Senior Advisor to the Boss: Billionaire Obsession Dark Romance (Managing the Bosses Series Book 9) (6 page)

Jamie was on her way back to her office with a cup of coffee when her phone buzzed in her hand. She glanced down. It was from Alex, saying that he had just started a private meeting and wouldn’t be available until it was over.

He was talking to Emelie.

She wondered if the other woman knew what she was being called into Alex’s office to talk about. If she was guilty, she probably knew. Or she might go in completely blind, with no idea whatsoever. And even if she did guess, it didn’t necessarily mean she had something to do with it. A lot of people had been called into Alex’s office recently to talk about the embezzling scheme, and Jamie was sure that by now most of them were aware that if they were talking to Alex unexpectedly, that was the subject that was going to come up. She glanced over at the secretary’s desk, where Justin was just putting down the phone, and he smiled at her. Jamie smiled back automatically, although her heart wasn’t really in it.

Alex had already spoken to Justin, early on, but after what had happened with Gina he’d made sure that the secretary didn’t have enough access to do any real damage, and Justin had been quickly declared innocent. But what if he had seen something that might help? Something that he didn’t know was important? Maybe Jamie could do a little investigating of her own.

She made her way over to the desk. “Hey, Justin.”

He looked up at her with the same smile he had given moment before, although it faltered when he saw the expression on her face. “Jamie. What can I do for you?”

She set her coffee down on the edge of the desk and wondered if it was better to try to go in circles around the actual subject rather than address it head-on. “I just wanted to talk to you about something.”

The smile was gone entirely. “You’re here because Alex just called Emelie into his office, aren’t you?”

So much for beating around the bush.

Jamie nodded. “I wanted to know if you’ve seen anything that might seem suspicious. I know that Alex talked to you about it before, but if there was anything that you might not have thought of then, or something that you don’t necessarily see as important but that seemed strange to you…”

“I’m sorry, Jamie.” Justin shook his head. “I wish that I could be more help to you, but I really don’t think I know anything useful.” He paused. “I will say,” he said after a moment, “that I don’t think Emelie is the one doing it. She really likes working here and she wouldn’t jeopardize that, especially not by doing something so stupid. She’s smarter than that.”

“What makes you say that?” Jamie already knew the answer. Emelie was smart and competent. She didn’t mess around—the girl was all business.

“Well, you’ve talked to her.” Justin sounded like he almost regretted saying what he’d just said. It was obvious to Jamie, suddenly, that he had a bit of a crush on the blonde, and who could blame him? She was drop- dead gorgeous. It probably didn’t matter that she was also completely unavailable to him. “And to be able to do the job you did well enough that Mr. Reid would keep her around at all, she has to be pretty smart.”

Emelie had always struck Jamie as very intelligent. Very capable at her job, too. But then, the person who kept evading all their searches had to be intelligent, or they wouldn’t be able to keep slipping out from under Alex’s nose the way that they were. They were beyond sneaky. They knew how to hack computers, fool the system, and keep Alex guessing.

That didn’t mean Emelie was in on it, although Jamie was starting to believe that it had to be more than one employee. That thought brought with it the realization that they were going to have to go back over the files of the people they’d already checked; even if they weren’t the ringleader, some of them might be helping. Leaving their stations at convenient times. Lending out their numbers. Why hadn’t they thought of this before? Justin’s voice startled her out of her thoughts.

“Do you think that Emelie did it?”

Jamie took a moment to think about how to answer that. She was starting to understand Alex’s feeling that no one could be trusted. What if Justin was working for the thief? They were going to have to be even more careful about what they said from now on. “I think,” she said finally, “that whoever did it is going to regret it when they end up in prison.”

He nodded. “I guess you’re probably right on that. Unless they don’t end up in prison. But—” he hurried on at the sight of the expression on her face, “I’m sure that they will. They can only keep doing it for so long, and eventually they’ll slip up and you’ll catch them.”

She hoped so. She really hoped so.

“Thank you, Justin. For talking to me.”

“Of course,” Justin said, just as the phone started ringing. He gave her a ‘what can you do’ smile and picked it up. “Reid Enterprises. How may I help you?”

Jamie picked up her coffee and headed back to her office to finish going over the quarterly reports. Then she was going to have to turn her attention to the employee files again. And she wanted to know as soon as Alex was done with Emelie what he’d decided.

The real problem was the same one that had been hanging over them from the beginning: It could be anyone. Most places would start looking at their newest employees, but most places didn’t have enemies with vendettas against them, and after what had happened with Gina they couldn’t trust that any of the older employees were necessarily on their side either.

It was little wonder that Alex was in a constant state of tense frustration. And she honestly wasn’t much better.

She missed the twins again as she sat at her desk and went over the quarterly reports. Missed the days when they had been able to trust that the people who worked for them supported them the same way that they supported their employees.

When this was all over they were going to take a vacation, which seemed to be a kind of constant refrain for her lately. But it had to end eventually. And when it did they really would take a vacation. She and Alex both desperately needed one.

Sighing, Jamie turned her attention back to her work. Tonight, she would talk to Alex about the employee files and going back over them. He wasn’t going to be happy, but he would understand why it had to be done.

“Miss Eriksson,” Alex said as the door to his office opened. “Please come in.”

The tall, slender woman stepped inside and closed the door, crossing the room to take a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. She had her hair pinned up in a neat coil, and was wearing one of the sleek skirt suits that she usually wore to the office. “Mr. Reid,” she said. “What can I do for you?”

He could tell by the way that her hands folded in her lap that she was nervous. Alex had never seen her nervous before. He wondered if she knew what he had called her in for. It wasn’t unlikely. The entire office knew about the trouble that they were having, and Emelie was closer to the top than most. “I wanted to speak to you about the embezzling that’s going on in the company.”

She nodded tightly, and Alex wondered if her hesitation was because she had actually done something that she was afraid he would find out, or if she was just nervous because of the reason that he’d called her in. Several of the employees he had spoken with had been. “Of course, Mr. Reid,” she said. “What can I tell you?”

“It has recently come to my attention,” Alex said, “that your employee number has been used for several anomalous commands.”

Miss Eriksson took a breath in and let it out again slowly, and then she nodded again. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

“So you knew about it?”

That was more than just a suspicion. If she knew about the problem and she hadn’t come to him, she would have to be fired whether or not she was actually involved in the embezzling, because he couldn’t trust an employee who was going to hide things. But Miss Eriksson shook her head.

“No. Mr. Reid. I didn’t. Although I’ve been checking, to be honest with you, and I’m not sure how it slipped past me. But I know that it’s similarly come up like that for other employees, and I figured it was only a matter of time before it was my turn, especially with as much access as I have in my position.”

“So you think that you were targeted because you’re Zander’s PA?”

“I think I was chosen because I’m convenient, Mr. Reid. It’s very easy to point fingers at those closest to the top, and more difficult for us to disprove our involvement, because we don’t have the easy out of being too far down the food chain to have that much pull.”

Alex almost laughed. She was right in her argument, although it didn’t quite let her off the hook, which she’d also predicted. “A fair point. But, as you’ve probably already guessed, that’s not going to assure me that you’re not the one pulling the strings here.”

“Have someone check my status during the times that my employee number was used. I’m sure that I can tell you what I was doing, although it’s better if those activities are things someone can corroborate.”

“I actually have those right here,” Alex said, pulling a small sheaf of papers out of her file. He looked down at the first one. “Can you tell me what you were doing at eight on Thursday morning?”

Miss Eriksson’s gaze rolled upward, obviously trying to summon the memory. She lowered it back to his face and gave him a smile. “Do you mind if I check my schedule, Mr. Reid?”

“Not at all.” Thursday was several days ago. He just wanted to make sure that her answers matched the ones he’d been given by other employees.

“According to my schedule, I was in conference room one with Zander and Mr. Blackwell, who were having a meeting about his investment opportunities.”

“That doesn’t mean that you couldn’t have logged in via your phone or your laptop.”

“No.” Miss Eriksson looked up at him. “I suppose it doesn’t. I’m not sure how I’m able to prove that I’m innocent if being out of my office doesn’t help me. You could ask Zander, maybe. He was there the entire time, although he wasn’t looking over my shoulder. I was, however, running a presentation on my laptop, and I didn’t have my phone out.”

“According to Zander,” Alex said, “you were on your phone for at least five minutes, right around eight.”

Miss Eriksson stared at him. “I don’t know why he would say that, because I assure you that I wasn’t on it. I set it to silent and leave it in my bag during meetings. I believe it’s unprofessional to have it out in the middle of a presentation.”

Which was exactly what one of the other employees had said about Miss Eriksson’s opinion of phones during meetings, but she could have been lying to him about her feelings. Alex could call Mr. Blackwell and ask him if the woman who’d given his presentation had been on her phone, but he wasn’t sure if the client would remember, and hesitated to bother him.

“Friday, at two?” he asked.

“I remember that one without looking at the schedule, Mr. Reid,” Miss Eriksson said. “Because I very nearly got run over by a taxi driver while I was out getting lunch for Zander.”

Zander had backed up that she was picking up a late lunch for them, but she could have still logged in through any of her networked devices while she was out. She’d had enough time. Which she had obviously realized—or realized he knew—because her expression had gone tight, a muscle jumping in her jaw.

“Mr. Reid? May I ask you a question?”

“Feel free.”

“Is there any point in my defending myself here? Or is my fate already sealed?”

Alex sighed. That was the question that he had been sure she would eventually ask. There was too much evidence against her to discount it, though, and despite the part of him that believed she wouldn’t have done it, he couldn’t just ignore that. “If you have a defense that counters the evidence, Miss Eriksson, then I’ll accept it. We aren’t going to make any kind of decision until we’re absolutely sure.”

“So take my phone and laptop and go through my history. I know that you can find someone who can check to make sure nothing was deleted. I’ll even let you look at my bank account, which, I assure you, hasn’t been receiving any unexplained sums of money. I have nothing to hide. I love my job here and wouldn’t risk anything to lose it.” As she spoke she set her phone down on his desk, and then her laptop bag.

Alex looked at them, then up at her, not sure if the gesture was genuine or a show of bravado. If it was one, he was calling her bluff. “I’ll do that,” he said. “In the meantime, I’m putting you on paid leave. I apologize for the necessity, but without your laptop and phone you’re not going to be able to do much at the office anyway, and I can’t have you in the building roaming freely. I apologize for this, and if you are not the guilty party I see this as the fastest way of proving it. I apologize for the inconvenience. I hope you understand.”

“Of course, Mr. Reid.” She stood as she spoke, and Alex stood with her. She reached across the desk to shake his hand with a smile that was definitely forced, but still polite, and Alex’s estimation of her went up a notch.

“I’ll have this dealt with as soon as possible, of course.”

The smile widened into something a little more genuine. “I appreciate that.”

“Do you have a means of contacting people while I have your phone? I can provide you with a temporary one if necessary.”

“I have a personal phone,” Miss Eriksson answered, “though I appreciate the thought. Thank you, Mr. Reid.”

“Of course. I’m not going to insist on you being entirely cut off from everyone.”

It was obvious that she wasn’t actually as happy as she was trying to pass herself off as being, and Alex didn’t know if it was because he’d called her bluff and thwarted her attempts against Reid Enterprises, or because she liked her job.

“How should I contact you when your phone and laptop are ready to be returned?”

Miss Eriksson pulled a pen and a pad of paper from her bag and jotted down her personal number, sliding it across the desk to him. “I’ll look forward to the call from you, Mr. Reid.”

Which meant what? That she knew she was innocent? That she knew she wasn’t but could trick them into thinking that she was?

“Have a good afternoon, Miss Eriksson.”

She went out and shut the door behind her, and Alex relaxed back into his chair with a sigh. At least that was over with for the moment. He picked up his phone to call someone about looking into Miss Eriksson’s phone and laptop history, and wondered for the first time if keeping the business going was worth the constant anxiety it seemed to cause these days.

The thought passed quickly, but the determination to find out who was trying to destroy Reid Enterprises from within only grew stronger. He wasn’t going to take any more of this.

***

“I sent Miss Eriksson home on paid leave,” Alex said that night as they were washing the dishes from dinner.

Jamie froze with a plate still in her hands and turned to look at him. ‘You did?”

“She gave me her laptop and phone to check the history on, and I sent her home while they’re out for processing.”

His phone buzzed on the counter beside him, and Alex glanced down at it. The text from Mark splashed across the screen read
Turn on the news
.

Maybe the country club’s getting a spot on the PGA Tour had hit the headlines.

“Leave the dishes for a minute, baby,” Alex said. “Mark wants us to check the news.”

Jamie dried her hands on a towel and went to get the twins out of their highchairs, bouncing Benton gently on her hip as they stood in the doorway to the living room. Alex, with Lilliana in his arms, picked up the remote and turned the TV on, flipping through the channels until he found the news.

“—finally be falling? Stock in Reid Enterprises is dropping,” The brunette anchor was saying. “And some of the investors are getting out while the getting is good.”

Alex heard Jamie gasp behind him. He didn’t react. Just stood staring at the television as the newscaster explained that word had come out of an embezzler stealing from the company, and that many of the clients were concerned about both their capital and their data.

“Oh no. No, no, no,” Jamie whispered.

Who had leaked it? Had he made a mistake letting Miss Erikkson off so easily while he waited to find out for sure if she was behind the attacks on the company? Or was it someone else in the company? It didn’t even have to be someone connected to the embezzler. Any one of the employees could have told, and the likelihood that they’d been offered money for it was high. It might not even have been one of them directly. They couldn’t be expected to keep everything from their families, and it could have easily been a friend or family member who spilled the news.

In the end, who had done it didn’t matter. With the problem dragging on this long, it was bound to have happened sooner or later. What mattered was that it had happened and how they were going to control the damage.

“I’m going to have to call the public relations head,” Alex said, turning away from the television and clicking it off. Lilliana was looking up at him with bright eyes, not sure what to make of his mood.

“Of course,” Jamie said.

Alex knew she was of the opinion that the public relations people couldn’t do much about the press, but having something in place was better than nothing.

The phones at the office were no doubt going to be ringing off the hook, and without Miss Eriksson he was going to need Jamie to come in on her day off.

“I’ll call Brianna,” she said as soon as he turned to look at her, and despite the stress pulling his muscles taut, Alex felt a rush of love for the woman standing beside him. She was always there when he needed her. Always so amazing.

“I love you,” he said abruptly, catching her arm and gently pulling her around to look up at him. “I love you so much, Jamie Reid.”

“I love you, too,” Jamie answered. “All of us do, Alex. No matter what else happens, Benton and Lilli and I aren’t going anywhere.”

He leaned down and kissed her gently, and then backed away, laughing as Benton’s hand connected with his chest.

“Apparently you’re butting in on his space,” Jamie said, laughter in her voice.

“I guess,” Alex said. “He’s already trying to supplant me.”

“Stubborn and driven,” Jamie said, pitching her voice toward Benton. “Just like his daddy.”

She looked up at him, then, and Alex wanted to move in and kiss her again, but he had things he had to go do, and Benton was apparently strenuously objecting to him being that far into Jamie’s space, so he set Lilli down on the blanket and went to the kitchen to retrieve his phone and make the calls to the PR department. Behind him, he could hear Jamie laughing, even as her eyes followed him with worry.

They had to deal with the embezzler, for the sake of Jamie and the peanuts as much as for the sake of the company. His family didn’t need to be stretched any thinner than it already was.