“You’re kidding, right?”
“I could read you the clause. It’s loaded with wherefores and with-alls. Put you right to sleep.”
“Send me screaming from the station, more like.” He squinted at the open bay doors. “So, nix on the bonus. Shame. They deserve it.”
“What we can do is put them in for hazard pay.” Dillon loved how the chief brightened. He cautioned, “We need to be totally clear how your budget can’t cover that.”
“No problem.”
“That’s the key issue to opening the feds’ spigot,” Dillon went on. “Show you’ve run through your annual budget. Give them evidence the emergency has broken the bank.”
“Which it has.”
“In that case, my job is simple. I just need to put the numbers in the right boxes and write it all up using the proper federal-speak. These guys never met a wherefore they didn’t like.”
“You call that simple?”
“Whiz-o-bang-o, the money flows. I hope.”
“You and me both.” The furtive jerky gaze returned. “So, are you taking the job?”
Dillon loved having a reason to grin. “What job would that be?”
