Help Me Heal

Chapter 27

Things were undoubtedly going well for Hank. He and the team seemed to have gotten over their initial sadness at Hailey leaving within a couple of days, and things had returned to normal, whatever normal meant these days. Things were certainly changing fast in Hank's life of late. He wasn't sure if he could describe any of what had happened as normal.

Life was good though, that was what mattered. He continued to feel closer to Kalinda every single time he saw her, and things with Erin were going well too. She had started two searches, one for an office space and another for a receptionist. Hank hoped to see some progress on both fronts soon. It had been decided that once Erin had selected candidates she liked for the receptionist position, she and Hank would interview them together.

At the moment his responsibility was to try and drum up business for the company ahead of its launch. To that end, he had discreetly used police time over the past few days to make some calls. Pleasingly, but not surprisingly, he already had some interest from several of his contacts. After all, he wouldn't have chosen to launch the company if he hadn't been confident of it having enough work to make it viable.

Sitting in his office with the door closed, he was about to make another call when an incoming call prevented him. Sam Miller's name was on the screen.

"Now what?" Hank groaned under his breath. However, he adopted a more positive tone when he answered. "Sam."

"Hank. Wanted to let you know I think our timing was pretty good, getting your resignation in when we did."

We, Hank noted. He supposed she used that word because she had chosen to help him out with the warning, and he guessed that was fair enough. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I just got out of a meeting with your replacement at Intelligence. Turns out those above me had already made an approach, which tells me they were likely days, weeks at most, away from letting you go."

Wow, Hank thought. It sure sounded like she was right, and if so she really had helped him out by talking him into taking the full pension retirement option. He was offended by the fact that the so-called higher-ups had been ready to kick his ass to the kerb, but that wasn't Miller's fault. "I see. Who are they giving the job to?"

"They've brought somebody in from out of town. Texas, actually. Ran smaller unit down in Houston."

"Can I get a name?" he asked, pulling up the national database on his computer.

"Raquel Gonzalez."

Hank wasn't offended at being replaced by a woman, as a lot of men would have been. He had worked with women every bit as good at the job as he was, Kim Burgess for one, so he saw no reason why this Gonzalez character couldn't fit the bill. Whether she actually did or not remained to be seen.

"I wanted to ask if you would meet with her before she takes charge," Miller was saying. "It would help to ensure a smooth transition, which would obviously be good for everyone on the team. I know they're all important to you."

Hank could see the logic in that. It was a fair request, and in any case he owed Miller a favour considering how she had helped him out with the heads up. "Alright. Let me know when and where."

"I'll set it up. Thank you, Hank."

"You're welcome," he said, and ended the call. The name Raquel Gonzalez was already typed into the search engine in front of him. He used filters to refine the search to show people who had recently worked in Houston, and hit the search button.

One result appeared: Sergeant Raquel Victoria Gonzalez.

Sergeant rank was the minimum requirement for heading up Intelligence. That was why he hadn't suggested to Kalinda that she might put herself forward. He clicked on the name and Gonzalez's personnel file appeared.