“What the fuck were you thinking?!”
“We hit traffic. I knew you were still a mile and a half away. I didn’t want to—”
“I ORDERED YOU TO STAND DOWN!” God’s powerful voice boomed over top of him, causing him to flinch hard and clench his hands tightly under the table. He’d seen God angry before, but he’d always watched from a distance, never having had his fury directed at him… it sucked, to say the very least, it was a monumental embarrassment at most, as officers in the bullpen peered inside to see who was catching hell this time. Tech deserved his lieutenant’s rage; he’d disobeyed an order, end of point.
“Those men were armed and dangerous! I do not allow any member of my team to act recklessly, no matter the circumstance!” God looked at Steele. “Steele, I don’t understand why you didn’t advise him of the risk before he took off on his own. Do you fully understand the severity of this act? He was on his own! WITH NO BACKUP! The only reason those men didn’t draw their weapons and open fire was because they didn’t recognize him as a police officer. Which is another fuck up to add to the pile… he never once identified himself before he started kicking ass. These types of mistakes can’t happen!”
Steele rubbed his hand across his forehead, he didn’t look stressed, he looked disappointed in Tech, and it made him feel like an ass that he’d gotten Steele in hot water all because he wanted to prove something. If Steele had tried to advise him, it fell on deaf ears because he was out of that truck so fast, his mind could hardly keep up with his legs. Tech spoke up before Steele could. “He did try to warn me. I was out of the truck before he even—”
“I’m not talking to you anymore!” God hollered. “I said, Steele. Is that your name, huh? Do you think I want to hear anything else you have to say?!”
“No, sir,” Tech mumbled.
“I should suspend you both. How can I trust you in the field, Tech, if you can’t follow commands? Going off half-cocked will get you or a member of the team killed! I won’t take that risk.”
“He didn’t go off—”
“SHUT UP, STEELE!” God exploded, his voice a deeper bass than Tech had ever heard. Dominant enough to make Steele snap his mouth closed so fast his teeth clicked. “We couldn’t connect with your ass the entire time because you didn’t have your earpiece. So, shut. The. Fuck. Up. Don’t try to effectively communicate now, it’s too late!”
“It won’t happen again, sir,” Steele replied, not making an excuse for his own mess up, the Marine in him shining through.
“You better damn well hope it doesn’t! This is both of your one and final warning. Next time, you’ll be suspended for two weeks without pay, with an official write-up for insubordination,” God barked, jerking open the door so hard Tech was surprised the glass didn’t shatter. God stormed through the bullpen, officers rushing to move out of his way.
Day sighed, dropping into one of the chairs. “I guess that covers the scary part of the discipline.”
Tech looked over at Syn. His sergeant had been talking him up, and now he’d made him look like an ass. “Syn, I’m sorry. I don’t know… I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Syn sat up higher. “I know you’re sorry. And it’s unfortunate God had to come down on you like that your first time out. But technically, you weren’t supposed to be out, Shawn. God’s specific instructions were for you to get Steele to the location, he didn’t say for you to engage, Tech. You scared the shit out of him... all of us. If something had happened to you, he wouldn’t recover from that. When we saw you cornered by that guy, God was out of the truck before he even brought it to a stop. He was frantic and out of control, screaming at Ruxs and Green to get to you, but Steele burst through the tree line and was demolishing the guy before God could get to him. We work as a unit. We strategize and plan before we attack, it’s how we stay alive. You know this; you’ve worked with us long enough. Ruxs and Green do dangerous shit, but they’re always together to back each other up. You took off and left Steele, knowing he didn’t have a way to communicate with you or any of us.”
Tech brought his shaking hands up and dropped his face in them. He knew his fair skin was beet red from shame. “I can’t believe I did that. I let everyone down.”
“No, you didn’t. Yeah, you acted like a gung-ho cowboy, but what you did was impress the hell out of us and earn a shot out there in the field with the Enforcers. You showed you could provide technical assistance and be a physical asset on the streets. With that said, you’re our new field rookie as soon as you find a replacement for yourself in the office. We’ll discuss further details when God has cooled off.”