CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE
Chapter 10
In the event, the last phase of the project was less taxing than he had anticipated. The fact that they all knew what was happening produced a predictable effect - everyone was extra pleasant and helpful to him. Even the staff in the other labs went out of their way to impress him, without any of their former hostility. He found it rather sad. He realised that his rank, and the job he was doing, had combined to make him an intimidating presence. Intimidation was something he reserved for suspects, and he was unhappy to realise it now affected employees as well. There was little he could do about it, except to get this last, painful process done as quickly and fairly as possible.
It took a month - a month of almost constant visits and interviews - for him to produce lists of both the proposed make-up of the main teams, and the recommended redundancies. Its status was only 'recommended', although he assumed it would go through unchallenged. There was nothing contentious in it, that he could see. Chief Hernandez had final approval, but, since he knew even less about the people involved than Horatio, he didn't foresee any difficulties.
He had not bargained on the Chief's personal animosity towards him. Animosity that had started when Horatio's proposal was accepted over the one that Hernandez had endorsed. Animosity that Horatio had largely been able to ignore, because, since the committee meeting, he had official backing from higher up the command chain for everything he was doing.
But now he was summoned, and found the Chief in no mood to sign off his recommendations, without a challenge or two. He wasn't really worried - he knew he could justify every one of the names. Although… He had a bad feeling about the meeting, and he couldn't put his finger on it.
It started tamely. Hernandez picked out a name on the redundancy list. "I've known this man for fifteen years… He loves his job and he's good at it…"
"He is." It was fortunate that Horatio had an excellent memory for names, though he had his notes with him, in case. "But he lives the other side of town, and he's not happy about relocating to Dade. He wants to move to Houston - near his daughter - he'll be happy with the redundancy money. Ask him." Don't be a smartass, Horatio… This could get nasty…
It did, rapidly. "I notice none of your own team is on the list… I presume you included them in your considerations?"
"Of course."
"And they all passed muster? I find that hard to believe…"
Do you, you bastard… But he kept his tone mild as he said, "First, they're already at Dade; second, none of them is near retirement age, nor newly employed; and third…" He could feel his temper nearing the surface, "they're all damned good at their jobs, or they wouldn't be on my team."
He expected an argument, and was prepared to defend Ryan's past indiscretions, or the effects of Eric's injuries. Fully prepared - he'd defend them to within an inch of his life, or probably an inch of his job, in this case - but the challenge didn't materialise. Instead, the Chief, putting the list aside, said, "Calleigh Duquesne…"
"What about her?"
"You're putting her in overall charge of ballistics?"
"She's the best you've got. The best I've ever seen."
"But she wants to go part-time, I believe."
Horatio had to fight to hold his temper in check. He suspected Hernandez knew nothing about Calleigh's abilities, and someone - he wondered who - had obviously let him know which buttons to push. But lose his temper now, and he'd lose Calleigh her job, he suspected.
"Slightly shorter hours… She's got a young family…"
"Do you think that's a wise choice as supervisor?"
"I do. She'll do five hours a day. She'll have a good second-in-command…"
"And when she's gone home, to her maternal duties, and something serious comes in?"
"As I said, a good second-in-command. And something serious could come in any hour of the day or night… As you know. Chief."
They argued for five minutes, but Horatio quickly realised it was just token sparring, the Chief showing he still had some authority over him. His only concession, finally, was that Calleigh's position would be 'reviewed' in six months.
At last, Chief Hernandez leant back in his chair. "Well, Captain…" He was always 'Captain' now, never 'Horatio'. "Job done. Human Resources will handle the redundancy notices." He smiled thinly. "I won't make you do the executions yourself." He hesitated, studying the man opposite him. "Do you know Alec De Santos?"
Horatio frowned. "I know the name… Oh yes, LAPD's golden boy… He came over to have a look round when they were reorganizing their own crime lab…" This time, he heard the ax falling.
"He's agreed to come to us. Permanently. To run the lab. With a promotion, of course…"
Which made De Santos a captain… in his mid-forties, if he remembered him right… Horatio drew a short careful breath. "Good choice." He was silent for a moment, then stood up. "I won't embarrass you further, Chief… I won't expect you to 'find a slot' for me… I think retirement might be calling."
"Just hold on a minute - there's still plenty to do. Months of work. And you'll need to do a full handover…"
Horatio carefully unclipped his holstered gun, and slipped the badge off his belt, laying them on the desk. "Sorry, Chief, find someone else. I can't do this anymore." Without waiting for a response, he turned and left the room.
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It was fully dark when Horatio walked across the road from his condo, towards the beach. He crossed a narrow stretch of scrubby parkland, and stepped onto the sand. It was deserted, and one of his favorite 'thinking' spots. He sat down on the sand, his back to a palm tree, and listened to the sea.
After his meeting with Chief Hernandez, he hadn't gone back to the lab. Hadn't done anything really… Home… Switched his phone off… Changed into jeans, wondering when he'd next need his expensive suit… Well, truth be told, probably tomorrow - he supposed he would have to go in… explain… clear his personal stuff… say goodbye… Actually, he imagined all hell might break loose. Tomorrow…
He didn't regret his actions, although the dramatic gesture had been pretty pointless… He felt he'd given just about everything he had to give. If it wasn't enough, there was precious little he could do about it. And he still felt surprisingly calm. Perhaps a bit numb. Sad. He thought the shock might come later. He pulled his cell phone out and flipped it open. He ought to tell people. Alexx, Eric… The names rolled up the screen. Kyle… God, he hadn't told Kyle any of this - but his son was only twenty-two, enjoying his freedom from the army - he hardly needed the burden of his father's problems… Yelina - had she really got a new man, at last…? The names blurred as his eyes filled with sudden tears, and he snapped the phone shut, dropping it on the sand.
He drew his knees up, rested his head on them, and, alone in the darkness, allowed the tears to flow.
THE END
(for now)
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(Author's note: jasmine105 mused that I might have been thinking about CBS when I wrote this. Well, it was subconscious, but if you sort of substitute CBS for Hernandez and CSI Miami for Horatio… there's something in that. Meeting the bottom line. Past performance pretty meaningless. Decision coming out of the blue… etc. (I'm reading too much into it, I'm sure, and it was subconscious…)
I may think about a sequel… Hernandez may well have overstepped the mark… Not sure yet. Any comments welcome. My thanks to those who have commented so far.)