Page 86 of Igniting Her
“Battalion Three removes me from her direct supervisory structure. I will not write her evaluations, determine her station assignment, approve her leave, or decide discipline. If we meet at a citywide incident, incident command will remain incident command. The relationship will be disclosed, and Operations can address any specific conflict. I am moving myself out of her chain rather than moving her out of a life she has the right to choose.”
The last sentence entered the office without shaking.
Chief Marsh closed the folder. “A promotion does not absolve the failure to disclose sooner.”
“I know.”
“There will be an ethics review.”
“I know.”
“Battalion chief is not less responsibility.”
“No.” Cassie looked at the blue folder. “It is responsibility I can no longer use to stay in the same place.”
Marsh pushed it across the desk.
The appointment letter lay on top. Cassie read every line. She signed beneath the effective date and watched her name become a decision instead of a defense.
The chief took the page back. “Five attempts.”
“Four refusals.”
“I was counting today.”
“Today was not an attempt.”
For the first time in the meeting, Marsh smiled. “No. I suppose it wasn’t.”
Cassie stood.
“Everett.”
She stopped at the door.
“Does Ridge know you love her?”
Cassie felt the folded transfer request inside her coat.
“She knows everything except that I am willing to say it.”
“That seems like the relevant part.”
“Yes, Chief.”
The next A-shift dinner smelled of citrus, charred pork, and the peppers Mo claimed were mild while refusing to eat one himself.
The long table was full. Jamie sat with one sleeve rolled above an elbow streaked in grease from the generator check. Priya had a medical inventory sheet beside her plate despite three separate requests to remove it. Teak was constructing a carnitas stack tall enough to require an engineering review. Mo stood at the counter warming tortillas and monitoring Cassie’s plate with the vigilance he usually reserved for pump pressure.
Cassie had waited until every apparatus was in service and the station radio had been turned loud enough to interrupt them if needed. There would never be a risk-free time to remove the thing that had held her together.
She set down her fork.
“I need to tell you something.”
The table quieted before she finished. Teak lowered the carnitas without taking a bite. Priya closed the inventory sheet. Mo turned off the burner and came to the empty chair beside Cassie.
Nobody made her stand at the head of the table.
