22.6 Changing of the Guard

Watching Robert handle the girls always put Eliza in an excellent mood, but she had other reasons to be excited that morning. She had a meeting with the Chief to discuss the transition. Finally, she made it to the top! After so many years of clawing her way up and fighting opposing foes, she overcame it all, and the office at the back of the room would be hers in a day. Victory tasted oh so sweet like a glass of Riverblossom Cranerlet Nuala.

Chief Banjeree busied himself on the computer with only Watcher knew what. Probably tying up loose ends from all his dirty dealings. If he were caught up in Mayor Davis’ son’s mess, it wouldn’t be surprising. Try as he might, all his work would be for naught because Chief Pancakes did not tolerate injustice. Evildoers, beware!

“Good morning!”

He looked up from the computer as if her presence startled him. Whatever had him so engrossed was definitely not work related. “Oh. Hi, Colonel-ehh, Chief Pancakes.”

She could never hear that name enough and halfway believed it belonged to her. “I do not wish to waste your time, so let’s get to it. Are you in the middle of any high profile cases? What about my security clearance? Have you any press conferences scheduled that I should now do? Any last minute words of advice?”

He sank into the chair. His countenance fell in tandem with a long sigh. Perhaps the conversation was a nasty reminder of the train pulling into the station. The people spoke, and he was not their choice. “I remember when we first met.”

He had transferred in from Bridgeport when the previous Chief retired. Eliza was a brand new detective then.

“We had the meet and greet upstairs. You walked up to me and said, ‘Hi. I’m Det. Pancakes, and I’m going to have your job one day.'” He snorted. “I had heard about you. You were smart. Determined. I knew you’d come for me.”

“But I was a new Chief. The ink hadn’t dried on my paperwork.”

He chuckled briefly before making eye contact again. “No one had ever advanced as fast as you, and I couldn’t be dethroned by some young hot shot. Not so soon.”

He shook his head and averted his eyes. “I tried to stop you.”

Did he feel regret? It was a bit late for that, but hindsight was always so clear.

“You’re always right. You busted your tail, and you came for me. You work harder than anyone else. You care about the people. Like, really care. Don’t lose that. You deserve this.”

Those were not the notes she went in there to get, but oh how wonderful they were! He still owed her an apology, but acknowledging her success and work ethic was just as good. The people finally got someone they deserved, and he knew it. Eliza soaked in the accolades for a brief moment and then got to work on her agenda.