“Chief—”
“Captain Williams,” Baker interrupted calmly. “I need help with scheduling. Office, please.”
Williams took several deep breaths, visibly gritting his teeth. Giving a stiff nod to Baker, he walked toward his boss.
Erin took this as a moment to dissipate the tension and piped up, “This cake is the perfect color for you, Kevin. Can we sing youA Very Merry Unbirthday? Aiden?”
Aiden carefully stood, recovering some of his color. “I’m fine. Let’s have cake.”
Kevin sighed, holding up his legal pad which was now covered with sketches. “Can I not eat the cake and draw it instead?”
Charlie perked up at his comment. “You draw?”
Vanessa and Aiden rolled their eyes as Kevin smirked. “Yes, yes, I do…”
No one was going to win the bet at this rate.
Chapter 15
* * *
Noah softly closed the door to the office and watched his new captain pace around the close confines of the office. “What were you thinking?”
Williams was seething. “This is not a joke. They are treating this like it’s a game.”
Noah checked his instinct to strike back; calm and rationality were needed here. “Read the damn room. This a prototype of joint ventures between our services. Reyes wanted it light to build trust and cooperation. Team building at its finest. We gave them a huge amount of latitude on purpose. CCFD needs PD as allies in this county. We were supposed to develop protocols in a low-stress environment. Why do you think she repeated ‘innovation and creative interpretation of situations’ twelve times?”
This was supposed to be an easy event and aid Williams with settling in.
“You’ve let this be unprofessional the whole time. The musical theater, the meal, the Unbirthday Party, the birthday quiz…” Williams fumed, continuing to pace in the small space.
“Soto poked fun at your expense. Your team went along with it,” Noah pointed out, getting pissed off now. “And why not? You are the new guy. You do have to be hazed some. Carver was and still is getting a hell of a lot more crap than you were.”
Williams scowled. “Rodriguez planned on this all and helped her uncle embarrass me.”
Noah held up a hand. “No, you embarrassed yourself. You saw something on your schedule and made assumptions. You didn’t ask any of your officers for more details beyond your email, did you?”
“No.” The reply was hesitant and sullen.
Noah took a cleansing breath. “Wills, I brought you here because, yes, this shift does need discipline and structure. It doesn’t make them robots and doesn’t mean they’ll never be mischievous. Especially after the Freon incident.” He had read the report and didn’t think it presented anyone on the team in a good light.
Put in his place, Williams straightened. “I’m sorry, sir. My behavior was not professional. If you let me go back out there, I’ll make it up.”
“No.” Noah’s word was final.
Williams bounced back into defensive mode again. “What the hell do you mean? ‘No?’”
“You’re triggered,” Noah stated. “It’s not lost on me that you freaked out during this scenario. An armed robbery? I should have been paying closer attention. I had no idea it would mess you up that badly.”
“I’m not messed up,” Williams denied. “Grumpy is my neutral. You think I feel better today than I did five years ago? Do you think it faded? Every day is the same.”
Noah clenched his jaw. “I’m sorry to hear that. However, I’m the fire chief, and I say you aren’t in the frame of mind to interact with your team right now. You’re grounded.”
“You can’t ground me in my own firehouse. Those are my firefighters. It’s my job to supervise them, Noah.”
Baker’s voice went cold, in full Chief-mode. There was only so much rope he could afford his former friend. “I didn’t give you permission to call me by first name, Captain. We aren’t friends—not anymore. I’m the superior officer, and you will respect me. If you expect your officers to respect you, then you will respect me too.”
“You going to send me home?”
