Page 222 of Soul So Dark

I arch my brow in surprise. “Why?” It’s unexpected, as I’m pretty sure Garrett’s worked here as part of the facility crew longer than I’ve been alive.

“Money,” Dave replies. “The raise he requested didn’t get approved.”

“You mean by you?”

Dave’s jaw tightens, ignoring my question. “And now there’s no one to monitor the safety protocols. Hazmat, safety walk-throughs, inspections—he took care of all that. And he never wrote anything down, it was all in his head.”

I slow to a halt. “No one knows how to do his job?”

Dave and Eric exchange looks.

You have got to be kidding me.

“He’s been here for 35 years,” Eric shrugs.

“35 years or not, we still have certifications to maintain and we can’t do that if no one knows what the hell he did,” Dave exclaims. “We’ll just have to redistribute his duties. Safety and security will have to pick up the slack.”

“My people aren’t qualified to do that,” Eric scoffs. “We’re stretched thin as it is. Find someone else.”

“It’s going to take time,” Dave replies. “Between posting the job, interviews, training—recreating the whole process!”

Safety, compliance, regulatory, emergency management…

Eric and Dave’s voices are a distant hum as I turn the idea over in my head.

“I can do it,” I interject, rendering them both silent.

“Do what?” Dave asks apprehensively.

“I’ll find someone to replace Garrett. And in the meantime, I’ll take over whatever the hell he did around here.”

Relief washes over Dave’s face and he agrees, scurrying off before I have a chance to change my mind. But I don’t mind, I don’t plan on having to do the job for long anyway. I turn the corner, taking a detour instead of continuing to the command center.

I pop my head through the doorway of the office at the top of the stairs. “April, are you busy?”

“Alex Barrera,” she glances up from her computer with a smirk, “to what do I owe the pleasure today?”

I take a seat in front of her desk. “I need to hire someone.”

“I know, I’m working on it,” she sighs.

“No, for a different position, and I already know who I want.”

“Another girlfriend?” she mutters with a coy smile.

“April,” I reply with feigned offense, “I’m a married man. And, besides, last I checked, my wife was such a good asset that you couldn’t hire her fast enough.”

“Alright,” she concedes, casting me a side-eye. “Who do you have for me, Alex?”

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Dallas

“Que vamos hacer mañana después del desayuno?” Alex asks, gazing down at me while the ceiling fan spins above his head.

I think for a few seconds. “Vamos a la playa…a nadar, primo…”

There’s pause, and all I can hear is the crash of the waves drifting in from the dark veranda.