Chapter 4
Three days had passed since the incident.
The following day, Jill Valentine pulled into the Precinct parking lot at 7:30am. She had a long sleepless night. She walked in, waving to Bill Henderson, in entrance security.
"Long night, Jill?"
"That obvious huh. What gave me away?"
"Give it away every time." he smiled. She laughed and handed him a coffee. She figured after the hard day everyone had yesterday, she'd grab coffee for the team. Or at least the ones who showed up on time. Bill was just a good guy so she factored him in. He had helped her once when a stalker had tried to follow her into the precinct. That was the same day she decided to stop dating.
She continued down the hallway and into the locker room where she met Barry.
"Hey, Barry, you're back. Feeling better?" She asked. She couldn't help but yawn as she struggled getting her jacket off.
"Mostly. This damn cold is never going to leave me. Wesker asked me to come in and shuffle some paperwork; at least since Enrico was given time off. ... I heard about what happened to McCarthy. That's too bad."
"Yeah, We've been through some intense times together. He used to toss me a muffin every time i was late for a debriefing." she laughed awkwardly.
"He was a great medic." Barry said.
Silence fell over both of them.
"So how early did you get in?" Jill asked. It was 8 am. That was as early as anyone got in during the day shift.
"I came in at seven. Haven't been here as long as the Captain has, though. I swear, the man sleeps here."
"Yeah I know what you mean. Well I'm going to head in. Here. I'll see you there." she said smiling, putting a cup down for him, and walked the length of the the long hall, into the STARS quarters. Jill slid into the chair behind her desk and blinked hard. It was times like these where she wished she hadn't stayed up late through the entirety of shark week, but it was way too cool to pass up. She grabbed a pen in hand and pulled a few files from under her desk. As she was getting ready to write, a loud boisterous voice came from across the room. Irons.
"I decide the procedures around here and I'll be damned if that's going to change anytime soon! You had a full opportunity to set things right yesterday and you purposely disobeyed my orders. Are you listening to me!" he yelled.
Jill couldn't help but stare and wince at the screaming this early in the morning. It made her involuntarily cringe. Wesker sat back in his chair and stared up at Irons. The chief was his usual beat red, haughty self.
"Are you implying that i should fabricate a story for them? With all due respect, chief, i wasn't about to announce the death of a police officer to the media before his own family. It would be frowned upon."
"Don't be a smart ass." he blurted. "If it weren't for those papers of yours, I'd tare those glasses right off your smug face. If you disobey me one more time, I'll have you thrown out of here. I want Enrico back here tomorrow."
Wesker didn't move. Irons was hoping Wesker would have an outburst. Something to charge him with. Anything. But the Captain simply stared back through those dark shades, emotionless and silent.
"Watch yourself." Irons growled and walked away, giving Jill an awful stare.
She never liked Irons. She decided that today. The only reason why they hired her in the first place at the RPD, was because she was a woman and it made good publicity. She couldn't complain though. The first day she entered STARS, it was what she always wanted. She still remembered the first day she had been introduced. The Captain was a man by the books, but casual nonetheless. He had transferred from Regals City and at the top of his force. He never acted like one of them, but he was always on the sidelines. He wasn't the nicest man, but he wasn't like Irons. He had been fair, sometimes, even occasionally humorous. Wesker was a man of middle ground, in Jill's mind. Many of the STARS members had pasts that were less than favorable. Chris had been kicked out of the Air force for disobeying orders, yet Wesker still insisted on having him on the team. And the team respected him for it.
She watched the blond begin to work again, a hand pressed against the side of his head, as he typically did when working in the office.
"Too bad, Joseph." she whispered to herself.