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An Unexpected Offer
The doorbell rang.
Matt wasn’t expecting anyone. He set his book aside and wheeled to the front door. His old battalion chief stood on the porch.
“Chief Anderson.”
“Hartfield. You busy?”
“Just got back from a jog. Come in.”
Anderson took the couch without waiting to be offered.
“Place looks good.”
“Lucy’s doing.”
“Smart woman. So. You’ve been cleared for light duty.”
“A few weeks ago, yeah.”
“And you haven’t called.”
“Didn’t think the department had much use for me these days.”
“Then you’re not paying attention. I want you in the EOC, Hartfield. Four days a week, six-hour shifts. You’d report to me.”
His doctor had signed off on those hours for a desk. Somewhere slow.
“EOC isn’t light duty, sir.”
“Which is why I want someone who can run a command floor, not just sit at one. Nobody did it better in the field than you. Same job, different room.”
“Well, at least I’ve got the sitting part down.”
“Think about it. Talk to Lucy.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Anderson patted his shoulder on the way out. “It’s good to see you, Matt.”
Matt had been chewing on Anderson’s offer while he cooked, and by the time he noticed, there was enough pasta for six. Lucy called Ben to help make a dent. It didn’t take long for him to share the news.
“The EOC,” Ben said. “That’s not what I expected.”
“Makes two of us.”
“What does that actually mean?” Lucy asked.
“That’s the Emergency Operations Center,” Ben said. “When something big goes down, they coordinate the whole response. Resources, communication, everything dispatch can’t handle on its own.”
“Which means if I can’t keep up, the people in the field are the ones who pay for it.”
“So that’s what this is about,” Lucy said. “Not the job. You not pulling your weight.”
“Me not being able to.”
“That’s not the problem and you know it,” Ben said. “You’ll push through until you drop.”
Ben wasn’t wrong. A year home from rehab, learning when to stop, and he was only just getting decent at it with nothing demanding more.
“Hell no you’re not,” Lucy said. “Tell Anderson what you can sustain and come home in one piece. If he wants you badly enough to show up at our door, he can work with that.”
He’d let it go. He’d been fine with letting it go. And then Anderson told him the department still wanted what he had, and now he couldn’t put it back down.
“Guess I’ll talk to him. Figure out something that works.”
“Good,” Lucy said. “You’re getting a haircut first.”
“I’m—what?”
“And a real shave. You’re not showing up to HQ looking like that.”
“She’s right,” Ben said. “Oh, and HQ officers wear ties. Have fun with that.”
“Get out of my house.”
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