Laina Turner - Presley Thurman 09 - Romance & Revenge (11 page)

“Did you remember something else?” I asked.

He nodded. “I remember Becky mentioning Julie’s grandma coming to visit once and that she was a sweet lady who had lost her foot to diabetes. Becky was amazed at her attitude.”

Jared, Katy and I looked at each other. Finally some good information.

Chapter 14

Jared had gotten a hold of John while him and Katy had been at the bar waiting for me to talk to Peter and now, a few hours later, we were in the conference room at Sleeping Bear Designs meeting with him to tell him what my friend Jim had found out about user access. He seemed more than a little taken aback at what he had just been told. I could tell this hadn’t even been something to cross his mind.

“And this guy is sure the user name was SBD1?” John asked. I could tell he didn’t know what to make of this information.

“He’s sure. Said it was the only user in the system
who had ever accessed anything using that method. So why would your dad do that?”

John shook his head. “He wouldn’t. That’s why this makes no sense. My dad is about the least tech savvy person I know. Doesn’t even like email. Used to dictate to Glenda, his secretary, for most of them because he was such a bad typist. He prefers to use the phone and has been very resistant to technology. I think
it’s part of what pushed him to retire. He knew that technology was taking over in the design area as well as the business area and I think it bothered him. He wouldn’t know the first thing about logging into the system in the normal way, much less in a secret way. There’s no way he did this.”

“Then
who might he have given his user name and password to?” I asked, thinking that would be the best place to start for trying to eliminate people.

“Glenda, but as you know she retired when he did and moved to Florida. She worked for him over twenty years and only stayed the last two because my father begged her not to leave him and to stay until he retired so I would count her out.  She was
über loyal. Other than that, no one would have a need for his information.  And he wasn’t the type to just share. She was the only one privy to his private information. He trusted her implicitly. I don’t even know his password. You got me on this one. I have no idea how this could happen or who could be behind it.”

“Could you call him?” Katy asked. “See if he has any idea who could be behind this?”

“He’s somewhere off the coast of Greece until after the New Year and he doesn’t have cell service. I can email him, but I doubt he will check it before he gets back. My mom made him promise he would shut things off and like I said, he’s not a fan of email.”

“Then I think we should pay a visit to these three companies. See how they came up with their designs. See if maybe we can find a connection that way. Do you have a problem with that, John?” I asked, mentally kicking myself for not thinking about doing this sooner but thankfully Willie had mentioned it to me.

“Not at all, if you think it will help put a stop to this, then please go ahead. I can make some calls, tell them you’re wanting to talk to them. I can’t force them but at least they would know you’re affiliated with us. Might make them more willing to talk. The thought of someone having access to our files is very disconcerting. It’s not like we have state secrets in our files, but there is a lot of client information that if it fell into the wrong person’s hands would be a problem.  Which has already happened, of course. I just mean even worse things.”

“Don’t worry about it, John. You have a lot on your mind. At least we are making progress. Sort of,” I said.

“You are, you are, and I appreciate your efforts. This past week has just been a nightmare.”

“Thanks. I’ll go make those calls.”

“Wait! Presley, maybe it would be better for us to show up unannounced.  You know, just in case one of these companies is in on the design stealing. We don’t want to tip them off,” Jared said.

“Good point!” I said and looked at John to make sure he was OK with it too.

“Fine with me.”

“Then let’s go. We will call as soon as we find anything out, John,” I said.

“Oh, one more thing, John,” I said, turning back to face him and he looked at me questioningly.

“Do you know of anyone here who has diabetes? Anyone who Becky worked with?”

“Hm, not that I can think of. Oh wait, Glenda’s husband is diabetic, part of why they wanted to move to Florida. Warmer weather so he can get out and walk. Apparently, exercise is good for helping to control the disease. Why do you ask?”

I hated keeping anything from him but I also didn’t want to give him wrong information and make him think a long time valued employee had something to do with Becky’s murder. So I thought it might be better to hold back a little.
At least until I had more information.

“I’m just tracking down a lead regarding Becky’s murder and was curious. I will let you know when I find out more.”

He seemed fine with my answer, so I felt good about it.

Chapter 15

Since deciding the best course of action was to show up unannounced, the three of us headed uptown to the company that had been the first to upstage Sleeping Bear Designs by getting the client first.

“What do you know about this company, Jared?” I asked.

“Not much. All three companies are similar to us. Maybe five or six employees, handle mostly smaller clients. Very boutique, not a logo mill. Hands on with clients.”

“What’s that mean?” Katy asked. “Not a logo mill.”

“It’s a design thing. You folks outside the industry wouldn’t understand,” he said.

Katy and I looked at each other and laughed. “Guess not. Do you know any of the people who work here or at any of these places?” I asked.

“Not personally. I’ve seen a few of them at events over the years. But not more than just a ‘hi, how are you’ type greeting,” he said.

We finally stopped in front of a nondescript office building that said Red Dune Creative.

“I’m not sure all three of us should go barging in there,” I said. “It might be a little off-putting. Might put them on the defensive. At least I know that’s how I would feel if I was in their shoes and three people came in regarding this situation.”

“Then you go,” Jared said.

“Definitely you, Presley,” Katy agreed. You’re the expert at getting people to talk. We’re just your sidekicks. We’ll just walk over there and wait.” She pointed to a Starbucks across the street. Starbucks and McDonalds, you always knew one would be on every corner. As much as I appreciated mom and pop places, there was a sense of comfort knowing that good coffee was just a few steps away. And no matter how bad their food was for you, McDonalds did have good coffee.

“Wish me luck.” I pulled the door open and walked in feeling a little nervous since I wasn’t sure how they would feel about me asking questions. They might just throw me out.

There was a young man at a desk close to the door and he looked up at the sound of my entrance and smiled.

“Hi. Can I help you?”

“I was wondering if Allison Swartz was in?”  John had given us the contact names for this company and the two others, so we at least had someone to ask for.

“Sure. Let me get her.” Within a minute or so, he was back with a woman, probably mid-thirties, dark hair, very well put together, businesslike.
Pretty much what I would expect for someone who managed a business.

“I’m Allison,” she said, putting her hand out to shake mine.

“Presley Thurman. I’m so sorry to bother you by showing up here unannounced, but I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me.”

“Sure, let’s step into the conference room.”

She led me to a small room and motioned for me to sit down, not seeming to mind someone dropping in unannounced.

“What can I help you with? Are you looking to rebrand your business?”

“No, I’m not seeking to be a client. I’m here on another matter entirely. I have a question about your pitch to Smith Architecture.”

“One of our clients? I’m sorry, but I don’t really feel comfortable talking about a client,” she said, giving me a strange look. I thought I better explain fast before she demanded I leave.

“Oh no, that’s not what I am asking about. I’m sorry, I should have been clearer. My friend works for Sleeping Bear Designs,” I told her and went through the whole story. I was sure she still thought I was nuts and might throw me out anyway.  Even with an explanation it sounded crazy.

“Oh my. And you think someone here got information from Sleeping Bear?” she said when I was finished, sounding very skeptical and a little bit angry, for which I didn’t blame her at all. 

“We aren’t sure what to think. They’ve never had a problem like this before, so it’s baffling to them. We’re just trying to figure it all out.”

She leaned back in her chair. “I don’t know what to say about all this. This sort of thing has never happened before. Not here or anywhere I’ve heard of for that matter. Maybe in some of the really big firms that handle million-dollar accounts I could see something like that happening, but not here.”

“That’s exactly what we’ve thought, too. How many people worked on this campaign? Do any of them have any contact with employees at Sleeping Bear?” I asked.

“Not that I know of. Would you mind if I talked to my team and then got back to you?”

“Not at all. Please know we’re not trying to accuse anyone of anything, just searching for information.”

“I get it. I would do the same thing in your shoes. I’ll try to see what I can find out and call you tomorrow.”

“That would be great,” I said, standing up and shaking her hand. “I appreciate your help. I can see myself out.”

I felt bad for putting her in the position of having to question her employees. No one wanted to think someone on their team was anything less than above board but I certainly appreciated her willingness to help us out.

I was walking across the street back to where Jared and Katy were waiting when I felt my purse vibrate and dug around until I found my phone. I looked at the number and if I remembered correctly, it was the number of the accountant I had left a message for last night. A thrill of excitement went through my body. Last night as I was trying to fall asleep I couldn’t stop thinking about the opportunity of owning Silk. The more and more I thought about it, the more excited I got. I found myself hoping this could work out.

“Hello?”

“Is this Presley?”

“Yes.”

“Hi, this is Gary Austin. You left me a message about a company valuation?”

“Yes. Thanks for calling back.” I had reached Starbucks, found Katy and Jared, and sat down. I made a motion of drinking coffee, hoping one of them would get the hint, which since Jared got up, I assumed he did. “I got your information from a friend, Willie Landon, he said you might be able to help me figure out if a company is worth taking over or not.”

“I just need a little information and I can get started. Is now a good time?”

“Sure,” I replied and he began to ask me a series of questions. Some I could answer, most I couldn’t. He said he would see what he could find out and hopefully have something to tell me tomorrow, at least preliminarily.

“Thanks for the coffee,” I said to Jared when I got off the phone. He had just set one down in front of me.

“Who was that?” Katy asked.

“What did you find out?” Jared asked at the same time.

“One question at a time,” I joked. “The easy one first.” I looked at Katy. “That was the accountant. He’s going to take the information I gave him and see what he can find out about Silk. And I just realized I didn’t ask him how much he charged.  Hopefully it’s not a crazy amount, like four hundred dollars an hour. That’s all I need. To pay a lot of money just to find out this wouldn’t be a viable business opportunity. Now, about my conversation at Red Dune, I spoke to Allison, who is very nice by the way. Once she got over her shock at what I was asking, she seemed genuinely concerned that there could be some shenanigans going on. She’s also going to call me back. So we just have a lot of waiting ahead of us.”

“At least it’s some sort of progress,” said Katy.

“I guess, but waiting sucks,” said Jared.

“Stop pouting. Let’s head to the next two businesses,” I said.

Alistar
, Inc. was next on our list and only a short cab ride uptown. I went in while Jared and Katy ducked into a Godiva Chocolates shop. This was going to be a high calorie investigation for them.

This office was laid out similar to Jared’s, very much an open office concept. Must be conducive to creativeness.  The lack of any kind of privacy would drive me crazy. I tended to talk loud on the phone.

“Is Jason Thurber here?” I asked the person at the desk closest to the door when I walked in.

“He’s on vacation. Is there something I can help you with?” the young lady asked.

“I was hoping to speak to someone who worked on the Circle Reality account.”

“Sure. Let me get you someone.” She left her desk and then returned with a young man, probably mid-thirties, reminded me a lot of Jared.

“I’m David McNamara. Trisha said you wanted to talk to someone who worked on the Circle Reality account.”

“I’m Presley Thurman,” I said, shaking his hand and once again going through the same long story I had told Allison. And telling him I had talked to Allison, hoping it would make him more willing to talk to me. “So I was wondering if there seemed anything out of the ordinary in this account.”

“Not that I recall. Jason, of course, was the lead in this project, but to my knowledge it was just a normal project. Nothing out of the ordinary and we definitely didn’t knowingly take anyone’s designs,” he said, a little defensively, which I could understand. No one liked to put his or her work into question as to its originality.

“When Jason gets back, would you mind asking him?
If there seemed to be anything odd. We aren’t accusing anyone. Just trying to get to the bottom of things. So please know that.”

“OK. Sure,” he said, taking my number. “For what it’s worth, I would think what happened was a coincidence rather,” he said and smiled.

“Thanks,” I said and turned to leave.

“Forgive me for bad timing, but would you like to have a drink with me sometime?”

I froze and looked at him. He was very nice looking. Blond, which wasn’t normally my type, but tall, nice build, great fashion sense. Those jeans had to be True Religion.

“I’m sorry,” he said when a few seconds passed and I didn’t say anything.  “That was inappropriate of me.”

“No, no don’t be sorry. You just caught me off guard.” I then hesitated. I didn’t like to think of myself as on the market, but I was pretty sure I no longer had a boyfriend but even so, did I want to go out for a drink?

“I’m kind of in something right now. It’s complicated,” I added when I noticed the look on his face that signaled he thought I was trying to blow him off. “But I would love your number and if things change …” I trailed off.

“Sure,” he said reaching in his pocket and pulling out a business card and handing it to me. “Call me.”

I left and went to the Godiva store to find Jared and Katy with bags in one hand and a chocolate covered strawberry in the other.

“I can see you two had fun.”

“Godiva is the best,
Pres,” Katy said with a mouthful of chocolate. “Here, for you,” and she handed me one. I bit into the chocolate covered strawberry and thought, not for the first time, what an awesome combination chocolate and strawberry was. Godiva was amazing.

“So strike two. They had pretty much the same response as the folks at Red Dune, which isn’t all that surprising. Of course, a little freaked out about the thought of potentially being accused of stealing designs. Too bad John can’t get a hold of his dad. Just in case he is more tech savvy than John thinks. Though, I did get asked out on a date.”

Katy and Jared both looked at me with surprise.

“Don’t look so shocked that men find me dateable,” I said pretending to be mad.

“It’s not that, Pres. It just wasn’t what we were expecting you to say,” said Katy.

“What did you say?” asked Jared.

“I took his card and said maybe.”

At that they both looked shocked and I couldn’t blame them.

“I figured since things might be over with Cooper, I should at least leave some of my options open.”

“Good for you,” said Katy.

“So are we going to head to the third company?” Jared asked.

“Yes. Maybe the third time will be the ticket.”

That notion was thrown out the window when we got to Thimblewood Design just to see a sign on their locked doors that they were closed for the holidays.

“Dammit,” said Jared. “I should have stayed on the couch eating Doritos.”

“I’m sorry, Jared. Look at the bright side. You got chocolate.”

He gave me a dirty look.

“Listen, we still are waiting for Allison to call back. So don’t give up yet.”

“Yeah, but who knows when she will call back. We could be waiting forever.  Or she might not even call. She might decide you’re just a nut job.”

“And maybe this is her right now,” I said, pulling out my phone because it was vibrating and seeing an unfamiliar number.

“Hello?”

“You need to quit being so helpful if you know what’s good for you,” a muffled female voice said and then hung up. 

“Or not,” I said.

“Was that a wrong number?” Katy asked.

“Uh, no. Someone just threatened me.”

“What!” Katy and Jared said in unison.

”Yeah, I think so,” and repeated what the caller had said.

”Who was it? I mean who did it sound like?” Jared asked.

”I don’t know. I only talked to her for two seconds. It didn’t sound like anyone I know. It barely sounded female it was so muffled. I doubt I would have recognized your voice, Katy.”

”What did the person say,” Katy asked.