Chapter Twenty-Five Wildcard

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: WILDCARD

"You saw Colt?" I ask Trouble, who grins at me.

"Cute little boy, you have there. He looks just like you. At least that's what I told Puma when I called him. Sent him a photo." Wildcard glances at Brigit. "Sorry about that. I did it without thinking. Colt looked so much like Wildcard that I just reacted."

I remember the smug look on Puma's face when I told him I was coming to 1% to get Brigit. The fucker knew about Colt and didn't warn me. "Fucker."

"What?" Brigit asks.

"Puma. The night I came to get you. He knew about Colt and didn't tell me."

"Tell your President he owes me a beer," Trouble says. "Now, you two can get going and enjoy yourselves. I'll stay until the night manager shows up. Dice is working, right?"

"He is. I updated him. He's coming in early to relieve you."

"Thanks, man. Nice meeting you Brigit. What are you two up to?"

"I thought I'd give Brigit a tour of the hotel. I'm trying to convince her to come work as our HR Manager. It's what she was doing in Boston."

"Yes, please, we'll pay you whatever you want. Whatever you were making in Boston, we'll double it. Fuck, triple it." Trouble begs.

I glance at Trouble in surprise. Puma is usually the one opening the purse strings while Trouble keeps a tight grip. "What happened?"

"Chill is a fucking outstanding SOA, but what makes her so good at scaring the shit out of everyone doesn't make employees comfortable enough to talk with her about their problems."

"They're scared of her?"

"Fucking terrified. We have people quitting rather than going to her."

"Shit, that's not good."

"They quit this when my club is working. People know she's a Demon Dawg, so they wait until the Shadow Borns are working before they quit. Speedster said he's lost five people today and three yesterday. They wouldn't tell him why they turned in their notice. He didn't push it. He was afraid they'd walk instead of finishing their shifts. Didn't want to be left shorthanded."

"Did anyone do an exit interview with them?" Brigit asks.

Trouble shakes his head. "What the fuck is that?"

She chuckles. "Exactly like it sounds. You sit with the employee and ask them why they're leaving. It's voluntary, but they can be useful. Sometimes people leave for purely personal reasons. However, to have that many leave at the same time. That speaks to a problem. Have there been any policy changes? Or personnel changes? Maybe changes in working conditions? Any of those can lead to turnover."

"No. We've had the same policies in place for about a year now. Until recently, we've had little staff turnover. I don't know about working conditions. What do you mean?"

"It's a pretty broad topic, but it could be anything from having to deal with faulty equipment to management. Sometimes, a change in management can cause teams to quit. Are these people from the same department or area?"

"I don't know. Haven't talked with them. Speedster should know, or it will be on the computer."

"See, this is why we need you," Trouble says, pointing at Brigit. "You need to figure this out and help us fix the problem."

"We need to clear her of a murder charge first," I say, saving Brigit from responding.

"Have you given her the influence tour? That should get her to agree."

I chuckle and take her hand as we leave my office. After locking it up, I fist bump Trouble. "I'll show her the highlights."

"Good man." Trouble moves down the hall and into his office.

"Influence tour?" Brigit asks.

"Something I did with Angelica. Angel's mom. We wanted to convince her to stay in Vegas and keep Angel close for Max and Viper's sake. She was working as a cocktail server for another casino. Alisa and I thought maybe if we showed her how we treat our employees, she'd agree to work here. It worked. Better than we expected. She won't be a server, but will do something much more important."

"Like what?"

"I'll show you. Part of the tour includes the pool, weight room, locker room, and spa, but those are downstairs. Should probably stay clear of the public areas for now. Employees have full access to these areas. They can use the pools and the weight rooms on their breaks or during non-working hours. We encourage them to bring their family and friends, too. The employees can get free massages at the spa and a discount on other services. We also have a hair salon, a barbershop, and a tattoo parlor. They get discounts there, too."

"Tattoo parlor?"

I shrug. "We're bikers."

Brigit chuckles as I step up to the door of the daycare center we created for the employees. No one who found themselves in this hallway would realize what was behind the door. A one-way mirror on the wall lets those inside see who is outside, but keeps prying eyes off the kids. The room is soundproofed, so no one walking by can hear the chaos that it's inside. I hold my keycard up to the reader and open the door.

I watch Brigit as her eyes go wide at the organized chaos inside. At any time, day or night, there are usually kids hanging out inside. Older kids take over the television and video game controllers in one corner. But we also have a second television with more kid-friendly games for the younger ones. Tables fill the space which allows kids to play board games, color, or do other crafts. The third corner contains several bean bags and massive pillows, along with bookcases and eReaders that the kids can use. Against the walls are various arcade games.

"Wildcard!" I hear right before a bullet slams into my legs. Looking down, I see Mal.

"Hey, Mal. I didn't know you were here. Did you come with Trouble?"

"And me," says Corrine as she glides her way through the chaos.

"Corrine and Mal, this is Brigit. Brigit, I want you to meet Corrine. She's Trouble's Old Lady. This is her son Mal., Who is…"

"Puma's son. I can see the resemblance," Brigit says with a laugh as she smiles at the boy and then his mother.

"Yeah, he didn't get anything from me."

"Except your intelligence, right Mom?"

Corrine laughs as I ruffle Mal's hair. "Good thing."

Corrine grins at Brigit. "Actually, Puma is a genius."

"But we have to keep him humble," Mal finishes.

"That's what Puma says," Corrine assures Brigit. "I'd never badmouth him. He's a great dad to Mal and Elina."

"I've seen him with the kids. He's been great with Colt. My son. Our son."

"That's where I've seen you. You were here at the hotel a few nights ago with a little boy that looked just like Wildcard. Trouble will be happy to know he was right."

"We just saw him. Sorry for dragging you guys back here. I didn't know the old man would get the short straw."

Corrine waves me off. "I had to come here, anyway. I'm meeting Alisa to talk about the charity event we're working on. Plus, she's taking Mal back to the Demon Dawgs clubhouse. Mal splits his time between the two clubhouses." She says the last to Brigit.

"What charity are you guys working on now?"

"For the homeless. Called Homeward Bound. We're purchasing a small hotel and fitting it out into apartments. Those who want the opportunity are required to foster a pet while living there. They're responsible for training and caring for the animals and helping to get them adopted."

"That's an interesting take," Brigit says. "Gives them companionship and motivation."

"That's the idea," Corrine beams. "Oh, there's Alisa. It was nice meeting you. I'm certain we'll see each other often."

Mal races off to hug Alisa while Corinne follows. I turn to Brigit. "How about dinner? I'll show you what I think is the best perk for our employees."

I lead Brigit down the hall to our employee cafeteria. Like the daycare center, we find several employees in the cafeteria.

"We have your typical casino buffet with everything we serve to the public. But you can also order meals from each restaurant. Employees eat free."

"You spend a lot of money on your employees," Brigit comments as she scopes out the offerings on the buffet.

"Our employees make us a lot of money. It's why we don't understand why so many are leaving us. The pay is better than other places, and we offer several perks. We listen to our employees and implement new programs all the time. Angelica is implementing our most recent one. We're expanding the childcare facility to include tutoring. Angelica has her teaching credentials, and she's excited about using them. We've never had a problem with employee turnover until recently. I can't imagine that Chill is the only reason people are leaving."

"We'll need to talk to the employees who turned in their notice. That's the best place to start. I can do that. If you could get me an office or a conference room. I can stay out of sight and talk to them before their last day. For those who quit and left, I could call them. See if they'll talk to me." Brigit loads her plate with spare ribs, mashed potatoes, corn, and pasta salad while I go for the Thai food.

"Really? That would be a great help. You can use the office near mine. It was Liz's, the former HR Manager."

We finish eating, and I take her to the office she can use. The look of awe on her face tells me she likes the space. Good. She moves to the window and stares at the view that is like mine.

"I love this office."

"Good. It's yours." I grin.