Henley watched Pellacia position himself in the furthest corner of the office, creating distance between them. She closed his door and sat down.
‘What’s the problem?’ she asked.
‘Your attitude towards DC Copeland is the problem,’ said Pellacia. ‘She’s only been here a couple of days, and you can see that she’s earning her place on the team, but—’
‘She’s complained,’ Henley said, slumping further into the seat. Too overwhelmed with exhaustion to put up the pretence of a fight.
‘She’s expressed concerns,’
‘Call it what it is, Stephen. She’s complained about me even though I haven’t treated her any differently to anyone else in the team. I didn’t give Ramouter any special treatment when he started. I don’t know why she thinks that I have to treat her like—’
‘Anj, it’s late and I really haven’t got the energy for this. She’s raised concerns and I have to say that I agree with her. You’re talking down to her. Giving her administrative tasks.’
‘You think that I spoke down to her just now?’
‘No, not now, but that was probably because I was there.’
‘Oh, for fuck’s sake,’ Henley muttered. She straightened up and gripped the armrests. ‘We are now a team of a grand totalof eight people, no, scratch that, six people if you don’t include Joanna and Ezra. For some inexplicable reason the higher-ups consider the SCU to be the runt of the litter when it comes to their specialist units.’
‘You’re acting as though I don’t know this.’
‘The point is that we’re too small a unit to be giving anyone special treatment. I’ve told Copeland and I’m telling you again, she needs to understand how the SCU works.’
‘She’s been a DC for four years. It hasn’t even been a year since Ramouter took off his training wheels.’
Henley sat back, settling into her anger. ‘She’s junior to the team. Rhimes did the exact same thing when Keith joined us for all of six weeks. He was three years more senior than Eastwood and I didn’t see him complaining when Rhimes gave him tasks which you’d describe as admin.’
‘I have to take into consideration the concerns that she’s expressed to me.’
‘They’re not concerns. She’s just pissed that I’m not kissing her arse. Am I grateful that we’ve got an extra pair of hands? Of course I bloody am.’
‘Well, show it,’ said Pellacia. ‘Look, I’m not here to debate with you. It’s too late and I’d like to have a life outside of this bloody place. Copeland is a full member of the SCU.’
‘What happened to temporary?’ Henley replied with disbelief as her phone vibrated in her pocket. She checked the screen. It was Rob.
‘Something more important than this conversation?’
‘My husband and unless you’ve got anything more to say, I’m going home to him and my child.’
Pellacia watched Henley. The hurt was evident in his eyes. He pushed his chair back and marched to his door. ‘Treat Copeland with respect and not like a nuisance fly,’ he said. ‘Otherwise, I’m going to have to start making decisions that you’re not going to like.’
‘What is it with her?’ Henley asked. ‘Why are you bending over yourself to accommodate her nonsense?’
‘What do you expect me to do when someone comes into my team and expresses concerns that most people could – and would – interpret as bullying.’
‘Bullying?’
Pellacia bit his lip as the discomfort in the room swelled. ‘That was the wrong word,’ he said.
‘That’s an understatement,’ said Henley. ‘You allow someone who doesn’t know this unit and most definitely doesn’t know me, to question who I am.’
‘That is not what is happening here. My obligation is to this unit. It doesn’t start and end with you.’
‘You’re talking as if I expect special treatment.’
‘Of course you don’t, but maybe we were blinded to a lot of things. I’ve letyouget away with a lot of things.’
Henley stood up. ‘I do my job, and I expect other people to do their job,’ she said. ‘But instead of you recognising that, you’re suggesting that I act like an entitled prima-donna.’
