Page 104 of The Wrong Side of the Law

Oh, no. Don’t make me do this. I don’t know what happened in the evidence locker but I’m sure there’s some explanation.

“Sir…”

Whitehall takes off his glasses, cleans the lenses carefully with a small cloth, then folds them up and puts them in a case on his desk.

“I know, it’s going to leave you shorthanded, and that’s partly my fault. I wanted to see if you could handle this. And you have, surprisingly. Get with Barbara in HR, after you get the Wilson girl out of here. She’ll get you a new assistant.”

I don’t want to fire the woman I love.

“Sir, it’s going to be- I mean, Miss Wilson is a good worker, and she’s really been the best assistant I could ever ask for. Isn’t there anything else…”

“I know she’s nice to look at, son, but… this is south Florida. I’m sure you can find a prettier assistant. Now go get it over with.”

Barbara is waiting with Whitehall’s receptionist when I leave his office.

“Ah. Barbara,” I say numbly, horrified at what I have to do. “I, ah, need to talk to you. I need another termination packet.”

The HR manager nods sadly.

“I know,” she says. “I have both of them right here.”

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