Falling for the Boss

by Jean Oram

  “For what?”

  “The rental and, uh, me. My assistant services.”

  “No. Did you tell him about the lumberyard?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Oh.” There was a brief pause. “Well, don’t take it personally, Maya. He’s in a weird place right now.”

  “I thought he was the kind of man who would at least hear me out.”

  Em made a sympathetic noise, then paused before lifting her voice in triumph. “You will never believe the info I discovered at a function last night.”

  Maya ran a finger over her thumbnail, her interest piqued even though she wouldn’t mind a tad more sympathy from Em.

  “James,” she continued, “is a nephew of the financial officer who is in charge of the lumberyard’s accounts. And it seems as though this guy is the true owner, too. I’m looking into it, but get this.” She stopped sharply, and Maya wondered if underneath her excitement Em was actually ticked off. “The guy who did the evaluation on the lumberyard’s worth is a friend of James from way back.”

  “You’re kidding!” Maya sat down hard on a rock, her tailbone protesting the poor treatment. “These can’t be coincidences. How did you discover this?” She stared at the sparkling flecks of mica in the rock under her, unable to wrap her mind around the new information. James wouldn’t be so ballsy or dumb as to think he could get away with something so obvious, could he? Yet these two connections were in the very places she’d been unable to make the math work.

  “A little eavesdropping,” Em said, “a copy of the guest list, a few files from the temp, and a bit of searching the net.”

  “Girl, you’re a regular James Bond.”

  Em let out a pleased laugh. “So? What should we do now?”

  “I got fired, Em. I’m out. Connor doesn’t want to hear it.”

  “Pshaw! The Maya I know isn’t giving up already.”

  “Connor didn’t want to hear what I had to say about my suspicions. He trusts James, not me. How do we even know Connor isn’t involved in the whole shebang?”

  “He’s not.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I’ve worked for him since he started.”

  “So? People change.”

  “I know Connor.”

  “So?”

  “He’s burned out. He’s always wanted someone to pick up the reins on a project—more than Bill and James have in the past—and so now that James is finally stepping up to bring in some profit, I think Connor’s reluctant to focus on how he’s doing it.”

  Listen. Pause. Reflect. Connor wasn’t following his own advice.

  “We need to get him to reflect on what I said about James,” Maya mused. The stubborn man was refusing to deal with anything business-related these days. How was she supposed to get him to reflect?

  Connect.

  She needed to connect the dots for him.

  “We need a tight, incriminating package that will help Connor connect the dots, Em.”

  “Well, then maybe I have something that will help with that. I did some research at the land titles office, too. I have an old roommate who works there.” She paused, as though waiting for praise from Maya. “Not a lot of lumberyards have been sold over the past few decades, but accounting for its size and inflation, I’m guessing this business was overvalued by about four hundred thousand dollars—which was exactly your guesstimate, based on your own research. Maybe we could use this to help him see what we see?”

  Maya rubbed her forehead. “This isn’t good, Em.”

  “I thought this was the kind of thing we were looking for?”

  “I mean it’s not good for Connor.”

  “I’ve got more.”

  “Are you for real?” Maya bit her tongue to keep from swearing at the injustice of Em’s timing with this info. A day sooner and it might have kept Maya from being canned.

  “I know. I’m sorry. Yesterday was just a really good day.”

  “No, it’s okay.” Maya tried to strip the emotion from her voice. “Keep going.”

  “At that function last night I saw James and his wife, so I started chatting her up. Turns out they just bought a second home, in Florida.”

  “Florida?”

  “Apparently he’s been getting bonuses lately.” She paused, her voice became low, sending an eerie vibe through Maya. “He hasn’t, Maya. Not from CME. Nobody has. I asked Accounting.”

  “You’re serious?”

  “I know this feels like a ton of evidence, and to us it seems pretty incriminating. But I’m thinking if Connor blew you off, we’re going to need the smoking gun and James’s confession, because if you look at it from the other side, there are possible explanations for everything. People do business with relatives all the time, so maybe this uncle being the financial officer, CEO guy isn’t a big deal. As for the appraiser, a lot of people are on summer holidays. Maybe our usual appraiser is gone, so James called in a favor with his buddy. Maybe the overvaluation is accurate—maybe land is included, or something valuable that we don’t know about. Maybe James has been doing consulting on the side, which explains the bonuses. It can all be explained away.”

  “He’s got to be screwing over CME, though, Em. There are too many maybes, and this deal isn’t Connor.” Maya ducked when she flushed a flock of birds out the trees as she began walking the path at the top of the hill to burn off some of her energy.

  “Let’s eliminate the excuses, then.”

  “Do you have time for all of this?”

  “If I lose my job I will be regretting not taking a few hours to snoop things out, now won’t I?” Em replied in an all-business tone. “We need a solid plan and some good ammo before we talk to anyone—anyone, okay? Be patient.”

  Be patient. Be patient. That’s all everyone ever seemed to tell her these days, and nothing good ever seemed to come from being patient.

  “Once we have more info,” Maya said, “promise me we can lynch James.”

  There was silence.

  “Why do you care so much? Connor fired you,” Em said finally.

  “I guess…well, because Connor trusted James, and Connor is a good guy. He deserves to have someone good on his team, someone trustworthy who he can count on when the chips are down and he isn’t well.”

  Em sighed. “I keep hoping James isn’t doing anything wrong, but the more I find out, the more it seems like…” She let out another sigh.

  “I know. Say, do you know anything about licensing?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Patents and all that kind of new product stuff.”

  “No, but Connor’s buddy Nolan McKinley would. I gave you his number, didn’t I?”

  “Already tried him.”

  “Did you play nice and ask him about his wife first?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Maya, I know you want to make it in this world, but there’s a game you have to play. You have to act as if you care about the personal and not just the business.”

  “I care.”

  Em laughed and Maya couldn’t help but join her. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m trying. Really I am. I just want to get down to business.”

  “Umm-hmm.”

  “So?” Maya asked, trying to think of something conversational. “Do you have a cat?”

  “Maya, shut up.”

  “I need practice?”

  “A lot of practice.”

  “Do you have a dog then?”

  “What is this? Go Fish? Get off the phone so I can do some more snooping around. And don’t forget―play the game.”

  Maya sighed and clicked off her phone. Connections. Right. She could work on that. But being patient was going to do her in.

  Maya plunked herself in the chair beside her mother’s bed. Her mom gave her a thin smile.

  “You look tired,” Catherine said.

  “I am.”

  “I love you, kiddo.”

  Maya, feeling teary, reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze, hoping her
mother would know she felt the same even though she couldn’t say the words for fear of bawling.

  Her mom gave Maya’s hand a light shake.

  “How are you feeling?” Maya asked when the lump in her throat had been successfully swallowed.

  “Not bad. Mild headache is all.” She gave her a wink from her good side.

  “I love you.” Maya said it quickly, before the emotions could come flooding out.

  “I know.”

  “Can I get you anything?” She needed to do something, needed to move. Standing, she straightened the flowers on the windowsill and checked them all for water. Obviously, Hailey had been by already, as everything was fine.

  “I’m good. Hailey was here earlier. I have my Twix chocolate bar.”

  Maya kept her attention on the flowers. “I did something stupid, Mom.” She turned to face her. “I got fired. My shot at trying to help the cottage didn’t work out very well. Although Mr. MacKenzie hasn’t asked for a refund for unused days.”

  “The cottage’s destiny…”

  “I know. Destiny keeps it in our hands. Or not.” Maya gave her a wry smile. “We got an offer from a developer across the lake. I don’t know, though. It doesn’t feel right. You know I don’t really go for all that heritage stuff, but they’re knocking everything down over there and changing it.” She gave a laugh. “Who would have guessed? I don’t like it.”

  Her mother had a peaceful glow about her, as though the world was unfolding as she felt it should.

  “When will I learn to keep my mouth shut, Mom?”

  “You need to work someplace where you can talk. A lot. That’s all.” Catherine smiled with fondness.

  “Yeah. As an auctioneer, maybe?”

  Her mother let out a light chuckle.

  “I thought Connor’s advisor was crooked. And I still think he is, but Connor… Oh, I don’t know. I’m confused.” Her mother remained silent, allowing Maya to continue when she was ready. “There are arguments that the advisor might be on track, but my gut is telling me he isn’t, that he’s corrupt. But I don’t have enough facts, and it’s frustrating. Connor’s supposed to be signing this deal in a matter of days, and I want to help, but he fired me. He didn’t want to hear about James.”

  Maya bowed her head. “And to top it all, I think I’m about to lose forty thousand dollars of his—I mean, I might get it back, but I dropped the ball with licensing stuff because I didn’t know enough. How could I graduate at the top of my class and still know nothing?”

  Her mother was fighting off sleep, her eyelids drifting shut.

  “I’m sorry. I’m nattering on like crazy, and you’re tired.” Maya tucked the blanket up around her mother’s chin. “I’ll come by again tomorrow. I’ll know what to do by then.”

  “You always do, Snap.” Catherine smiled, her eyes closing. “You always do.”

  Maya pressed her lips together. She wasn’t Snap any longer. That confident gal was gone. There were no snap decisions to be made, and no way for her to snap out of her funky mood.

  She sniffed back tears and, picking up the city’s classifieds, dropped them in the recycling bin on her way out. Toronto seemed farther away than ever.

  Connor stared at his untouched cappuccino and straightened his bow tie. Women in fancy evening wear chattered as they wove past his spot at the opera’s standing bar, their heavily adorned fingers weighted down with precious gems. He used to love events like this because he felt as though he had finally made it. But over time the people and their perceived problems had begun to bore him.

  He’d always wanted to see an opera live in Italy, thinking that was the pinnacle for someone with his musical tastes. But the first half of the performance had bored him. He was alone and didn’t speak the language. His bow tie felt too tight. The sound was amazing, the voices incredible. But…something was missing.

  Maya.

  Which was silly. She wouldn’t be able to sit through an opera. Why was he even thinking of her? She was meddling in his affairs, sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. She didn’t even trust his most loyal advisor, a man who had been working at his side for ages.

  “Signore?”

  “Yes?” The lobby bar had emptied, the opera ready to resume, and an usher dressed in a tux stood smiling, his hands clasped lightly behind his back.

  “The opera is beginning.”

  “Thank you. I won’t be going in.”

  “It is not to your tastes?”

  “It is. Very nice. Jet lag.”

  “Ah, I see.” The man bowed his head and stepped away. “Have an enjoyable evening.”

  Enjoyable. Connor didn’t even know what brought him joy any longer, other than bantering with Maya and trying to get her to call him names.

  He pulled out his phone and played with the On button. Sighing, he opened his email, not sure what he’d find or why he was even checking.

  There were quite a few messages, but two recent ones from Maya caught his attention. The first was about the entrepreneur deal. Details, etc. The second one was more intriguing. He touched the screen to open it, and scanned the first paragraph, trying to remind himself to stay cool and objective. It was about James. Of course.

  The email was an argument against James, and his supposed corruption was outlined by several points. Number one, he’d overvalued the lumberyard by approximately half a million dollars. Number two said James was claiming to be getting bonuses. Number three, he had bought a home in Florida. Connor’s fist closed and he ground his teeth. He made himself read number four. He read it again. On the other side of the doors, a clear voice sang of love, deception, and betrayal.

  Connor’s finger paused over the phone’s Off button. He could still go in and listen to the opera. He didn’t have to read this. He didn’t need to add it to his list of worries.

  Number four…James was related to the lumberyard’s owner, who was also its financial manager, and James was a high school buddy of the appraiser he’d hired. Not exactly an impartial third party, as Connor had dictated.

  Was that simply a coincidence? Or did all the pieces add up to something alarming? And if they did, how had Maya snooped it all out in a matter of days? How come Connor hadn’t discovered any of this?

  And what was he going to do? He was set to sign on the dotted line in less than seventy-two hours. Should he bail? Carry on? Confront James and fire him? No, sacking James would create a hole so big Connor would end up burned out almost immediately from trying to pick up the slack.

  The bottom line was that Maya was right on one thing: the lumberyard didn’t fit his portfolio, and what she’d found looked bad. Connor couldn’t recall why James had wanted to buy the company. Was it merely for tax purposes? Was it to flesh out their portfolio and make them more stable as the economy continued to twist and turn, with dips and dives? There had to be more.

  But the big question, if Maya was correct, was how much did he stand to lose? And why did she still care?

  Who could he trust? Who could he turn to?

  He needed more time.

  14

  Maya balled her hands into fists and stared down James outside his office. She knew the two of them were gathering a crowd in the open area, but she didn’t care. Not one bit. Connor was due to sign the lumberyard purchase agreement in less than twenty-four hours, and he hadn’t replied to her email about James. As far as Em knew, he was still in Italy. It was time to deal with things, and forget patience and all that bull crap. Maya had given her ex-boss time to reflect. Now it was time to act.

  “I don’t think you have Connor’s best interests at heart,” she announced, ensuring her voice could be heard by all the eavesdroppers who had suddenly found this area of the seventy-second floor incredibly interesting.

  Em shot her a look of warning from her desk near Connor’s office. She was half out of her chair, uncertain whether to intervene or not.

  “What do you know about business? You’re just some lowly assistant,” James replied
, his face tight with anger.

  A faint gasp rose from the eavesdroppers—mostly female assistants. Maya caught flashes of righteous anger before she returned her attention to the well-dressed businessman.

  “I know when someone is using nepotism for his personal advantage, and selling out his boss.” She dropped her hands onto her hips and watched him consider running away. Nope. He had too much at stake to turn tail. Good.

  James strode to the nearest desk, where a secretary cowered, her eyes round. She leaned away as he snatched her phone and punched in two numbers. “Security. Floor seventy-two. I need someone removed. Now.”

  Maya smiled. “Thank you for confirming my suspicions, Mr. Culver.”

  James paused, the phone halfway to its cradle. “What suspicions?”

  “That you are corrupt.”

  James slammed down the phone and pointed at her. “You were fired by Mr. MacKenzie. Do you really believe you are the one to judge?”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Maya spotted Connor’s second advisor, Bill Hatfield, appear in his office doorway. He took in the scene, then gently closed his door again.

  She turned to the cluster of employees. “It’s true. I was fired.” She turned back to James. “Because of you.”

  “I had nothing to do with it. You were causing a disturbance with your conspiracy theories.” Red crept up James’s neck. “It is time for you to leave.”

  “Sure, but before I go, I think the staff might find it interesting that you bought a house in Florida based on a bonus you got from Connor.” She turned to address the workers, who were leaning forward awkwardly, straining to hear what was being said over the loud rain that had begun drumming on the large office windows. “Anyone else here get a bonus?” People shook their heads, their attention drifting to James. “Funny, because according to Accounting, neither did Mr. Culver.”

  Whispers riffled through the room and James shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know what you are trying to prove, Miss Summer, but you are not welcome here. You’re bad for morale.”