danny starts laughing. “Unfair! You’re poaching my men!” Steph grins. “How does Hal get you back for this? Monitors?” She grins, gleeful, and they laugh till they cry. I smile. “Damn. Benefit of having the CO in office. OK, fine. How long you need him?”
“Three months.”
I nod. “Rod already know?”
“Yes. I’ve spoken to him and Chase. I’m sending them to Charlotte with Mando.”
Danny and I blink and lower the beers. We look at each other. “Huh?”
She smiles. “Armando needs a vacation from Miami.” She leans back and sobers. “I told you guys when you arrived that if I didn’t look out for you, you’d run yourselves to the ground. Armando’s nearly there and he needs a break. There’s a reason Ranger placed him in charge of the home office and he needs to rediscover that part of himself before he breaks.”
“So you’re sending him to Charlotte, away from the . . .” I search for the right word.
“Asshole personalities in his office,” Danny finishes with a grin.
Steph nods, a tiny smile on her face. “He’s burnt out. I can see it. In the few days he’s been here, without work calls and no one calling except his wife, I can see something coming back in him. I need that back fully before I send him back to Miami. Otherwise, he might go postal on his own office.”
We snicker but nod. She’s right. Mando is a man fighting too many fights.
“Also, I want your opinions.” We sober, grins on our faces. “I’m thinking of changing the leave scheme.”
“How?” Danny asks.
“I’ve asked Candy to look into changing the leave structure so that we don’t have anything called ‘sick leave’. No one takes it and when the men are sick we still pay them. Their care is done by the in-house PA, so there’s no abuse in the system. It’s on the books as a liability and it’s useless. If the men are sick they can just take that time as paid time off. No need to have them banking sick leave.”
Danny grins. “Good idea.”
“I want to change vacation to ‘use it or lose it’,” she says. We sit back. That would be a huge change. “Each man gets 15 days a year now and most don’t use it. They’re so committed to the job they never take leave. As a result, there are men in the Miami office with nearly three months of leave because they’ve been there six or more years. Mark, you have nearly four months of vacation time. When the men don’t take vacation, it contributes to burnout. I want to start encouraging vacation. No one can build up more than 30 days.”
I consider this. I have 117 vacation days and she’s right. I’ve never taken a real vacation. This trip to the beach is the first time I’ve been out of the office for an extended time in years. “What are you going to do with the men who already have more than thirty days?”
“Well, first thing I want them to do is use it. So I want every man with more than 60 days to start scheduling vacation over the next 18 months to bring him down to 60. We’ll pay the remaining 30 days as extra salary. No one accrues vacation until he’s under 30 days.”
My eyebrows lift to my hairline. “So . . . I’d need to find a way to schedule 57 days of vacation?” Danny looks at me and whistles. I shrug.
“Don’t look at it as scheduling 57 days of vacation. Look at it as scheduling 8 separate weeks out of the office over 18 months. Done like that, it doesn’t seem so bad, does it?”
Actually, no, it doesn’t. I could take two weeks every four months and work on my house or visit my family or . . . assuming I’m still employed, of course. Damn. There’s always a catch.
Meanwhile, Danny is nodding. “I would finally be required to say yes when Cindy starts begging for some trips.” Steph smiles. “You realize you’re costing me money, right? I’ve managed to avoid Disney for five years.” She laughs.
Steph knocks on the table and grins. She leaves for the house and we see her leave shortly after for the beach.
Danny turns to me. “Any headway with Hal?”
I shake my head. I honestly don’t know what to do. Somehow the newest XO is the person I have to win over and I fucked up with him from ‘Go’.
“Mark, look at me.” I look up. Danny is serious. “Can you promise me that you will work with the CO? That you’ll stop eavesdropping on everyone’s office? That you’ll repair your relationship with your men?”
“On my honor.”
“Your honor has some craters in it right now. Don’t promise me anything on that. Give me something to work with. Hal isn’t a man who trusts easily when it comes to Stephanie. He loves her and he isn’t willing to compromise anything when it comes to her.”
“Danny, do you think I’m worth saving?” Please say yes.
Danny looks at me and sighs. “No. I don’t.” I have no chance. Not even Danny will back me and he’s the closest to Hal. Time to start thinking about options. “For some reason the CO wants to. Why? I have no idea but I’m betting it’s Ranger related.”
Danny stands and finishes his beer. He slides it to the middle of the table and claps me on the back. “Good luck. Find something to convince him and you have the rest of us.”
Steph’s POV
It’s after dark and Mark is sitting outside at the table. I feel sorry for him but this hell is of his own making.
No. That’s not entirely true. I’ve had time to think about what happened to him and it’s the same thing that’s going on with Hal and I see it coming in Diego. The same thing that happened to Armando and Javier. The same thing that’s happening to me now. He had help getting to this point. A lot of help and the people who pushed him to this point have yet to take responsibility for it. This is very clear to me. I’m determined that they will. They need to understand why it happened, how it happened, and why I’m determined it will never happen again.
No one will understand why I’m doing this but I know why. My motives are clear but they’ll remain a mystery to everyone until Ranger returns. He’ll know why. He’ll understand. And he won’t like it.
Time to execute. He’s staring at the citronella candle, but he stands when I approach. First bit of manners I’ve seen out of him. Nice. He is trainable. Candy’s right. This will work.
I sit and admire the stars for a few minutes before I speak. “Do you have any hope of convincing your colleagues to retain you?”
“No.” It’s said softly, the voice of a man with no hope.
“Do you want to keep your job?”
Silence. I look over and he’s staring at me. Finally, “Yes.”
I nod. “I’m going to offer you an olive branch. It’s the last one I’ll give you. Understood?”
“Yes.”
“You will write your resignation. You will leave the effective date blank for me to fill in. You will train your replacement. You will prepare to leave at a moment’s notice. If you choose to take this option, I want it by tomorrow evening. You still have until Thursday to at least attempt to convince them. If you cannot, I’ll announce your resignation but I won’t give them the date. You have from Thursday until the effective date to win over me, them, and your men. Understood?”
He nods. “Yes.”
I stand. The mosquitoes are out. I hold out my hand and, after a few moments, he shakes. First moment of civility between us. “Good night, Mark.”
