Love on the Vine

by Roxanne Smith

  Jasper’s face smoothed out. He stared at her blankly.

  She paused and sighed. “Merit’s not going to be ecstatic when she hears I’ve taken definitive action against you, but I’ll happily stake my job on disciplinary action I believe is wholly deserved. Apparently, you’re willing to stake yours on an inherent right to amuse yourself at the expense of another team member, and at the cost of quality.” She snatched up the plans. “And this? This isn’t good enough. I also warned you I won’t settle for mediocre. You’re off the project.”

  He stormed from the room and Kay wiped her forehead, certain there were beads of sweat forming. She hadn’t intended to drop him from the job altogether, but it made perfect sense as soon as she said it.

  Amos had a pained expression on his dark face. Guillermo’s eyebrows were scraping the ceiling, but a glint of satisfaction gleamed from his eyes. “So,” he said. “What we do now?”

  Kay forced herself to straighten and put on an air of confidence she didn’t feel. Just another day at the office. “We work. Amos, put together a dossier of your most unique, rare flowers. Think big. I want fireworks. Maybe putting together a color board around specific plants we want to use is the way to go.” Probably not, but she had to keep her team busy.

  Her phone pinged. She picked it up, and her shoulders, so carefully poised all morning, drooped at the message from Brit. Brendan Berkley would like to see you. Conference room two. Also, clients from Kind Lotus Spa are in conference room one with Mr. Arnell. He would like you to introduce yourself. Another ping. See Brendan first but don’t take too long.

  Kay nodded. She didn’t realize she planned to visit Capital Acres again until this moment, as the opportunity was swept out from under her. The mysterious flowers would have to wait another day. Unless... “Hey, Amos. Would you be up to a visit to Capital Acres for me?”

  He already had his back to her, bound for his labs. His white coat swooshed as he turned around. “I can, but you know the drill. Can’t bring nothing back with me.”

  “No, I know. It’s, uh...” Shit. She didn’t have a choice but to admit to a gap in her knowledge. “Oliver and I, we stumbled into a particular greenhouse. I recognized pink carpet, wormwood, and fittonia on sight, but there were these really amazing flowers growing next to them. I don’t know what the plant is, and I’d be interested to know more about them. If I knew the name, you could just tell me, of course, but all I know is where they’re located. The bloom description is rather common. Yellow and lavender flowers, real tiny, with little things that are long and stick out.” She held out her index fingers and wiggled them, then shrugged. “See what I mean? Totally unhelpful. Just ask about the pink carpet. Someone will know which greenhouse it was. If you can, bring back a sample.”

  It was a long, uncomfortable silence while she waited for Amos’s reply. He appeared to mull over her request, thinking and deciding. “Sure.” His smile looked forced, and it made Kay nervous. Was he going to tell Merit she was a total idiot, unfit for her job? Or maybe he was just annoyed at being sent out. “Can’t promise no sample, but seeing as they all walk on tip-toe when I’m there, I’ll see what I can do.”

  Kay beamed. “Thanks.”

  Her smile fled as the room emptied. Now, Brendan. What did Merit’s assistant want with her, when the woman herself wasn’t even in the office today? She hated the new unease in her gut. Before yesterday, she’d been nothing but proud to be employed at these offices. Now, she wasn’t sure how to feel. If the company was dirty, would it ruin her career when it was found out?

  If, she reminded herself. If Free Leaf was indeed involved in illegal activity, she’d worry about it when Oliver found a way to prove it. Or to at least prove that he was trying to prove it.

  She’d missed him this morning but hadn’t minded. Somehow, since the kiss and the date that never happened, she felt like her crush was written on her forehead in blazing red ink. Just like the time she’d admitted to a friend she had a thing for the gym coach in high school. By noon, the entire school knew. She survived, mostly because the gym coach was hot and she wasn’t the only one who thought so. These circumstances were much narrower in scope. She didn’t have ten other girls to hide behind.

  She was irritated she even found herself labeling her feelings about Oliver in the first place, let alone concluding those feelings were driven by a physical attraction she couldn’t seem to shake. It confused her more than ever when she entertained the notion of seeing Finn again. What if Finn thought her confession was an offer to rekindle their relationship? A part of her shied away of the idea that he might actually forgive her. She’d only hurt him again if he misunderstood her intentions—intentions that weren’t entirely honorable. She didn’t want to offer Finn peace, as much as offering him peace might assuage the guilt that weighed on her like a ten-pound feathered headdress.

  She entered the elevator and shook out her limbs, readjusting herself and chasing away thoughts of evil corporations, shifty cover-ups, jilted ex-boyfriends, and her own questionable scruples. Chin up, shoulders square.

  Finally, she’d meet the legendary Easton Arnell. Everyone seemed to say his name with a hint of reverence, but Kay could never tell if it was inspired by awe or fear. Maybe a little of both. He was, of course, a genius by reputation. Amos might be the hands that brought the company’s unique plants to life, but Mr. Arnell was the big brain behind most of their cutting-edge concepts.

  She exited the elevators and looked left toward Merit’s office. It stood to reason the conference rooms would be in the opposite direction of the two private offices. She was rewarded immediately, and bypassed the first conference room. The door to the second was ajar, an obvious invitation.

  Inside sat Brendan. His hands were set into a steeple over a single sheet of paper lying on the table. It held his attention a second longer, before he glanced up at Kay with one of those wide, close-mouthed squinty grins she was used to getting from her uncles. Also from strangers who looked at her and saw a girl too young and helpless for her own good. From Brendan, it fairly reeked of condescension, and put Kay on the defensive.

  A little of her old spark warmed through her veins at the thought that she’d soon disabuse him of any assumptions about her. She almost dared a smile. But not yet.

  The chairs were plush and comfortable, black leather over shiny polished wood. The table was likewise, a long skinny monster of a thing, gleaming under the overhead pendant lights, big green bulbs hanging a few feet above the table’s surface. “No plants in here?”

  Brendan’s smiled widened. “Don’t want to unduly influence clients.”

  Kay made no effort to hide her continued scrutiny as she took the seat opposite Brendan. His hair was a few shades darker than Oliver’s light brown and styled nearly the same. Trimmed close to a shave on the sides, with a good inch or two sticking straight up on top. His long face wasn’t exactly narrow, and his nose was the kind that started out slender, but came to a bulbous end. She couldn’t see his eyes well behind the thick black-framed glasses he wore.

  “Have I done something to offend you?” His smile morphed into one slightly less creepy. The question seemed genuine enough.

  Surprised he’d noticed her reaction, she smiled thinly. She couldn’t accuse him of anything more than smiling wrong. “Not yet.”

  “You look like I kicked your favorite puppy.” His smile changed again, warming into something less forced. “I quit the practice years ago. You can relax.”

  Can I? She wondered where Merit was, why she was meeting Brendan here instead of in one of the offices.

  He watched her carefully. “You’ve got questions. For now, I can’t directly answer any of them, but it’s important to tell you this meeting is off the books. It never happened.”

  “Why doesn’t Merit—”

  “This doesn’t have anything to do with Merit.” He shook his head at Kay in a deliberate fashion, as if willing her to understand. “She’s out. A
n amazing stroke of luck. I’m going to spend the rest of my day deleting information from the company’s servers, but there’s no help for it.” Without another word, he slid the sheet of paper toward Kay.

  She scanned the page. Her heart thumped once, hard, in her chest, then scampered like a hare caught in a trap. Hardly breathing, she started over and read every word, letting them sear into her brain. She’d need to remember as much as possible when she tracked down Oliver. She took in a deep, fortifying breath and slid the printed e-mail back to Brendan. “What are you going to do with this information?”

  He slid back to her. “Give it you for safekeeping. Draft a simple reply to Pattie, hopefully marking the end of the conversation, and delete every last bit of evidence from Merit’s files that this e-mail ever existed.” He crossed his arms and waited like he had nothing else on earth to do.

  Kay read the e-mail again. This time, she didn’t let herself get hung up on the personal details—how she and Oliver were caught sucking face—but the other point Pattie made.

  Greenhouse Five was unlocked, and we can’t trace another route they could’ve taken to get around me and meet up at the office. I’m launching a small investigation into the matter. As you know, Greenhouse Five is level five clearance—meaning top floor personnel only. The plants growing here are kept separate for a reason, as you well know.

  Top floor personnel. Kay scratched her chin. It’d be interesting to see if Amos came back with information about the plant she’d found in Greenhouse Five. He wasn’t top floor personnel, so if he was able to get in, would that imply he was guilty?

  Guilty of what, Kay didn’t know just yet. Nor could she fathom what was so special about the plants that they should be kept separate. Pink carpet and fittonia were both relatively common gardening plants, and wormwood was used in pharmaceuticals, but something must tie the plants together, or they wouldn’t be growing side by side. Could be similar growth climate, or simply a common blooming season.

  She flapped the paper at Brendan. “Thanks for this. I won’t get caught macking on my assistant again any time soon, I assure you.” She rose to leave.

  Brendan held out a palm. “Kay, it’d be in your best interest to keep off Merit’s radar. Luckily, she and Pattie aren’t in regular contact. Probably not a stretch for you to imagine Pattie isn’t much for e-mails, or even phone calls, so it’s significant she reported the incident at all.”

  Kay bit her lip. “Why? Why give this to me? Why help me? And why is that particular greenhouse so special?”

  Brendan sat back and shrugged. “Not a clue. I’m just doing my job, Kay. Well, my other job.” He came out of his chair and walked around her to the door. “Pattie won’t leave you unattended at Capital Acres again. Leave the greenhouses to me. In the meantime, take my warning to heart. The last thing we need is a suspicious Merit breathing down our necks.” He winked and ducked out of the room, leaving her standing there with the incriminating e-mail.

  He thinks it’s me, she realized with a start. Brendan had assumed, probably due to her recent placement, she was working undercover. Investigating Free Leaf Concepts.

  She swallowed the curse that rose in her throat. This complicated everything, and left her with no choice but to confront Oliver. And believe him. She’d be asking for that proof, regardless. She wanted facts put in front of her, not words and not conjecture. Evidence. And she wanted to know exactly what role Brendan played.

  She could hardly take the print-out into the other conference room with her to meet Mr. Arnell and their clients. She folded it into a perfect square and slid it into her bra. Then she readjusted her pale pink silk blouse. The hem fell into a neat A-line pattern across her wide-legged dress slacks. The click-clack of her black peep-toe heels on the tiled hallway floor gave her a small boost of confidence with each step. She watched the dark shapes shift through the fuzzy barrier of the glass wall while she gathered her spirit, like the fraying ends of a rope.

  She wanted to be a hundred percent Kay Bing, as only she could, when she met Mr. Arnell. The bounce in her step, the carefree smile on her face, her eager excitement; all traits that had made for a lifetime of easy friends and adoring superiors. She needed that now, as much as she could muster.

  An instant of anger toward Finn brushed over her. He’d caused this great rift, sundering Kay from the things essential to her sense of self. Guilt and uncertainty had driven her apart. A puzzle with scattered pieces. The cloud dissipated as quickly as it had gathered. Great. Now she was passing blame. She shook her head and tried to dig deep for the girl she needed to be, because whoever she was right now wasn’t good enough.

  * * * *

  Oliver’s breathing pounded in his ears like a bass drum. What harm was one more unsanctioned peek around without the captain’s permission? Besides, Oliver had slim pickings as far as favorable opportunities went, and Merit being out of the office while Mr. Arnell was tied up in client meetings was more than he could stand to pass up. He didn’t think he’d be very good at his job if he did. No risk, no reward.

  He stepped out of the hallway into a quiet corridor. He crept, without seeming to do so, stepping lightly to make the least amount of noise possible, all the way to Merit’s door. Easton’s office was the real gem. Not all risks were worth taking, however, and getting caught snooping in the top dog’s private arena would end catastrophically for both Oliver and his investigation. The clients keeping Mr. Arnell’s attention might leave at any minute. But Merit was out for the day. And according to Brit’s message to Kay—texts were always doubled-up, a copy sent to Oliver to ensure delivery—she and Brendan were busy in conference room two.

  Oliver tried the door. A grin split his face when the knob turned easily in his hand. He mouthed a silent prayer that his luck would hold. He closed the door behind him with a nearly soundless click. Someone would’ve had to be standing just on the other side to have heard the noise. Safely ensconced within, Oliver stopped creeping and moved with deliberate quickness.

  Merit’s space was as unadorned and passive as ever. No new knick-knacks, potted plants, or wall hangings. The first thing he did was check behind each hanged frame for a wall safe. He struck out. He ignored the panels, because he was certain after his last assessment that the secret compartment wasn’t in Merit’s office. He shuffled through the bookshelves, finding nothing of note. He checked his watch. Five minutes gone, with nothing to show. He finally moved to the desk. Desks were obvious for typical civilians: receipts hidden from spouses, photos not suitable for display.

  At the moment, Oliver would call it a win to find anything. A scrap of paper with a strange plant name, an unlabeled phone number—anything he could easily take that might lead to further information. He’d have a much easier time explaining this off-the-books search to Cappy Don if he came away with something of note.

  He spent another five minutes searching for false bottoms and backs, running his fingers along the underside of the desktop, and pressing knobs in the vain hope of triggering a secret compartment to spring open.

  Nothing. Not a damn thing.

  Oliver stood straight and glared around the office with his lips pressed tight against his mounting frustration. The pressure of a ticking clock thrummed inside him.

  Kay had bailed on their meeting and hadn’t bothered tracking him down today. Her next step could very well be to turn him in. Without something to give Cappy Don, it could all be over without so much as a scrap of evidence to implicate Free Leaf’s involvement in the drug ring currently decimating Arkansas’s major cities, from border to border.

  Some city officials were happy to let druggies kill themselves off with bad mushrooms. But it wasn’t only junkies who were after the fabled hallucinogens raging through these communities. College students, at-risk teens, and even the occasional recreational user were getting sucked into the vortex of the new and dangerous designer drug. And sometimes, they were users who’d been clean and considered an afternoon mu
shroom trip an easy break, because they weren’t addictive. Addicts like his childhood friend, fresh out of rehab, who’d died because of some bad mushrooms.

  Oliver had sworn he’d bring down whoever was behind the scheme. He wouldn’t let one more kid linger at death’s door in a hospital bed while their helpless parents sat by, drowning in grief and disbelief.

  With renewed resolve, Oliver left Merit’s office behind. It was time to up the stakes. If Kay was going to bring the ceiling crashing down on his head, he’d damn well get something out of the wreckage before he disappeared. The odds Easton Arnell had waltzed away from his precious office without locking the door were astronomically low. Still, Oliver had to try. He may never get another shot this wide open.

  His breath corralled in his throat, unable to move in either direction, until the heavy pale oak door swung inward with hardly a whisper. He exhaled in a torrent.

  The door had opened, which was amazing, but he still had to get away with rifling through the company director’s super-private, highly personal workspace. Now that he was standing in the threshold, he found himself almost unable to take the next step.

  Peeking through the wide slit of the doorway, Oliver’s gaze was helplessly drawn to the massive window showcasing a panoramic view of downtown Little Rock. Growing bold, he stepped inside and approached the window, careful not to put his hands against the glass, so pristine his face reflected back at him with unexpected clarity. Below and in the distance, he had a clear view of the popular riverside park and Junction Bridge, where it crossed the Arkansas River.