“There isNOeating or drinking in the lab, here or when we get back to Damascus,” she said, walking around with a wastepaper basket. “If you want to eat, you do it in the hall. You do it on your break. You do it on your way to your hotel room. Hell! You do itINthe bathroom, for all I care if that’s your kink, but inMY LAB, or any lab I’m in charge of, we don’t have straw papers on the floor, the consoles, or neartheVERY EXPENSIVElab equipment. Am I clear? We are borrowing this lab, temporarily, and we are not going to wreck city equipment. Back home, we will do it withRESPECT.”
There were nods as everyone began throwing their things in the can.
Chrissy wasn’t done.
“There is no music inAutopsy One, and since that’s not just a place but a team of people, that means here too. There is only the hum of the very expensive lab equipment, the sound of keyboards, and the echo of hamsters running in the wheels in your heads. That’s done, andNEVERcoming back while we’re on a case. It risks issues with the evidence, and our job is to keep Elizabeth alive. TheONLYtime there will be food in where we are working is if we are rewarded for our work. I don’t see that happening anytime soon. This is a shitshow.”
The‘old’head tech sputtered.
“HEY!”Ben said. “You can’t just come in here and replace me,” he said. “You’re not the boss.”
At that exact moment, the doors to the morgue opened, and Chris walked in with Saint behind him.
Immediately, Saint began laughing, and there was a very clear reason why. There was horrified silence, and Chrissy was standing in the middle of the room.
The shit was hitting the fan, and the blowback was not pretty. The woman might be little, but she packed a mean punch when you pissed her off.
“Oh, you chucklefucks did it now,” he said, as Chris smiled at them all.
Yes.
They.
Did.
Chris was incredibly giddy to see Chrissy standing in the midst of them.
The city lab was quiet, and the team was not acting up. Someone already had the ship going in the right direction.
That was the best million dollars he’d ever spent.
Well, that, and when he’d bought Himeros Collar.
“I see you beat me here, Chrissy. Thank you forMOVING TO THIS SIDE OF THE COUNTRYpermanently, and meeting us at this location,” he stated, making sureEVERYONEthere knew this wasn’t a temporary thing.
It.
Was.
Longterm.
She didn’t miss a beat.
“Oh, well, it’s my pleasure, Doc. I was just about to address Mr. Longfellow’s questioning that I am actually their boss.”
Chris helped her out.
“I can confirm. She was hired toMANAGEthe morgue, and the teams when we’re out of the main lab. Not only is she my head tech, and sharing the job with you, Ben, but she’s now the morgue manager. That’s a little position I created to make sure when I leave, the music isn’t on, there’s not a spider running amok to annoy my wife, and food isn’t dropping into the very expensive equipment.”
Tony sighed.
“Drats. Foiled again,” he muttered.
Yes, yes, he was.
“Checkmate, Anthony,” Chris said. “It’s like you think I haven’t learned over the years. Chrissy now has the exact same power I have. She answers directly to Elizabeth, and she can hire and fire—emphasis on the end part. I no longer am your boss. She is, and I’mHERboss. Welcome to a whole new world.”
She smiled.
