Chapter 3

It was hard to go to work the next morning. Lou and I couldn’t stop kissing goodbye. Cody and I finally went out to the garage to leave for the office. He stood there looking at his company car for a minute and said, “Every time I look at this car I want to kiss you like Lou just did.”

I laughed and said, “Please don’t. If it turned out you were a better kisser than Lou I’d have a really difficult decision to make.”

We both laughed at that. Then I said, “We didn’t get much time to talk shop last night. I meant to ask if anyone is giving you any problems.”

He shrugged and said, “Nothing I can’t handle. There’s one guy who seems to resent me for some reason. Either that or he doesn’t trust me. But I’m handling it. If he starts to be a real problem I’ll let you know.”

I headed for my car but I thought it would be a good idea to give him a heads up. “Cody, if you get any free time today there’s something I want you to think about. I think I know Jess pretty well, what turns her on, what her fantasies are. I don’t know anything about what’s going on in your head. I wouldn’t want to put you in a position ... I wouldn’t want to make you do anything ... oh crap! You know what I mean!”

He smiled and said, “You think asking the question was difficult? Answering it ... I’ve never given any thought to telling anyone my fantasies before. That sounds embarrassing.”

“I agree. I’d hate to have to do it. But give it some thought if you get some time. I don’t want to step over any invisible lines. Our strange relationship could be a lot of fun as long as no one gets hurt. Much to my surprise we seem to be developing a friendship now that you’ve become more than a half-drowned waif. I’m pretty ... open minded I guess is a nice way of saying it. Not much offends me. But I’m well aware most people have more boundaries than I do.”

He nodded and said, “I’ll try to spend a little time thinking about it. But yesterday was pretty intense. I expect today to be pretty much the same. Have a good day. I’m going to. I love this shit!”

“I love your attitude. See you later.”

We drove away, leaving the same garage and heading for the same parking lot. I’d given some thought to carpooling but riding back and forth with the boss might put him in an uncomfortable position at work. And eventually, not anytime soon I hope, but eventually he and Jess are going to want a place of their own. They need to save up a little money first, but it won’t take them long. They have no debts and no expenses and he’s making good money now.

I got to the office, got my coffee but hadn’t taken my first sip before Jerry called me on my cell. He has something he wants me to see. I have time before the staff meeting so I asked, “My place or yours?”

“I’ll be right there.”

I told Sara Jerry is on his way and to send him right in.

He barged in a couple minutes later and after saying good morning he said, “First, I found this in your office last night.”

He dropped something small and metallic on my desk. It looked like one of those things you find in your garage now and then and have no idea what it is and don’t remember ever seeing it before.

He said, “Yeah. I’ve never seen one like that before, either. It’s a bug.”

I looked back and forth between his face and the little bug on my desk. I didn’t know what to think. After a minute or two I asked, “Do you think we should check the entire building?”

“Yeah. I went over everything on this half of the top floor and my office down at the other end. I showed that to my friend, the guy who loaned me the wand. He’s never seen one like it before but he said it looks very high end.”

“Is it still active?”

“Of course!”

After he got the look on my face he was going for he laughed and said, “No. My friend deactivated it.”

“Asshole!” But I had to laugh, too.

“Anyway, I wasn’t thinking. I should have left it active and told you about it. Now whoever put that in here probably figures we found it. The smart thing to do would be to send everyone home right now and sweep the building. But it could already be too late and that would be very expensive. My friend is coming back with me this evening and we’re going to try to get the rest of the building.”

“I suggest you start with R&D and the Finance Office.”

“I was thinking that, too. I’m also going to Marty’s Office, just out of curiosity.”

“Why Marty?!”

He pulled a thumb drive out of his jacket pocket and handed it to me. While I was putting it in my computer he said, “I got the dates for the missing memos from Paul. You remember last year when that moron from shipping started sneaking around setting off fire alarms? The only way we were able to catch him was to put cameras in all the corridors. Those cameras are still running. I went back and checked for the dates of the missing memos. On each of those dates I saw Marty following the mail cart around. I didn’t get them all, but I have a good clear record of Marty rifling through the stuff going to your office and taking out envelopes when the mail boy ducked into an office to make a delivery. I didn’t get a clear shot of all the envelopes but on two of them I’m pretty sure I can see a small X in one corner.”

“I don’t suppose we can take Marty down to the basement and ask him politely who marked the envelopes and told him they were enroute.”

Jerry smiled and said, “Tempting. But I’m too pretty to go to jail.”

“I’ve got bad news for you, Jerry.”

“Don’t say it Craig. You know how delicate I am.”

“Good job, man. Very good. I think I’m going to go ahead and tell the Finance Office to go ahead and pay you this month. I gotta admit, Jerry, you’re worth your weight in tin.”

He grinned and said, “Remember you said that when you’re on the phone after work trying to get someone to come out here and replace all four of your tires.”

“Better not do that right away. Remember, I told you I’d give you a shot at that hottie who was in here yesterday morning.”

“Oh yeah! I better hold off on the vandalism.”

I stood up, handed him back his thumb drive and said, “Time for my morning meeting. I had a late-night last night. Hope I can stay awake. Thanks again, Jerry. I don’t care what everyone says. You’re a good man.”

“I don’t care if you can’t give me a straight up compliment, Craig. Just as long as you keep kissing me goodnight when we go home every evening.”

“You wish! Pervert!”

“I’m a pervert?! Which one of us is keeping a married couple as slaves?!”

“Oh yeah. I guess that’s me. But in my defense, they aren’t just my slaves, they’re my friends, too.”

“Really?!”

“Yup.”

“You’re even weirder than I thought!”

He went back to his office and I headed for the conference room. On the way out I stopped at Sara’s desk and said, “Sara, I need you to do me a favor. If you get some free time ... someone suggested I should hire an assistant. It sounds like a good idea, makes me sound important. But I really don’t work that hard. And I’d appreciate it if you kept a straight face until I leave.”

She grinned and said, “I think I can keep a straight face if you hurry and leave. But the really amusing thing is you seem to think people don’t know how little you do around here!”

I sighed and said, “I get abused at home. I get abused at the office. Nobody loves me!

“Anyway, we seem to agree I don’t need an assistant, even though I’d really love to have her hanging around my office...”

“Not that hottie you had in there yesterday morning?!”

“Yeah. She’s a good friend who fell on some hard times. I’d like to help her out. She’s trained as an executive assistant and believe it or not she’s not just a hottie. She’s very smart. See if you can think of anything she might be a good fit for around here.”

“I’d suggest you go ahead and hire her. It isn’t like you can’t afford it. On the other hand, if you hired her for your assistant you’d get even less work done than you do now.”

“I love you Sara. You’re so good at keeping me from getting a big head.”

She laughed and said, “Get the hell out of here. You’re late for the staff meeting. You know all those people are in there talking shit about you.”

“Don’t work too hard, Sara ... as if I have to tell you that!”

The meeting this morning was a little more normal, and boring. I had to keep reminding myself not to stare at Marty. Someone in the Finance Office must be working with him. Someone marked those envelopes Marty intercepted and told him to take them before I could see them. It has to be someone who was involved with Chambers, probably the same person who’s giving Cody a hard time now.

When I got back to my office Sara told me the new guy in Finance called and wants to see me as soon as I’m free. I asked her to call him and invite him up. Then she said, “I gave it some thought. I tried to justify you hiring that little hottie as your assistant but I’m afraid I can’t. On the other hand, it’s your damn company and you could hire a friggin’ harem if you want to.”

I chuckled. One of the many things I like about Sara is how open-minded she is. But I shook my head and said, “Thanks for the encouragement but there’s enough crap going on around here lately that shouldn’t be. I’ll keep my eye out for a good position she could fill but I’m not going to hire a mistress. Especially now when I’m about to get engaged ... if she says yes.”

“Craig!! Don’t tell me! Lou, right?! You finally came to your senses?! It better be Lou or I’m going to kick your cute ass!”

I must have had surprise written all over my face. She shook her head and said, “Oh come on. Everyone who knows you two knows you’re in love with her. You’ve behaved like a married couple since shortly after you built that castle and hired her. There were times, like after a party at your house or after listening to you talking to her on the phone when I wanted to grab you by the throat and shake you to wake you up. I could never understand. You’re the smartest man I know but you didn’t seem to realize you love that girl!”

“I have a cute ass?!”

She laughed, shook her head and said, “Go to your room. You’re being punished for taking so long to figure out what everyone else already knew. I’ll call Mr. Clark.”

Cody came into my office ten minutes later with a handful of papers and said, “Sorry to disturb you, sss ... um, Craig.”

I smiled and said, “Good catch. What’s up?”

He handed me several sheets of paper and said, “This is a listing of your company’s current financial distribution. I’ve red-lined the inappropriate or in some cases downright outrageous investments which you need to get out of immediately. I can’t believe any professional in their right mind would have been responsible for some of these ... no, for all of these. The only explanation I can come up with is that someone must have been giving him something of value but they’re so diverse I can’t understand who or why anyone would pay Chambers to do this to you. Some of the others are standard and I’d leave alone.”

He handed me another sheet of paper and said, “These are where you should be putting your money. These are safe. They’ve been around forever. You don’t need to be putting your company’s money into these very risky investments. The only possible answer that comes to my mind is someone is trying to sabotage you. Do you have any competitors you’ve really pissed off?”

“Actually, someone comes to mind. But that was three years ago. I took a contract away from McMasters over at Trumpidiots when I proved he had started using inferior materials in order to cut costs. His company began putting out failing assemblies which was putting the public at risk.

I held up the papers he gave me listing all the bad investments Chambers had put my money in and asked, “How quickly can you straighten this mess out? I’ll want to take care of the effect before I start digging into the cause.”

Before he could answer a sudden thought flashed through my mind. If I’m being sabotaged from within by members of my own staff I better make certain no one is substituting substandard materials in my plant behind my back. And I think I know the best way to check on that.

Cody answered my previous question, “Good thinking. It may take a week. I can’t give you precise times and dates when dealing with investments. Markets are hard to predict in the short run. But I’ll get it done as quickly as I can if you want to okay the changes.”

“I respect your judgement, your intelligence and your integrity. You don’t need my approval. Do whatever you think is best. I’m astounded by the things you’ve accomplished in just over a day on the job.”

“Um ... Craig? I ... I’m flattered. I’m honored. But perhaps you should work with me for a month or two before you make a decision like that.”

“No. First of all, I don’t know enough about this stuff to second guess you. And you and your wife are two of the most honest, intelligent, trustworthy people I’ve ever met. Do what you think is best. And sometime when you aren’t up to your ass in alligators, I’d appreciate it if you’d write up a report about Chambers’ handling of the money. I don’t want you to be diplomatic, either. I want your honest appraisal.

“I have another question. You mentioned someone down there giving you a hard time. Who and in what way?”

He hesitated for a moment so I explained, “Something is going on around here. I get the impression someone is trying to sabotage the company.”

I held up the list of bad investments and said, “This appears to be just the tip of the iceberg. I’m reasonably certain these were intentional and no, I don’t think I’m being paranoid. Now give me the name.”

“Cooper. I don’t know why but he seems to resent me. And whenever he gets the opportunity he defends everything Chambers has done.”

I sat back in my chair and thought about it for a second or two before I asked, “Have you met Marty yet? Marty Fields, he’s head of Plant Management.”

“Yeah, He’s a friend of Cooper’s. He came in to talk to him yesterday afternoon and Cooper introduced us. We didn’t talk, just said hello. He kinda gave me the creeps. He seemed to be sizing me up. I wondered if he was getting ready to ask me for a date.”

I decided it might be a good idea to warn him. “Two things, Cody. It appears Marty was the man who intercepted Paul’s memos. And Jerry found a bug in my office. He and a friend are going to search the entire complex. Until they finish checking you might want to be careful what you say.”

“Damn! What the hell is going on around here?!”

“I wish I knew. While we’re on the subject, something just occurred to me. If someone has begun to substitute inferior raw materials in my plant a good place to start looking might be the invoices. Can you check that for me? Look for a sudden change in suppliers or a drop in costs. Anything out of the ordinary. That needs to be a top priority. If someone has started substituting substandard materials I’m going to have to shut down production until that’s straightened out.”