“Is it time to get up already?” Adam yawned out.
“Yeah.”
“Damn, I could sleep another two hours.”
“Today we come back straight from work. We have to pack away. We can catch up on sleep after that.”
Adam nodded. “This is true.”
Jeanette took a quick shower and put on her sweater dress that didn’t need ironing. Thank God.
She waited for Adam as he finished dressing and putting on his tie in front of the mirror.
She stood there looking at him. She would take a chance with him. She meant what she said on the boat last night. It was a bit overwhelming, but he seemed so confidant. That confidence would help her get over whatever fires they go through.
They arrived at the office and as usual people were running around like chickens. She and Adam went to their normal temporary office in the corner. He shut the door behind them and locked it for the first time.
He held out his hand to her. “Come here.”
She cautiously stepped closer to him and put her hand in his. He brought her closer to him, then hugged her tightly. “I need you.”
Wow. The urgency in his voice and the way he held her was a bit overwhelming, but she knew he meant it with every fiber of his being.
“Oh Adam. We’ll figure this out when this is all over.”
He released her and nodded. “Yeah, we need to get this cleared up. Oh, that paper that you wrote on, Renee was giving you something.”
“Oh, yeah. I have it in my purse still.” Jeanette went through her purse taking out all the junk. She finally found the piece of paper with the names on it, all crumpled up. “Here you go. Renee wanted to know if any of these names mean anything. Two people mean something to her.”
Adam took the paper and looked it over. “Hmmm. Uh-huh. Yeah, only one name does stand out and it’s what I suspected.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I’ll tell you on the flight back home.”
“Okaay.”
“Trust me, I need to get my thoughts together. But my suspicions are being confirmed everyday on this.”
Adam took a seat and got on his laptop. Jeanette took her seat in front of him and went over her notes on her iPad. “Are we still going to Kevin and Deena’s for dinner tomorrow evening. Are they still on the suspect list?”
Adam rubbed his chin. “They’re not off it, but just a little lower on it. We need to find…or not find some stuff there.”
Jeanette nodded and continued reading her notes.
Seconds later there was a knock on the door.
“Yes?” Adam hollered.
“It’s Kevin.”
“Speak of the devil,” Jeanette said, getting up going to the door. She unlocked it and waved her hand for him to come in. “Bonjour Kevin.”
“Bonjour mon ami. Are we still on for tomorrow evening, dinner at our place?” He smiled widely.
She didn’t remember them saying yes or no, but with this new info, it was defiantly a yes. “We’ll be honored. Perfect ending to our business trip here.”
“Bon. I’ll tell the little woman.” He left the room whistling.
She glanced over at Adam. “The little woman?”
“Yeah, I’m sure she appreciates that nickname.” He laughed.
She and Adam soon went back into working mode. She made her way over to the purchasing department again, looking for the usual suspicious activity.
“You’re sure here a lot.”
Jeanette nearly jumped out of her skin frightened by the voice behind her. She turned and saw….“Oh, hello, it’s ….”
“Henry.” He smiled.
“That’s right. Well, if you must know, I was always curious about how you guys keep on top of purchases from all the offices.” Jeanette tried to play it off. No one, at least non-management knew the real reason why they were here. Everyone just assumed that they were here on a business/vacation trip. “I also like your art department here. I’ve been looking at the commercials you do here. They’re a bit more racier than they are in the states.”
“Yeah. When I moved here, that’s the first thing I noticed too.” He chuckled.
“Well, nice seeing you again Henry. Are you coming to the farewell party tomorrow?”
“With bells on.”
Jeanette waved good-bye and went to the art department. That was close. She knew she was hanging around there too much, but had to in order to get the info they needed.
She just hoped that no one noticed her sneaking around and trying to be inconspicuous. She made her way back to their temporary office.
“I kinda got busted,” she said, to Adam as she walked in and closed the door behind her.
Adam looked up from his laptop, looking very concerned. “What happened?”
“Henry saw me, and said he’s been seeing a lot of me in the purchasing department.” She continued to explain the encounter to him.
“Oh, don’t worry about him. He’s cool. And your explanation was legit sounding.
“Great. Now I know no one really knows what we’re doing here, but I did noticed one thing being here all this week.”
“What is that?”
“I want to tell Renee and Noah when they call. I think when we get back to the States and put it all together, we’ll have a clearer picture.”
“I think so too. I’ve been mulling over this one person that stands out. Now I have to think motive and I think I know what it is.”
“Motive?” Jeanette just about spit out. “This is crazy. But—”
Adam, put his fingers on her lips. “Shhh. Like you said, we’ll wait for Renee and Noah to call.”
It was finally quitting time. Everyone Europeaned kissed everyone good night and left. Jeanette was holding Adam’s hand as they made their way back to the hotel. It felt so natural.
Once they arrived they immediately went to the menu on the dresser.
“Who’s paying for this room service? I know the company is not picking up the tab on this,” Jeanette said, as she scanned the new menu. “It seems that the hotel staff is trying to entice us with new goodies.”
Adam was taking off his clothes and tossing them everywhere. “That’s not too hard to do.” He laughed.
“Mmmm. This sounds good. Escargot for starters of course, and for the entrée, merguez which is a spicy lamb sausage on couscous with Madeira mushroom sauce and for dessert, a nutella crepe.”
“Sounds good to me.” He smiled at her and walked into the bathroom.
Damn he was so sexy. And he was hers for the taking if she fully excepted him and the relationship. She told him she was willing. But this was new to her. She never dated a co-worker and never dated someone younger than her—and so fast.
Well, maybe it was time to try new things.
She reached for the phone and ordered the food. Right after she hung up, her cell went off.
“Hello Renee.”
“Hey girl, it’s break time. I’m waiting for Noah to call me so we can see what plan to put into place.”
“Hey wait a minute we got some stuff for you,” Jeanette said. “Adam, it’s Renee!” she hollered.
“Tell her to hold on.”
“So, how are two doing?”
Jeanette could tell by the tone of her cousin’s voice that she wasn’t inquiring about their investigation. She wondered if she should tell her that she decided to date Adam. To take the leap and have this wild man as her own. She sighed. She knew Renee wouldn’t tell anyone, but at the same time Jeanette did want people to know that she and Adam were now an item. But what got out in the streets always managed to creep its way into the office.
Of course telling Renee brought on a whole new set of issues. She would want details.
Jeanette decided to turn the tables. She would tell Renee once she got back to the States, that way she could contain the situation when Renee started squealing and jumping up and down like a rabbit on caffeine.
“How are you and Noah d
oing? Is it still a working relationship?”
“It’s…how can I say. He’s a bit shy, but I can tell he’s interested. He keeps hinting here and there.”
Shy? That definitely wasn’t Adam’s M.O. These brothers were polar opposite, she can see that already. “What kind of hints?”
“Asking me if my boyfriend worried about my job, if I needed to call home to let my husband or boyfriend know I’m going to be late. You know, fishing.”
“Ahh.”
“Okay, what’s going on?” Adam asked, as he entered the room.
“We want to give Renee and Noah the latest.” She put her on speaker. “What have you guys got?’ she asked. Someone knocked on the door and Adam went to answer.
“Well we took a closer look at that list of names. Nothing really stands out except two people that were just transferred there recently, and when I say recently I mean the last year and half ago. The one person was for unethical conduct, but it wasn’t serious enough that they would be fired, but put on probation.”
“What the person’s name?” Adam asked pushing the cart. Jeanette grabbed a chair and immediately took a seat. Yeah, she was going to grub while on the phone.
“Miriam Espinoza.”
“Damn! That clinches it.”
“Ooh, you know something. Put me outta work will ya.” Renee chuckled.
“Nah. If it weren’t for you and Noah, I never would have gone to this line of thinking, especially after you got these names.
“Care to share?”
“We’ll have a pow-wow when we get back. Jeanette and I just have to clear up a few more things before we leave.”
“Gotcha.” I’ll have Noah call you later, so stay up.”
“We’ll try, we’re eating a great meal,” Jeanette said, around a fork full of food.
Everyone laughed as she disconnected the phone. “I feel like I’m in the dark,” Jeanette said putting down her cell.
“You won’t be for long, but with the information I have, this might change how you and I interact with each other on the job.
Jeanette put down her fork and started at Adam.
What the hell now?
Chapter Thirty
Nothing happened for the rest of the evening. Adam watched Jeanette as she packed all her stuff, which seemed to have grown some.
“Isn’t that twice what you had?” Adam asked, as he grabbed his suitcase.
“You know all that stuff you bought me, I’m sending it all ahead by post. It’s heavy and it will come out cheaper.”
“Plus it’s guaranteed to arrive at its destination,” Adam added.
“You are so right. Let me call the concierge. I’ll have them take care of it for me.” Jeanette went to the phone and made her call. Adam watched her and began thinking of others things. Like what a life with Jeanette would be like.
But first he had to fix this crazy shit that was happening.
When he saw Miriam’s name on the list of names that Renee had, the wheels began to spin. If this was what he thought was gong on, he and Jeanette would really have to date on the down-low, and he didn’t want that. He wanted the world to know that he and Jeanette were an item.
But people could be spiteful and vengeful.
But something was still out of place. The Paris office here shouldn’t have been taking orders for the Alaska office. And that’s why his radar went up. They usually deal with the East coast offices and that was for back-up only. Dallas was the main office for everyone else.
But for some reason all those phony orders were originating from here. He had no personal connection with anyone here like that.
This was disturbing him, but he didn’t want to share his concerns with Jeanette until he verified some things, and that was going to happen once they arrived back at the States.
“Okay, they’re coming up and taking my stuff. So it will be there before me,” Jeanette said, with a huge smile. “Now I am tired, and we’re still waiting for Renee and Noah to call to tell us about their day and if they found anything new.”
“Tell you what, you get your sleep. I’ll talk to them and if there is anything real significant that you need to hear, I’ll wake you.” Adam rubbed the side of her cheek.
“Thanks so much.” Jeanette reached for his hand and placed hers over his.
“No prob.” He kissed her knuckles.
He watched as she crawled into bed. His bed. He then continued packing and once finished with the stuff he didn’t need anymore, he crawled in beside her and fell asleep.
Jeanette’s cell rang. Adam checked the clock it was morning—and dark. He looked down at Jeanette. She was sound asleep. He took a chance and reached over and answered her cell.
“Hello.”
“Well, hello Adam. Where’s Jeanette?”
“She’s knocked out.”
“Oooh. I hope you were gentle with her.” She giggled.
Adam rolled his eyes. He wished she was tired from hours of love making. He could have her twenty-four-seven. “No, we just had a long week, and we finished packing. I think it caught up with her.”
“Aww. Too bad. Well, let me tell you the latest. It seems that people are getting their stuff late but at the same time there is an extra order out there, but only for the expensive items.”
“Yeah, that I know.”
“And get this. They are blaming IT, saying that you guys developed the system and that you could easily do something suspect.”
Adam shook his head. He knew it! He knew it. It was all coming together now.
He sighed into the phone. “I’m not surprised. What is Sam saying?”
“Oh, hyper woman.” Renee snickered. “She’s cool. She’s got your back. According to Noah, she thinks there are certain people out there that have it out for you. She’s looking sideways at some people too.”
Good old Sam. “Thanks Renee. I really appreciate all you and Noah are doing. By the way, where is he?”
“Getting the car. We’re going out. Want to talk to him?”
Adam smiled to himself. Noah was never as bold as he was when it came to women, although he got his fair share of female companionship. But Noah’s approach was a bit more subtle, and before his prey…intended woman knew it, she was his.
He wasn’t sure what to say to Jeanette if anything. He didn’t want her to get concerned. Renee was big girl and a private detective, he was sure she could handle herself. But he did want to talk to Noah.
If Renee was anything like Jeanette when it came to matters of the heart, she was not to be played with. He wanted to know Noah’s true intentions. “Nah, just tell him I said hey, and I will catch up with him when I arrive back in Los Angeles.”
“Okay, give Jeanette my love.”
“Will do.”
He disconnected. He put the cell back on the bedside table and scooted back under the covers. Before he knew it he was on his way to dreamland.
***
Jeanette had a good nights sleep. She felt rejuvenated and ready for whatever the day would bring. She was actually looking forward to dinner with Kevin and Deena. She loved eating at the homes of the local people when she traveled.
She tried getting up, but was wrapped in the tight grip of the man that she now called her lover. Yes, she was his lover; no way to getting around it. But there were still many questions, especially after that statement he made about interacting with each other cause of this mess.
She nudged Adam on the shoulder. “Wake up. Rise and shine.”
He groaned while releasing her, then rolled over. “Damn, morning already?”
“Yep. And we have a big day, and night. We have work, a party, then dinner at Kevin and Deena’s, then a late flight back.”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m going to be asleep on the flight back.”
“I’m right there with you.”
They arrived at the office. Jeanette was taken back a bit. It was decorated in festive colors, with streamers and balloons. People greeted
them at the door.
“Bon Voyage!” The whole office screamed.
“Merci, merci!” Jeanette replied as she headed straight to the pastry table.
“Thanks guys, but this wasn’t necessary,” Adam said.
Jeanette noticed a slight blush to his face. Adam modest? Wonders never cease. “Yes, it was,” she said jokingly, as she popped a mini cupcake in her mouth.
The whole office laughed.
Mid afternoon, the supervisor came to their office. “Hello you two.”
“Hello Petra,” Adam said.
“I just came here to tell you guys we enjoyed having you here and you can leave early. I know you got a long flight home.
“Thanks!” Jeanette said.
“Yeah, very much appreciated,” Adam said, closing his laptop.
“I hope you found what you were looking for, please keep me posted.”
“Sure thing.” She left the room.
Adam let out a long yawn. “I could use the break. We can go back to the hotel and take a nap before going to Kevin’s.”
“That’s a plan.”
They said their final goodbyes to everyone. Jeanette received some nice parting gifts from the women of the office, plus some unsolicited advise on keeping a man like Adam happy.
They arrived at the hotel and immediately kicked off their shoes. They plopped down on the bed.
“This has to be the most interesting job I’ve had in my entire life,” Jeanette said, reaching for the remote.
“Wow. Really?” How so?”
“Fishing for compliments?”
“Maybe.”
“Well, for starters. I never have been in whirlwind relationship like this. And my audits start out with companies that have been embezzling, but not office supplies!”
Adam laughed. It was just too sexy. “Yeah, if you told someone this they would look at you a bit sideways.”
“But I can’t say it’s been boring that’s for sure.” She laughed.
“Let’s get some rest. I’ll put in a call to get a wake up call in about three hours. You know what you’re going to wear?’ Adam asked, as he called downstairs.
“They same thing I wore to work,” Jeanette said, as she removed her clothes and shook them out.
Office Play: Freaky Geek Series Page 22
