“Don’t play dumb with me, Robert,” Paul said through gritted teeth. “You know exactly why I called you in here. You’re fucking irresponsible. You’ve always been irresponsible. But this time, you’re fucking with my life, and I’m not going to let you get away with it.”
Oh, shit. He
is
pissed.
Megan had seen Paul angry before, but never to the point that he practically had steam coming out of his ears. She watched as he smashed out the cigarette still in his hand and reached for another, not bothering to shake her head. Her attention was riveted on Robert. She had to hand it to the man, his ability to appear oblivious to his screwups got better every time she witnessed it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, you don’t, huh,” Paul snarled, swiftly straightening his necktie. His eyebrows arched upward. “Then you’re more worthless than I thought. When was the last time you checked the water temperature in the shark tank?”
The stare Paul leveled on Robert was stony enough to make Megan squirm.
“A couple of hours ago, right on schedule,” Robert answered. A frown etched itself between thin brows covering a set of dark eyes now clouded with suspicion. “Why?”
“So you’re telling me you just left the tiger shark and all the others to die?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about your job. What’s the proper temperature for the tank, Mr. Shark Expert?” Paul demanded hotly.
“Between sixty and eighty degrees,” Robert answered without a second’s hesitation. A satisfied, confident grin spread across his crooked lips.
He was right. Growing up in a family of marine biologist and working alongside Paul herself before she left for the police academy had given Megan the same knowledge.
“Sixty and eighty, huh? And you checked it a couple of hours ago?” Paul’s stare turned so hot it could have turned ice to water. “Then why in the hell was it below forty degrees when it was brought to my attention less than an hour ago?”
All color drained from Robert’s face. His eyes grew wide and his Adam’s apple bobbed in a visible gulp before he finally said, “I—I don’t know.”
Oh, shit.
Tiger sharks were known to be able to adapt to cooler waters of the oceans, but they lived best in the more tropical temperatures. Megan knew the tiger shark kept at the M.P. Colton Aquarium had been held in captivity all its life. Could it adapt to the more friged temperature without suffering ill effects?
“You want to know why you don’t know?” Paul bellowed at Robert, his tone full of sarcasm. “Because, as usual, you haven’t been doing what you were hired to do.” He stabbed a shaking finger in the air toward Robert. “You’re supposed to be with those sharks every minute you’re on duty. That is the only responsibility you have in this place. I’ve had to pull Drake off his regular job to monitor the temperature and make sure those poor fish don’t keel over on us. And why did I have to put that responsibility on Drake?” He answered his own question before Robert got the chance. “Because you were fucking nowhere to be found!”
Well, that explained where Drake was headed when she saw him in the lobby a few minutes ago.
“I was—” Robert started, but Paul shook his head in an obvious refusal to listen.
“Spare me the babbling bullshit. I’m sick of your excuses.”
“And I’m sick of being blamed for everything that goes wrong around here,” Robert countered, his own temper obviously rising. “Who brought it to your attention? Who’s the little snitch?” He planted his hands on his hips and waited for an answer.
Paul coughed, and kept coughing. Megan took a half step forward, fear for her friend surging through her veins. He smoked too much for a man who had let himself get so out of shape. She watched as he flattened a hand on his chest and worried he was about to have a heart attack.
“Drake,” Paul finally growled between coughs. “The one employee I
can
count on around here.”
Robert scoffed. “I should’ve known, the brownnosing, butt-kissing job stealer.” He threw his hands to the ceiling. “What a tattletale! He’s always going behind my back. He watches me like a hawk, like he’s waiting for me to screw up.” He jabbed a stiff finger at his own chest. “If the temperature is wrong, it’s not because of me. Something is wrong with the thermostat, and I bet you haven’t called anyone about it, either.”
“There is nothing wrong with the thermostat on the tank,” Paul argued, his coughing fit apparently now under control.
Megan relaxed, albeit marginally. Her focus landed on Robert as he took a full step toward Paul’s desk.
“Then I suggest you and your little buddy, Drake, keep your grubby fingers off the controls,” Robert sneered. “I wouldn’t put it passed you to lower the temperature in that tank yourself.”
“And why in the Sam Hill would I do that?”
“So you can pin it on me. You want me gone, and you’re just looking for an excuse to make it happen.”
“You’re damn right I want you gone. I want you out of my office and out of my aquarium. You’re fired.”
Robert smiled ruefully. “You can’t fire me.”
“You want to bet, you son of a bitch?” Paul’s eyebrows shot up. “I’ll say it again. You’re fired, and if I ever see you step foot on this property again, I’ll have you arrested for trespassing.”
Robert moved close enough to the desk to put his fisted knuckles on the top and leaned forward.
Megan took a step closer, too, silently cursing herself for going by her apartment before coming here today after she ended her shift at the department. She had stopped off to change and put her sidearm in her lockbox. Now, she wished she had kept her gun on her.
“You shouldn’t be throwing out threats like that,” Robert told Paul, his tone low and more dangerous than Megan had ever heard him speak. “You’re the one that’s going to regret this,
Uncle Paul
.” He straightened and started to back out of the office, but he stopped at the doorway and leveled a glare on Paul that was full of promise and anger. “I’ll make sure you regret this.” He turned and walked out of the office, slamming the door behind him.
The door opened again almost immediately, and Brandon Easley walked in, an amused smile tilting his lips.
“Another family squabble?” His gaze flicked to Megan, and his smile widened. “Well, hello there. I haven’t seen you around here in a while.”
“Brandon.” Megan nodded once and returned his smile. Of Paul’s three partners, she knew Brandon the best, though that still wasn’t saying much. He spent the most time around the aquarium and seemed to care about the facility on a deeper level almost as much as Paul. “How have you been?”
“Pretty good. Pretty good. I wish I could say the same for our old friend here.” Brandon averted his attention to Paul, the amusement back in his smile. “I wondered if you and Robert would make it a full day without butting heads. I guess not.”
“We’ll make it every day from now on.” Paul loosened his tie as he moved from behind the desk. “I just fired the cocksucker.”
Brandon’s eyes widened, and he let out a disbelieving chuckle. “You fired him? Damn, Paul. Aren’t you making rash decisions today?”
Megan didn’t see it as a rash decision. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if it had been a smart one. When it came to the wellbeing of the aquarium, yes, from the scene she had witnessed, it had been a very smart move. When it came to Paul dealing with his wife, however, Megan knew he was going to have hell to pay when Marie got wind of him firing her nephew.
“If you had heard the whole conversation, you would know the decision I made was not rash by any means.” Paul walked to the door, stopped, and turned to Megan. “Are you coming?”
Megan glanced at her wristwatch, surprised a full hour had passed already since she arrived. The aquarium would be closing at six o’clock. She didn’t have any plans for the evening beyond going home and soaking in a long, hot bath, so she shrugged and followed Paul out of the office, sensing Brandon at her heels.
“I heard the whole conversation,” Brandon continued on another half laugh. “Hell, Paul. Half the aquarium heard you yelling at that poor boy this time. You know we all sit around placing bets on when the next spat between you and Robert will happen.” He settled into step beside Megan and patted the right back pocket of his khaki slacks. “I think I’ve made damn near twenty bucks over the past six weeks betting on him and Robert,” he whispered to her, then raised his voice again. “If you were attempting to be discreet, Paul, you failed miserably.”
Paul breezed past the scattering of employees and tourists in the hallway, leading them to the unisex locker room and the changing area inside. He went to a locker in the far corner and pulled out his wetsuit.
Megan started to back out of the room, but he disappeared into one of the stalls to change, so she stayed.
“I wasn’t attempting to be discreet,” Paul said through the stall door. “I don’t give a rat’s ass if the President of the United States heard me.
That poor boy
, as you referred to him, deserved every bit of it and then some. He’s lucky I allowed him to walk out of this place in one piece.”
“Maybe so.” Brandon sighed. “Look, I agree he needed to be fired. Heaven knows after all the stunts he’s pulled around here, he got what he deserved. It just doesn’t seem to me like now would be the most opportune time to throw more fuel on the home fire.”
“What’s going on at home?” Megan didn’t mean to put voice to the question. She didn’t want to pry, but her concern for Paul overruled her sensible thought.
Paul stepped out of the stall, put the suit he had been wearing in his locker, and turned to Megan, sadness and what she could only define as guilt clear in his eyes. “I fucked up with Marie. Our marriage hasn’t been a great one in years. You know that. But I, well”—he raked a hand over his balding head—“did something that definitely didn’t make it any better.” He sighed and shifted his attention to Brandon. “Despite that, nothing I do lately is making my home life any better. This place is all I’ve got, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let Robert fuck it up any worse. If Drake hadn’t gone behind him this afternoon and checked the gauges on the tanks, every one of those sharks could be dead right now.”
“They’ve been in captivity too long,” Megan said, thinking aloud. “They don’t adapt as well to colder temperatures as ones that live in the open ocean, especially the tiger shark.”
“Exactly.” Paul nodded and walked out of the door, holding it open for them to follow. “As it stands, they may be in danger anyway. I have no way of knowing for sure until countless hours are spent monitoring them, countless hours that could be better spent on other tasks.”
“Where are you going now?” Brandon asked, shuffling to keep up with Paul. “Would you stop for a minute so we don’t have to keep talking to your back?”
“I don’t have time, and this conversation will get us nowhere anyway.” Paul continued down the hall to the employee entrance of the shark tank. “I’m going diving with the sharks. Like Megan said, that tiger shark is my biggest concern. There’s too much money invested in that baby to let it keel over. Drake’s a well-trained young man and a hell of a lot more qualified than Robert, but I’ll feel better once I spend some time with it myself.”
“Fine, then I’m going with you.”
Paul turned, the first real smile of amusement tilting his lips since he had teased Megan about Drake back in his office. “Oh, I can’t wait to see this one.” He laughed and started up the flight of stairs to the tank room. “You in that shark tank ought to be a sight. Don’t you think you should have changed first though, old buddy? Kind of hard to swim in a business suit.”
Megan coughed to disguise her own giggle, but knew she failed when Brandon shot her a sideways look.
“I didn’t mean I’m going diving. This conversation is not over.”
“I wasn’t aware we were having a conversation to begin with. I thought you were blowing off steam like you usually do and I was supposed to be listening until I had my fill.”
“What are we going to do now that you let him go? No one else is going to do the job for the pennies we were paying him, and we can’t afford to pay some hotshot expert more.”
Paul topped the stairs, turned, and shook his head. “Think about it, Brandon. With Robert gone, I can give Drake the position he deserves, give him a raise, and in the end we’ll still be forking out less than we were with Robert here. I just saved us money. Isn’t that what you, Joan, and Walter want?”
“Saving a little here and there isn’t going to help in the grand scheme of things. You know that. Joan and Walter want to take the offer we’ve been given. They want to sell this place.”
And, if Paul didn’t agree, Megan suspected Joan and Walter would pull out. Then he and Brandon would be forced to sell or they would lose everything. God, she’d had no idea the aquarium was in such danger.
Paul tipped his head back and closed his eyes, his shoulders rising and falling in a deep breath. Megan knew what he was doing. She found herself doing it, too, pausing to listen to the soothing hum of the giant filters and the water sloshing against the side of the tank. She inhaled deeply, closing her own eyes as the smell of the salt water moved through her system. There was something tranquil in the sounds and the scent, something that always seemed to sooth her when nothing else would. She knew Paul felt the same.