Mistaken Identity

by Christopher Maddox

  “Corporate Security Services. I’m Terry Cooper, and we are here to help you for as long as you need us.”

  She looked at them for a moment. “My goodness, Shannen was right. You are big boys. Come on, guys, let’s go clean house.”

  The receptionist greeted Nancy warmly. “Hi, Nancy. It is so good to see you. I hope that you are coming back to work. This place has been dead since he let you go.”

  She grinned. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. Are Tony and Paul in?”

  “Yes, I think that they are in their offices.”

  “Great! These gentlemen are with me, and they are from Corporate Security Services. Would you kindly show these two men to Paul’s office, and then, bring them up to Tony’s office?”

  “Sure, right this way gentlemen.”

  Nancy and Terry barged right into Tony’s office unannounced, and they walked right up to his desk.

  “What are you doing here?”

  She grinned widely. “Actually, I’m here to fire you.”

  He began laughing and sneered at her. “That’s laughable. You caused us to lose our biggest account. Now, get out and take this thug with you.”

  Terry stepped forward. “I would suggest that you do exactly what Miss Crawford has requested, Mr. Marco. I don’t care if you walk out or if I carry you downstairs and throw you out. You are leaving just the same.”

  “That’s absurd. Now, get out of here before I call the police,” he growled.

  “Have it your way,” Terry grinned as he headed around the desk to grab him.

  “W … wait just a minute while I call our head offices. There has to be some mistake here. She has put you up to this, hasn’t she?”

  When he got off the phone, he was ashen and, obviously, defeated. Just then, Paul walked into the office with the other security specialists right behind him. He was shocked when he saw Nancy.

  “What’s she doing here?” he asked, directing his question to Tony.

  He sighed deeply. “I guess she is here to fire me.”

  “What?” Paul exclaimed.

  Nancy took a couple steps forward. “Yes, that’s right, Paul, and you are fired, as well, effective immediately.”

  “Who in the hell do you think you are, coming in here like this?” he yelled angrily as he headed menacingly in her direction.

  Terry jumped in front of him, grabbed him by the collar, and threw him in a chair with such force that it broke one of the legs. “I don’t think it would be wise for you to raise your voice to her again. Do you understand?”

  With eyes wide, he timidly nodded his head.

  “Okay, now that we have everyone’s attention,” Nancy said emphatically, “we have some unfinished business to take care of before either of you can leave. Paul, I don’t know what I ever saw in you; you’re pathetic. You sent several nude photographs of Catherine to Alex.”

  “No, I didn’t,” he claimed as Tony gasped.

  “Don’t be stupid. We know you did it, and we know you sent them because Catherine identified them as pictures that you took of her.”

  “That’s bullshit. Besides, you can’t prove a thing.”

  Terry reached in his pocket, took out a card, and handed it to Tony. “Here, you appear to be the more rational of the two of you.”

  He read it and looked up at Terry. “What’s the Albany FBI bureau chief have to do with this?”

  “Your nephew here stole some nude photographs and sent them to a private party, unsolicited. The FBI has jurisdiction because he sent them across state lines. One call from me, and you will have a van full of agents here within thirty minutes. If that happens, you go to jail and probably to prison. There’s one more thing, Paul. You are wrong about not being able to prove who sent the photographs. I can get a court order within an hour, and I will have the IP address of the computer that they were sent from. I will also be able to determine who all you sent them to, and they will be in just as much trouble as well.”

  Tony jumped up. “No, I don’t need that. He sent me a copy of them. They are here on my computer. I’ll delete them.”

  “No, we’ll delete them,” he said motioning, to one of his team. “When you finish scrubbing the computer, search the office for storage devices.”

  Terry turned his attention back to Tony.“When he is done here, he is going to accompany you home and check there.”

  “But I don’t have anything there, I promise.”

  “That’s fine, but we are going to look anyway. It’s us or the FBI. Take your choice. I have my orders, and you are not going to keep me from following them.”

  Paul stood up.

  “Where do you think you are going?” asked Terry.

  “I … I’m going to get my computer and bring it here for you.”

  “I don’t think so. We will go with you. Now spread your legs.” Paul just stood there, looking at him. “I said spread your legs. I’m not going tell you again.”

  Terry frisked him and took his cell phone out of his pocket. “What’s the password?” he asked, looking menacingly at him. Once he got the password, he looked through the photo files.

  “You are a real piece of shit. You know that?” he said as he permanently deleted the pictures. “Be sure and check his as well,” he said, gesturing toward Tony.

  Terry turned his attention back to Paul, who was fidgeting nervously. “Okay, Mr. Angelo, what do you have this synced with?”

  Paul looked down at the floor. “My computer.”

  “Which one?”

  “I sync it to my personal computer at home. I promise that I will delete them the second I get home. You can trust me, I promise.”

  Terry laughed at him. “That’s not happening. Do you really think that I’ve got enough balls to go back and tell my boss that I trusted you, which I don’t? She would kick my ass,” he chuckled.

  They checked Paul’s office computer and searched his office for files and storage devices. After they were convinced that they had done a thorough search, they split up and followed Tony and Paul home where they scrubbed their computers and checked for storage devices.

  It was almost six o’clock by the time they had finished, and as instructed, he called Shannen to report what they had found. “Hi, Terry. How did you make out?”

  “Hi, Miss Carter. I’m convinced that we found everything. We scrubbed the computers at the office and at each of their homes. I found a jump drive in Paul’s bedroom that he probably used to steal the files in the first place.”

  “What did you do with it?”

  “I smashed it.”

  “Good. Listen, we are having drinks and dinner with Nancy and Catherine at Alex’s club. I think it would mean a lot if you were to drop by and give it to her on your way out of town.”

  “It would be my pleasure, Miss Carter.”

  “Good. I’ll text the address to you and leave word at the gate to let you in.”

  He arrived at the club about twenty minutes later. He looked massive as he walked up to the table. Alex was six foot two inches tall, and Terry appeared to be at least three inches taller. “Good evening, Miss Carter,” he said politely.

  Alex stood up and shook his hand while Shannen introduced him to Catherine, who appeared to be slightly embarrassed. “Good evening, Miss Spiegel. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he offered as he handed her an envelope. “This is the last remaining device that contained the photographs. There are no other copies.”

  She took the envelope with trembling hands and opened it. It contained a single jump drive that looked as though it had been smashed with a sledgehammer, and she began to cry.

  “I’m sorry, Miss Spiegel, but by the time I found this, I was fairly angry.”

  She stood up and hugged him. “No, I’m not crying because you smashed it. I’m crying because I’m so relieved,” she said with a sniffle.

  “Where are the rest of your men?” asked Shannen.

  “They are waiting for me outside in the car.”

  “W
hy don’t you bring them in and join us for dinner? We were just about to order another round of drinks and take a look at the menu.”

  “Thanks, Miss Carter, but the other guys are married and have wives waiting for them at home, so we need to get on the road.”

  “Well, drive safe. I really appreciate you coming up here on such short notice and helping us with this.”

  He nodded his head. “No problem, Miss Carter, anytime.”

  He was about to leave when Catherine touched his hand, reached up, and kissed his cheek. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me, Mr. Cooper.”

  He smiled down at her. “Please, call me Terry.”

  “Call me Catherine,” she said, looking up into his eyes.

  “Catherine it is,” he replied then bid everyone goodbye, turned and left.

  Catherine returned to her seat and examined the smashed jump drive. She took a big drink of her wine and sighed. “I didn’t think they made people that big,” she giggled.

  Nancy looked at Shannen. “Can I keep one of them,” she chuckled as everyone laughed.

  ******

  Terry called Catherine at work a couple weeks later.

  “Customer service. This is Catherine speaking.”

  “Uh … hi, Catherine. This is Terry, Terry Cooper.”

  “Well, hello, Terry. How are you? It’s so good to hear from you. I thought that I might not ever get a chance to talk to you again.”

  “I’m fine, better than fine, actually.”

  “Don’t tell me that you are having problems with your doggy treats.”

  He laughed. “No. Actually, I’m going to be in Albany tomorrow, and I was wondering if you might consider having dinner with me.”

  “Gosh, Terry, I’m still a little embarrassed. You have seen me naked, haven’t you?”

  He was quiet for a moment. “Yes. Yes, I have, but …”

  “Did you look at all of the photographs?”

  He took a deep breath, remembering each and every one of them. “Yes, Catherine, I did. I hope that you won’t hold it against me because I would really like to have dinner with you.”

  She giggled. “I would love to have dinner with you tomorrow night. It’s too bad that you’re not in town tonight.”

  “What time?”

  “Anytime you want. I usually get off work at five o’clock, and I’m normally home around six. My address is …”

  “I have it. It’s my business, remember? I’ll pick you up at six-thirty, or do you need more time?”

  She grinned. “No, six-thirty will be just fine. And, Terry, since this is our first date, it might be too early to determine if I’m going to hold it against you or if I’m going to let you hold it against me. But I’m sure we’ll figure that out.”

  “I will be there tonight, and I won’t be late.”

  “Drive careful,” she said. She stood, smiling for a moment and thinking that he must have seen something that he liked before he administered that fatal blow to the jump drive.

  Did she let him have her that night? No, but she let him have just about everything else. She made him wait until the following night. You know, the night that he was originally supposed to be in town in the first place.

  Two months after their first date, they were inseparable. The only nights that he didn’t spend with her were the ones when he was away on business.

  ******

  With the passing weeks, Nancy and Catherine’s friendship grew, and they became much closer friends. The marketing company flourished with Nancy at the helm, and she desperately needed additional help. So, she thought long and hard about it before she called Alex.

  “Well, hi, Nancy. To what do I owe this pleasure,” he laughed. “You haven’t called me since, well, since forever practically.”

  “That good-looking boss of mine hasn’t kicked you out yet, has she?”

  He laughed. “No, but I think I’m still on probation. How is the new job going?”

  “That’s actually what I’m calling you about. It’s almost going too well. Clients that had left us over the last few years have been pouring back in the front door. Apparently, they liked me well enough, but they couldn’t stand Tony. When they found out that I am running the company now, they called and asked me if they can come back to us.”

  “That’s fantastic. What could possibly be wrong with that?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. I love it, but I am terribly shorthanded. I need to hire someone to help me, someone I can trust.”

  “Okay, how can I help you? The only thing I know about advertising and marketing is what I’ve learned from you over the last few years.”

  “Oh, that’s sweet, Alex. Thank you very much. Okay, I need to ask you a question.

  “Okay, ask away.”

  “Let me preface this by saying that I have thought about this for over a month now, and I am sure that I know exactly who it is that I want. No, it isn’t want, it’s need. I need this person.”

  “Well, then, why don’t you just go ahead and hire him?”

  “The person is not a he, it’s a she, and I need your permission to ask her.”

  “Alright, you must be talking about Catherine. Have you mentioned anything to her about it?”

  “No, Alex. I wouldn’t do anything like that without talking to you about it first.”

  He chuckled. “I don’t know if you have looked closely lately, but Michael runs the company now. He’s the one you should be calling about this, not me.”

  “Oh, Alex, come on. You and I both know that he doesn’t do anything without checking with you first. Besides, I would never go behind your back for anything, especially, when it concerns Catherine.”

  “I do have a soft spot for her. She has been with me for a long time. I wouldn’t want to see her fail at something she couldn’t handle. Are you sure that you aren’t doing this because the two of you are such good friends?”

  “Oh, God, no, Alex. I wouldn’t do that to her. I wouldn’t do that to me, and I sure as hell wouldn’t do that to Shannen, not after all she has done for me. No, as odd as it may seem, she is the best person for the job. She is a natural sales person, and she really does know a lot about marketing. Hell, she has been in most of the marketing meetings when we are at your offices, and she has come up with at least half of the marketing ideas that we’ve used.”

  “Listen, if it is a real opportunity for her, I would never stand in her way. That’s what life and work are all about, having the ability and the opportunity to better one’s self.”

  “Will you speak to Michael for me about it, or do you think I should call him myself?”

  “I think that it would be best if you would personally call him. I can’t imagine him saying no. That’s just not his idea of free enterprise.”

  “Thanks, Alex. I’m so pleased because she is going to be incredibly successful, and she will be in charge of your account. Who in the world knows more about your business than she does?”

  ******

  Well, it has been over a year since everything went to hell in Albany. Catherine has been very successful in her new job. She is now wearing an engagement ring. Apparently, those photographs made more of an impression on Terry than we had initially thought. Nancy, on the other hand, has been interviewing interns. After all, she considers it her responsibility to invest in our youth and pass on the skills and techniques she has learned.

  So, that, pretty much, takes care of all the loose ends … except one.

  Alex and Shannen were finally on the trip they had planned before all the Albany mess started. It’s the one in which they had planned to travel north along the coast and explore the surrounding mountains in search of abandoned, gold mines and historic, ghost towns. Both of them had always been interested in those things because the mines and towns were such an important part of the country’s early history by helping to force the settlement of the west.

  By the third day of their trip, they had already visited a couple of small ghost tow
ns that had sprung up to support the miners and their families. Sadly, these old towns were usually short lived. They began to die soon after the gold ran out or the last residents passed into history.

  They discovered that they enjoyed two things the most: antique shops found along the way, and the old abandoned mines which they explored themselves.

  Shannen looked at him lovingly. “Honey, you need to take me out of the city more often. I love it out here in the countryside.”

  He smiled and patted her thigh. “This is more like wilderness than the countryside. We probably won’t see another human being this far off the road.” They were both wearing shorts, a pullover T-shirt, and sneakers. Her rock-hard nipples were prominently displayed as they poked into the soft, powder-blue material.

  She giggled. “These rough, dirt roads make my nipples hard and achy from all the bouncing and jerking around,” she moaned as she reached up and pinched both of them.

  He reached over and ran his fingers gently over her breast, feeling each finger as it rubbed over her stiffened flesh. “I didn’t know how much I loved riding around on rough roads until just now. No wonder kids like off-road vehicles and bouncing around so much,” he grinned.

  She had gotten out of the habit of wearing a bra altogether unless she was going to a business meeting. He had carried on and whimpered every time she wore one that she stopped wearing them at home. Now, she felt more comfortable without one.

  “I didn’t realize how boring the city has become. I love it out here. How much further do you think it is to the mine?”

  “It’s hard to tell by just looking at these old mining claims shown on the geologic survey map. But by looking at the topo lines, it looks like it should be just over that small ridge across the creek. At this pace, I’d say about another twenty minutes,” he groaned as they hit another rut, causing her pert, nubile breasts to jounce around enticingly, hardening her nipples even more.

  The mine was spectacular. Nearby, stood an old, weathered cabin that wouldn’t do much more than keep the wind at bay. The wood was gnarled and gray from being exposed to years of abuse from the elements. The corrugated tin roof was so rusted that only an occasional strip of tin was showing through.