He took the cue. “First, we know some of the Legacy crew must be involved in convincing people to join the union. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough support for it to even get off the ground.”
“True. Go on.”
“By that rationale, whoever is involved can’t just be hiding out and biding their time. The only way to convince people to vote for the union is to actually go out and convince people. That’s where these ‘organizers’ reveal themselves,” he said. “All we have to do is see who’s instigating the conversations.”
“Then what?”
Dirk gave her a knowing look, like a second-rate mafioso. “We do what we have to do.”
“I see,” she said. “How do you propose we get that information? I walked into the Ghost Factory break room yesterday and everyone clammed up.”
He looked smug. “Of course, you haven’t been here long,” he said. “But I have. I know some people I can talk to.”
She resisted the impulse to throw her coffee mug at him, scalding hot coffee included.
“I appreciate that suggestion,” she said, “but what about the part where we get people on our side?”
He rubbed his hands together before he continued. “Simple. Every time one of us goes on a walkthrough, or supervises the parade route, we have friendly little chats with the crew. Hit the talking points. Let them know they don’t need a union to come between us and them.”
Not only did he sound like a second-rate mafioso, he sounded like an ersatz Mr. Destiny. He would probably take that as a compliment.
He was watching her and waiting for her response.
I need to stall for time.
The whole situation made her uneasy, but she couldn’t let him know that—and she wasn’t even sure how to balance appeasing Mr. Destiny with respecting her employees’ rights. For now, she had to feign agreement. “It could work. We only have—what is it now? Less than a month?”
“Less than a month,” he confirmed.
“I want you to run up to the head office and see what you can find in terms of talking points and so on.”
That would get him out of her hair for a while.
“Do you want me to start talking to the crew?” he asked.
“No. Let’s get more information from the head office first,” she said. “Then we can take action.”
His eyes gleamed with the fervor of a true believer. “Destiny Park will be union-free in no time,” he said.
He marched out.
Vanessa peeked out the door to make sure Dirk was gone, then stepped into the office common area. A sudden feeling of being trapped within four walls made her shudder. “How do you get used to working in an office with no windows?” she asked Charlotte, who was busily sorting through a large pile of shift-change requests.
“I go upstairs every once in a while, before I go crazy,” Charlotte said.
“Good plan,” said Vanessa. She walked over to a rack of handheld radios and picked one up. “Is this how I keep in touch?” She waggled a radio in Charlotte’s direction.
“One for you, one for Dirk, one for me, plus a spare. All the attractions have them, too.”
Vanessa peered at the dials on the radio. “Got it. Anything else I should know?”
“The area manager’s call sign is Legacy. That makes Dirk’s call sign Legacy 2. The office’s call sign is—”
“Legacy office?” Vanessa guessed.
“Bingo,” said Charlotte. “The attraction call signs are just their names: American Dream, Ghost Factory, and Gold Rush.”
“Easy peasy,” said Vanessa. She patted her clothes, looking for a place to clip the heavy radio. The waistband of her skirt was not ideal, but it would have to do. She made a mental note to start wearing pants instead of skirts. As she smoothed her jacket back into place, she noticed the radio created a large bulge under the fabric. It looks like I’m packing heat. She shrugged off the jacket. Better.
Free of the office, Vanessa bounded up the stairs and out into Destiny Park. Once outside, she unclipped the radio and pressed the talk button. “Legacy to Legacy office. Do you copy? Over.”
Static crackled, then Charlotte’s voice came over the radio. “Copy that, Legacy. Over.”
“10-4, Legacy office. Thank you. Over.” Satisfied with her new toy, Vanessa clipped it back on her skirt waistband and straightened up. Where to go first? American Dream was the closest attraction, making it the obvious choice.
She waved and said “Good morning!” to the crew member at the front entrance.
Nonplussed, he tentatively waved back. A gaggle of visitors diverted his attention, demanding to know if there was a line, how long it was, how long the show lasted, and what time the 3:00 parade would start, so Vanessa bypassed the lot of them and went inside without adding to his troubles.
She made a beeline to the break room. Inside, she encountered one lone crew member, a man in his early fifties, sitting contentedly in a chair.
He appeared to be spooning up yogurt from a disposable container.
“Good morning,” Vanessa said.
“Hey,” said her break room companion, whose name tag read “Bob.”
“What are you up to this morning, Bob?” She sat down in the chair next to him.
Unfazed, Bob held up his yogurt container. “You want some custard? It’s really good,” he said.
Now it was Vanessa’s turn to be nonplussed. What do you say to an offer like that?
“No, thanks, I just had breakfast—Bob, is it?”
“Yessiree,” he said. He took another bite of yogurt. “You’re the new manager.”
“I am, indeed. You can call me Vanessa.”
“All right,” he replied. “Vanessa. What can I do for you?”
“I’m just checking in on everybody today. I haven’t gotten much of a chance to, what with all the trainings and so on.”
He nodded slowly. “You been to the parade yet?”
“I thought I might today, as a matter of fact. Anything else you would recommend?”
He held his spoon suspended in midair while he considered. “Nope.”
The spoon resumed its journey.
“That’s fine. Thank you, Bob,” she said as she went to the break room door. “You have a nice day, now.”
After exiting American Dream, she walked over to the roller coaster. The line at Gold Rush already snaked through the waiting area despite the early hour. Instead of entering the loading area, as she had done before with Thomas, she approached the attraction entrance.