Vince was starting to see red.
Is this who they had advocating for kids like Inez? If so, it was total crap.
No wonder the poor little thing had been stuffed into a home where the agency might be paying more attention to her infrastructure than her mental well-being.
But now wasnotthe time to bring up Inez.
Vince had to trust his mother on that one. If Ellen Sothard said she knew somebody who could pull the strings that would put Inez under his and Lace’s care, he’d have to let that process unfold.
Which was tough for him.
For a long time, he’d been the one in charge of every life-or-death decision for his team.
Until he hadn’t.
And now, letting go of the reins was triggering for him.
He was working on that. Sort of.
He’d had a long conversation with Trask, who’d gone through things similar to his; trusting intel, depending on the powers that be, only to be…betrayed.
In light of that, Trask had referred him to a local therapist.
Now the ball was in Vince’s court; to pick up the phone and make that appointment.
But not today. Right now, he had to deal with thisbureaucratic bitch.
Vince purposely kept his voice pleasant.
“Any time next week you want to schedule a home visit will be great,” he told her. “If you’d like to aim for Tuesday when Lace is here, we can put it on the calendar. But if she’s feeling poorly, wewillneed to postpone,” he stated firmly.
“Mr. Sothard,” the dour woman snapped. “I don’t like doing favors for people. That’s not how I work. And as you probably are aware, the agency has already fast-tracked your application since you seem to…knowpeople. But be warned, that’s as much of a concession asI’mwilling to afford.”
Hah.Now they were getting to the crux of the stick up Midge’s ass.
Vince’s mother had clearly dipped her toe into DHHS business already, and this woman didn’t like it.
He could work with that.
“Which I appreciate,” he returned, diplomatically, but still, that didn’t mean he was going to let her bully him. “So, does Tuesday work for you?”
“One o’clock,” she posited sharply.
“Two,” Vince countered. He wanted Lace to be able to come home and take a breath before dragon-lady began her interrogation.
“Two,” she bit out. “I’ll expect you both to be there.”
“Great,” Vince replied in an overly cheery voice which Midge might or might not have heard, because with something sounding suspiciously like a harumph, she hung up.
“That seemed…ominous,” Statler snorted, taking a sip of his coffee.
“Just an overstressed case-worker,” Vince told him. “One with a definite bite, but she’s visiting next Tuesday,” he continued. “Any chance the bathroom will be finished by then?”
“Not a chance,” Tonka stated baldly. “But we can make sure it’s all cleaned up so she doesn’t trip over anything. Unless you want her?—?”
“Don’t even finish that sentence,” Vince decried, holding up a hand. “We’re going to kiss this woman’s ass if it means getting Inez into a safe place. So, if youarehere working,” Vince shook a finger in Tonka’s direction, “you will be nice. Understood?”
Tonka just shrugged.