Read Online The Bum's Rush by G. M. Ford - Free Book Online

the end, and then quickly left
again into a large office area consisting of perhaps eight separate
work areas. Her heels beat time down the narrow aisle to the windows on
the north side of the building. Two young women were working in the
area, both in their thirties. One was blond running toward red. Svelte,
athletic looking, in a black knit dress. The other had dark hair worn
to the shoulder, black bangs cut straight across her forehead. Both
visibly stiffened as Franchini blustered into the room.
    "Mr. Waterman is looking into the Mendolson
affair," Franchini whispered. "He wishes to speak with you." With that,
she folded her arms across her chest and sidled over toward the corner.
    "Would you mind if I spoke to them alone?" I asked.
    Minded wasn't the half of it. "I am the super--"
    I kept saying, "I know. I know," as she sputtered
her way through another public self-assessment. We shared another
touching moment before she shouldered me aside and marched out the
door. We all watched her go.
    "You guys on work release?" I asked.
    "What?" said the brunette. She wore a blue sweater over a full-length flowered skirt.
    "From jail," I said. "You know, where they, like,
let you out so you can work. I figured a body'd have to be sentenced by
a judge to work for that woman."
    Both women hid smiles. We introduced ourselves. The athlete was Gina Alleman. The brunette was DeeAnn Williams.
    "I think if I tell you what I'm supposed to do, it
might make it easier for us to talk." They seemed agreeable, so I told
them the whole thing. The politics. How going to the police was our
last option. That the best thing that could happen to Karen was for us
to find her.
    Finally I asked, "Can somebody define Transitional
Administrative Alignment for me?" This time they didn't bother to hide
the smiles.
    Alleman jumped in. ' 'It means that Barb Watson had a baby last--what?" She looked over at Williams. "May?"
    "End of April."
    "A very difficult birth," Alleman went on. "For a while it didn't look like either of them were going to make it."
    "She's still not back," Williams explained.
    "What were her duties?"
    "She did payment files and order records."
    "And Karen?"
    "She ordered books and kept the vendor records."
    I applied my vast knowledge of public agencies.
"So, let me guess. Because this Barb Watson is still on leave, they
never rehired the position. That would seriously screw up the budget.
What they did was palm her work off on m
    Karen. Am I getting warm here?"
    "Sizzling," Alleman confirmed.
    "So, what should have been a system of checks and balances was suddenly useless."
    They nodded in unison and then both checked the hall.
"They
always fudge," said Williams. "They're always trying to get around the
state hiring guidelines. They delay all rehires for as long as
possible."
    "Karen was working sixty, seventy hours a week," Alleman said.
    "And you guys had no idea she was " I let it hang.
    "Well, we all knew how unhappy she was."
    "Karen and '' Williams jerked a thumb over her
shoulder "were always at one another's throats. And, you know, since
the thing with Earl "
    "I expected her to quit every day."
    "Or burn the building down."
    "What thing with Earl?"
    They glanced at each other. Williams took the lead.
    "You remember back right after the first of the
year, when we had that real cold weather, when those three homeless
people froze to death, right outside here?"
    I said I did. Anchormen had agonized. Pols had pontificated. Hearts had bled. And life had gone remorselessly on.
    "You know how down on the first floor, the building
has a big overhang and the homeless like to get in there right up
against the building, you know, to keep warm?''
    Williams took up the thread. "There was a group of
regi ulars who had been sleeping there for years. One of them was an
old guy named Earl. He carried this sawed-off broom with him all the
time. Used to sweep the curbs." She made a two-handed sweeping gesture.
    I knew just who she meant. The old