It's not done yet

"Where the hell is my phone." Dan's voice reverberated through the police station in much the same way it had reverberated around the halls of bio-DNA when Rick had worked there. Dan believed that all things come to those who intimidate and always seemed intent on proving his point.

"I'm sorry, sir." A female voice answered Dan. "Sergeant Mendez has the key and I'm afraid he's stepped away from his office."

"Well, get another key."

"A second key would be a security violation. But I've paged Sergeant Mendez and I'm sure he'll be here at any moment."

Rick wondered if there actually was a Sergeant Mendez and, if so, how Tiffany had gotten the message to him that he needed to disappear for a few minutes.

Rick took his mop and left the closet where he'd been hiding, working his way down the corridor to see if there was anything he could do to help.

A female cop gave him a long stare as he passed. "You're the one who's putting it to O'Sullivan? You get tired of that cold fish, give me a call and we'll heat things up."

Rick checked her out. She was probably in her mid-twenties with dark hair and a vaguely Hispanic look although her accent was pure Texas twang. Her police uniform fit over her breasts snugly and her ass was a perfect bubble-butt. Which begged the question, why didn't she already have a boyfriend or did she just want to mess with Tiffany? "Heating things up sounds like fun," Rick said. "Uh, does everyone know everyone's business here?"

"We're cops. It's our job to find out shit."

Maybe. Or maybe it was there job to find ways to pin the blame on people who could be counted on not to rock the boat.

Finally an overweight cop with obvious powdered sugar stains on his uniform struggled down the hall. "All right," he called out. "Who's got his shorts in a knot?"

"You ignorant fool," Dan shouted, "I've been waiting here for almost an hour. Where the hell is my phone?"

"In the locker where we stowed it, of course," Mendez said. "We take our security seriously here."

"You take your donut-eating seriously is more like it. I'm personal friends with the mayor and believe me, he is going to hear about this outrage."

"Oh, the mayor. Well, sir. That's another matter entirely. Let me get my official complaint form from my office and you can fill it out. Wouldn't want to disappoint a personal friend of the mayor."

"This is bullshit," Dan said. "I'm an executive for a billion dollar company. I buy peasants like you just so I can fire their asses."

"Peasants, is it? Turns out my father was a peasant. Insisted I get an education so I wouldn't have to work the fields like he does. It's harsh work, especially in the summer which is when most of the work has to get done. You know how many days it hit over a hundred this summer in Texas? 40, that's how many. And let me tell you, working out in the sun in that heat is no--"

"Shut up. Just get me my damned phone."

"Sorry, sir. I thought you wanted to discuss--"

"I don't want to discuss anything. I want to get my phone and get out of here. And if you want to see me again, for any reason, call my lawyer because believe me, you're not getting me in here again."

"Of course, sir. Friend of the mayor and all."

Officer Chuck stepped up to Sergeant Mendez and whispered something to him. Chuck had positioned himself so Mendez's substantial body was between him and Dan so Dan couldn't see Chuck slipping the phone to Mendez. If, in fact, the man's name really was Mendez. Because that whole ignorant hick act had, apparently, been just that. An act.

Mendez jangled his keys, opened the locker, reached inside and, as if by magic, came out holding Dan's phone.

"Here you are, sir. Thank you for your patience."

"Oh, brother. There's a reason you morons need unions. Because otherwise we'd fire your asses so fast you'd be wondering how you ended up outside the building."

"Thank you, sir. Give my best to the mayor."

Rick put his head down and mopped as Dan stormed out.

Now it was time to find out if the transfer had worked, and start getting Nicki reverted to normal.

He wondered how long it would be before Dan tried to use his phone and realized it had mysteriously stopped working... assuming that Chuck and his computer geeks had been able to do what Rick had asked.