29. Saint
Kenneth Williams was the interim director.
‘Interim’ means, if I remember my GED prep classes correctly, ‘in or for the intervening period; provisional or temporary.’
Apparently, Kenneth Williams was not up on his definitions, because if the state of my office was any indication he intended to be there for a long, long time.
All of my personal photos were gone, the drawings I had done for the office, the artwork the kids had given me over the years, all of it. On the walls were his awards and photos, a brand new nameplate sat on the desk with ‘K.R. Williams’ in gold script, and a golf ball-shaped mug sat on the blotter.
My office was no longer my office, it was Kenneth’s.
I made a slow circle of the room before finally looking at Rio, who looked both shocked and angry. I pulled in a long, slow breath and put my hands on my hips, dropping my chin to my chest.
“What the fuck–” Rio began, but a sharp breath from the doorway brought my head up.
“Saint! I didn’t expect to see you here,” Kenneth said, and Rio snorted.
“Clearly,” I said, glancing pointedly around the room.
Kenneth smiled with way too many teeth. “Oh, this? I was just making it look like I was meant to be here. I didn’t want to confuse the kids.”
I hummed. “Righ.. Well, I’m resuming my position effective immediately.” I smiled at him, showing him just as many teeth as he was showing me, and if he didn’t think I was willing to bite, he would learn very soon.
“Are you sure? I mean, I heard what happened. That was such a shame, Clay is going to be devastated.” Kenneth lowered his voice, glancing at Rio before he leaned toward me. “Does Clay know who did it?”
“Clay has been informed of everything he needs to know,” I said, the temperature of my tone falling like a brick until it was positively glacial. “Now Kenneth, I’ve been away for far too long, and I have a lot of work to catch up on.” I put my arm around his shoulders, channeling the air of FAFO that kept the pimps away from me when I was young. “I really do need to get started.”
Kenneth’s eyes searched my face and my body language, and then he nodded. “I see,” he said, tone far less congenial than it had been. “I’ll have someone in to pack by the end of the day.” He smiled again, looking at Rio. “You look like the vacation has treated you well,” he said, eyes swinging back to me. “You’ve got a certain… glow.”
I huffed a little chuckle. “Well, I had a good night’s sleep last night,” I said. Then I tilted my head. “On the topic of being behind on things, I want to talk to you about Roland Cunningham. I want to see his paperwork while I have you here.”
Kenneth rolled his eyes. “Are you still on that? He had everything in order. Maybe you’re overworked, Saint, you’re forgetting things.”
I heard Rio suck air, and I squeezed Kenneth’s shoulder as I laughed too loudly. “Funny, funny joke, there, Kenny. Really though, the paperwork?”
Kenneth huffed at the nickname – I knew he hated it – and produced the folder from the filing cabinet. “Here is it, Saint. He’s been such an asset, really, he’s fantastic with the kids.”
I took the folder and flipped through it, then pulled out my wallet and held them both up in front of Kenneth’s face, watching as he trailed off as he looked at the comparison.
“Close, but no cigar,” I said coolly. “Now, if you would be so kind as to get Mr. Cunningham in here, I really would like to have a chat with him.”
Roland Cunningham had come in at the same time as Kenneth, which I knew from Rishi’s reports. Ninety-five percent of the time, they arrived within three to five minutes of each other. Rishi had wondered if that was significant, and I almost did as well, but since they would both be gone – and Kenneth off the board, if I could manage it – I wasn’t inclined to prod at it.
I almost wished I could have recorded Roland Cunningham’s face. He walked into my office and his jaw dropped before he could stop it. I smiled at him and held out my hand. “Saint Durand. Kenny here tells me that we met in January but boy, I really must be overworked, like Kenny says, because I have no recollection of that.” I looked him up and down while he ratcheted his jaw back into place and attempted to look genial.
“Saint is back from a vacation,” Kenneth said, glancing between Cunningham and me. “I’ve told Roland all about the wonderful things you do for the kids, Saint,” he added.
I smiled at Kenneth. “Thank you, Kenny,” I said, internally gleeful over the way Kenneth’s eye twitched when I called him that. I smiled at Cunningham, too. “It was just time. Rio and I had some good times, saw some nature… But I belong here.” I glanced around the office and lifted a brow at Kenneth. “If I don’t come back soon, everybody is going to think this is Kenneth’s job permanently.”
Kenneth had the good grace to look chagrined at that, but Cunningham smiled. “Well sometimes a person does grow out of a position,” he said. “Especially work like this. If you stay too long, people start to get suspicious.” He shook his head ruefully. “I saw it a lot when I was a school counselor. You can’t act like you enjoy your job too much, if you know what I mean.”
I looked at Kenneth, who was looking at Cunningham with wide eyes. This was clearly not how he expected our first meeting to go.
I chuckled and clapped Cunningham on the shoulder. “That’s a really good way to look at it…” I sighed and shook my head. “Was that why you left your former position and became a mole for Douglas Greene?” I gave him a wide-eyed look that said ‘tell me all your secrets– because I already know them.’
Kenneth sputtered while Cunningham reared back and Rio snorted. “I don’t–” Cunningham began, but all I did was start to shake my head.
“Nope,” I said. “Your volunteer agreement isn’t worth the price you paid for the BIC you forged my signature with. I know who you are and what you want, and I have bad news. Your boss is dead and you have five seconds to get out of this building and away from my kids before I have you arrested for trespassing and false representation.”
Cunningham was taller than I am, with the build of a former linebacker. He straightened as tall as possible and glared down his nose at me, and I felt Rio at my side in a moment. “Please,” Cunningham sneered. “I’ve been here for weeks, and where have you been? Galevanting about with…” he eyed Rio with distaste. “Kenneth and I have made improvements right and left, do you think that anyone would actually make me leave? I don’t think so. In fact, I would argue you’re the one who abandoned your post when there was clear danger to the kids.” He clicked his tongue. “Cowardly, very cowardly.” He glanced at Rio again, eyed him up and down, and smiled in a way that made my skin crawl. “Hiding behind this little thing is certainly cowardly too.
Rio might be shorter than me, and subsequently a good bit shorter than Cunningham, but ‘little’ is not a word anyone would use for him – well, outside of his preferred pet name. I laughed in Cunningham’s face and relished the three shocked faces. “Nothing about Rio is little,” I said, “And if you think that’s an insult to either of us, you’re dimmer than I thought. Now, five…” I began to count down.
Cunningham took a step towards me and Rio was faster than that rattlesnake. The next second Cunningham was on the floor with Rio’s fist over Cunningham’s. Rio’s fist was smaller, but obviously not too small, because his knuckles were white and Cunningham’s face was crumpled in pain. “If you hurt him I will break your neck the way I just broke your hand,” Rio said softly.
Kenneth’s eyes were bulging out of his head and he opened his mouth but I held up one finger. “Don’t,” I warned. “Do not even think of insinuating that it was anything less than Rio doing his job. Cunningham was about to attack me and Rio neutralized the threat. You saw it, and the hidden camera up there saw it.” I smiled at the expression on Kenneth’s face. “Didn’t find that, did you? Wonder what I’m gonna see when I watch the footage.”
Kenneth swallowed and surveyed the situation, and I hummed. “Kenny, you might want to call the police, Mr. Cunningham here needs an escort.” I turned a mild smile on him, and he fumbled the phone out of his pocket.
When the police came, Kenneth took the lead. He had told the police that he had learned that Cunningham had forged my signature, and when confronted he attempted to attack me, which prompted Rio to neutralize the threat. Cunningham had been silent through the whole discussion, but as he was being led out, he looked at Kenneth, Rio, and I with clear hatred and Kenneth finally seemed to realize what he had done.
Once the police had taken him away, I looked at Kenneth. He was sitting in the side chair, his head in his hands. “Saint, I don’t know what to say,” he said. “I– It was believable, it really was.”
I shook my head. “You’re still trying to justify it. Why? The horse is dog food, Ken, just stop.” I sighed. “Greene is dead, and I’m working on something for Elena. I’m back to work, and I honestly think it might be best if you’d just step down from the board, because if you don’t I will force you out. Do you understand?”
Kenneth nodded slowly. “I understand.” He sighed and stood up. “I apologize,” he said, looking at me and then Rio. “Welcome back.”
I smiled, though it wasn’t my warmest. “Thanks, Kenneth.”
***
That night I was in my office when Rishi came in to work his shift. He was handsome, with black hair that curled around the tops of his ears, dark brown eyes, deep olive skin, and a short black beard. He shook my hand and nodded to Rio. “It is nice to finally meet you,” he said to me. “I understand that Mr. Greene is now no longer a threat. I assume the same cannot be said of Mr. Fernandez.”
“That’s right. I’m looking at some possibilities for Elena and Mr. Fernandez, but I don’t have anything concrete yet. I would appreciate it if you would continue to work here, along with Rio.”
Rishi looked at Rio, who smiled, then back at me. “Of course, but for how long?”
“That is unclear as I work on some things behind the scenes,” I said. “Rio and I spoke to your boss this afternoon. Rio will be here for the foreseeable future, since he’s planning to stay in California with me.” I smiled over at Rio, who ducked his head as he grinned.
Rishi looked at Rio with surprise. “You and he–” he began, glancing at me before cutting himself off.
“Si. Saint and I are a couple,” Rio said, the pride in his voice unmistakable. “I would have quit the agency but we decided that full-time security for the shelter isn’t a bad idea even once Fernandez is eliminated.”
Rishi nodded. “I agree with that. Levi and Mark are kind and dedicated but they lack training, though they are more equipped since they have been working with me than they had been.”
I almost chuckled at the way Rishi said that, so matter-of-fact and certain, but I could believe him. Rishi carried himself in a way that made you sure that he had everything in hand.
“I appreciate the help you have provided, in all the ways you provided it,” I said. “Until the situation with Elena and her father is worked out, Rio will take a twelve-hour shift, and we would like you to as well.”
“Absolutely,” Rishi said, offering his hand to seal the deal. “I’m here for as long as you need.”
***
Cas called me the next day. “I have a plan for Elena,” he said, and laid out everything, from a long flight with a layover in Texas to divert Julio Fernandez from Elena’s real destination, to the foster family that was ready and willing to welcome Elena into their home in Minnesota. “Adama and Raquel are aware of the dangers and are eager to help Elena leave California and start over,” Cas said. “I knew Adama’s brother in the Academy, he was a friend. He always spoke highly of his sister. I met her at his funeral and I believe that she will be good for Elena in many ways.”
I had questions, and Cas answered almost all of them, though a few of them were met with ‘If you don’t know the answer, you can’t tell anyone.’ I could appreciate that, and I let those ones go. “If you’re sure, we can talk to her. You should be on the phone while we do it,” I said, and Cas agreed. The plan was made and by the time I went home that night, everything was ready.
We were back at my apartment and I arranged for the graffiti to be cleaned and repaired with the blessing of the apartment manager. I would be submitting it to my renter’s insurance, though I wasn’t sure if they would pay it. Ginny hadn’t gotten in, at least, so once we were through the door I could push it out of my mind and concentrate on who was here with me.
We got a few perishables on the way home, and Rio came out of the kitchen with two steaming mugs. “Sherlock and cocoa? Then I can take you to bed and make you be good for me, Sexy?”
A full body shiver raced through me and I took the mug that Rio handed me. “Yes, Sir,” I said.