The Package

Tony had been a police officer for more than 15 years. It was all he knew, and all he had ever wanted to do. Years of hard, dangerous work had finally paid off though, and today he could call himself a captain. He oversaw his own precinct now and had many officers under his command.

As he entered his new station for the first time, he was greeted by a barrage of new faces.

“Hello, sir.”

“Congratulations, Captain.”

“Welcome to the precinct, sir.”

He politely responded to all of them, wanting to make a good first impression. In the few minutes it took to reach his office door, he felt like he’d already met the entire precinct.

Tony paused, looking at his door with a little smile. In big block letters right in the middle of the frosted glass windowpane was “CAPTAIN ROBERTS”.

Tony grabbed the doorknob, thinking of all the men and women before him who had done the same thing on their first day, and opened the door. He entered and surveyed every corner of the office, taking mental notes of things he needed to get, and things he needed to get rid of.

As he walked around his desk, he ran his hand over the smooth, dark wood. It was polished to a shine, and he could see his hand reflected in its surface. When he reached his chair, he added that to the list of things to get rid of. The leather was faded and cracked, and the wheels squeaked when he pulled it away from the desk. It was good enough for now though.

Tony sat down, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly as he placed his hands on the desk. This day had been a long time coming, and he was looking forward to this next step in his career.

Three hours later, Tony was rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands, trying to get rid of his increasingly painful headache. There was a knock on the office door as it opened just a crack.

“Captain…”

“Later!” Tony shouted, and the door quickly closed.

Every last bit of enthusiasm and positivity he had about his new job had faded almost completely. So far, the entire morning had been one problem after another, and he now had a stack of papers on his desk that would take a week to sort through, and the pile kept growing. The phone on the desk started ringing, and Tony just stared at it with contempt. One more problem he didn’t have the time to deal with. The ringing wouldn’t stop, and it wasn’t helping his headache, so he finally answered it.

“What?” he asked abruptly, without even a greeting.

“Now is that any way to talk to your boss,” asked the voice on the phone, who Tony instantly recognized as the Chief of Police.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry, sir,” Tony apologized.

“Sounds like you’re having a typical first day,” laughed the Chief.

“It’s been non-stop problems since the minute I sat down.”

“Don’t worry, everyone’s first day is like this. You’ll get a handle on things before you know it. In the meantime, though, let’s go for lunch.”

“Sir, I don’t think I can-“

“Tony,” the Chief interrupted. “You’re coming for lunch. You need the break. I’ll meet you at that little diner just down the street from your precinct.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, I’ll see you in ten minutes,” said the Chief.

Tony sighed and hung up the phone. Maybe a break was just what he needed.

Tony walked back into the station an hour later, full of food, and in a much better mood. Talking with the Chief had really helped. On the way back to his office, he was friendly and smiling, even apologizing to a few people he was brusque with earlier.

He reached his office door and paused for a moment to look at his name again, reminding himself that this was a good day. He opened the door and stepped inside, with his attention quickly focusing on his desk and the brown package sitting on top.

Tony frowned as he moved closer to inspect the package. It seemed to be a box wrapped in thick brown paper, with no visible markings of any kind. He went to lift it but stopped himself, as thoughts started swirling in his head.

Why was there a package on his desk? Who put it there? Why were there no markings on it? What might be inside? Could it be dangerous?

That last thought stuck with him. Could it be dangerous? He didn’t want to take any chances with his, or his officers, safety.

Tony walked back out of his office and stopped at the nearest occupied desk.

“Hey, there’s a package on my desk and I have no idea where it came from. Did you happen to see who left it?” Tony asked the officer.

“No, I have no idea. Sorry, Captain.”

Tony asked random people on his way to the front of the station, always receiving the same answer. No one knew where the package came from. Finally, he reached the desk sergeant and checked with him.

“Did you happen to see anyone come in here with a brown package? There’s a box wrapped up in brown paper sitting on my desk and I have no idea where it came from.”

“Sorry, no, I don’t think anyone came through here with a package. Does it have any writing or markings on it?”

“No, nothing,” replied Tony.

The sergeant raised his eyebrows. “So, there’s an unknown, unmarked package on your desk? Um… I don’t want to alarm you, but policy is pretty clear. We should be evacuating the station and calling the bomb squad.”

“Yeah,” Tony said with a sigh. “I know. I just wanted to check with you first. Alright, get everyone out of here.”

Tony was standing on the street, staring at his precinct a short distance away, when the Chief came up beside him.

“Hell of a first day,” said the Chief.

“No kidding. Makes me wonder if I made the right choice taking this job.”

“There’s always going to be bad days. This one might just be a little worse than usual,” the Chief pointed out. “I think you should take the rest of the day off. Go home. Relax. I don’t want my newest Captain to get burnt out on his first day.”

“Thanks, but I’ll be alright. I should be here.”

“There’s nothing you can do here, and the bomb squad’s going to be a while ayway. If this didn’t have the potential to be serious, I’d almost say it was comical, but they’re out on another call right now.”

“You must be joking,” said Tony in disbelief.

“Like I said, it’s almost comical. What are the chances?” the Chief said with a little laugh. “I’ll tell you what, why don’t you go home, and I promise I’ll let you know when the bomb squad is on the way.”

“Sure, I’ll agree to that. I’ve got a headache that just won’t go away. I could use a little rest.”

Tony’s wife, Sheila, was startled when she heard the front door open and found Tony standing there.

“Tony! You’re home already?” she asked in surprise.

“For a little while,” Tony replied. “You would not believe the day I’ve had so far.”

“How was it?” asked Sheila.

“Do we have any Tylenol?”

“That good, huh?”

“Yeah,” said Tony. “It’s been almost enough to make me rethink the job.”

“Oh no, that’s terrible,” said Sheila as she went to find the Tylenol.

Tony walked over to the sofa and dropped down onto it, lying across the cushions and propping his head up on the armrest.

“The day’s been on a downward slide since I first sat in my chair this morning,” Tony said.

“I found the Tylenol. I’ll grab you some water from the kitchen,” Sheila called. “So, I guess the cake didn’t help?”

“What cake?” asked Tony.

“The one I had Trevor leave on your desk,” Sheila said as she walked into the room, handing Tony a glass of water and some Tylenol. “You know, the one in the brown package.”