by M. S. Parker
Then it went back to the screen, and she kept staring.
“Who…” She licked her lips. I might have bent down and followed the same path with my own tongue, but the expression in her eyes had me pausing. “Jal, that picture. Who is that?”
I was wrong.
We ended up going into the firm after all.
Now, as I stood in the office belonging to one of my execs, I couldn't help but marvel at how much my life had changed in just a few short weeks. I'd gone from being excited about fatherhood while loathing the idea of marriage, to knowing that I did eventually want children, but only with the woman poking around on the computer in hopes of breaking the password.
“I’m not a hacker,” Allie finally said, throwing up her hands. “I can’t figure out what to do. I barely knew the guy, other than to say he was tight with Kendrick. Had this stupid poodle. Loved that weird thing. Mistress FiFi.”
She looked at me, her eyes widening before she bent back over the computer. A few seconds later, she whooped.
“Don’t tell me it was Mistress FiFi.” I shook my head. “No dumbass would use that.”
“It’s Mistress FiFi…backward.” She grinned.
“Shit.” It occurred to me that maybe I should come down on the guy for being a dumbass, but either we were intruding on his privacy for no reason, or it was a good thing he was a dumbass. Still, I made a mental note to send out a company-wide email reminding people about the guidelines for passwords.
“Why exactly are you so sure he’s somehow involved in this?” I asked as I moved to stand behind her.
“I've just got a feeling.” Her mouth twisted in a sour frown as she navigated the mouse around, clicking on the email. She read a few, shaking her head, then continued, “He used to work with my…with Kendrick. He was let go. I only know about it because Diamond raised hell about him coming over to the house once. There was something shady about the circumstances under which he left the firm, but Kendrick said he had his uses.”
“That doesn’t make sense.” Arms crossed over my chest, I looked around the room. “My background checks are thorough. If there were something that would have caused him to be terminated, it would have shown on a background check.”
“Only if he was caught.” She glanced up at me. “And this was like fifteen years ago. I just never forgot the man’s face. He looks like a rat.”
He did.
The office belonged to a Gary Hammerstein, and Hammerstein most definitely looked like a rat, a narrow, sharp face, hair thinning on top and a grayish pink complexion. His eyes were small and beady. I remembered that the few times I’d met him, he’d always had a nervous, jittery sort of air, but I’d been told he was good at what he did. A lot of people who made their living behind computers weren't that socially adept.
My eyes landed on the one personal touch in the office. “Son of a bitch.” Scowling, I grabbed the picture and showed it to Allie. “Do you know this guy too?”
Allie glanced at it and shook her head. “No. Should I?”
“He left the company where your dad works a few years ago. I hired him away, actually. Kendrick took it with pretty good humor, but now…” I fought the urge to throw the picture against the wall. “He’s the one who recommended Hammerstein.”
Allie lapsed into silence when I started to pace, and the only noise was that of her fingers on the keyboard for several minutes.
“He keeps his passwords saved on the computer so I can get into everything, but I’m not finding anything,” Allie said finally. “But…”
I turned and looked at her.
She leaned back, her lips pursed as she stared at the computer. “He deletes his internet history. Completely. For somebody who's lazy enough to use his dog’s name for a password, and doesn’t log out of his work email, that seems a little…odd.”
Odd. Yeah. I'd say suspicious.
“I’m calling my tech man in.”
Letting her head drop back to rest on the padded, pillowed chair, she studied me. “Is that legal?”
“He signed a contract when he came to work here. As the CEO, if I have any reason to suspect suspicious or possibly illegal activity, I can search the offices, computers, rip up the damn carpet if I want. And he knows it.” Phone already in hand, I stared at the computer as though that alone would force it to divulge its secrets. “And the bastard knows it. That’s why he’s wiping the Internet history.”
Chapter Five
Allie
Sunshine woke me up.
Lying on my side, I stared at the bright, thin line as it slowly moved along the slit in the carpet.
Jal told me that he expected to get something from Carlo today.
Carlo was his tech man.
I met him last night, and we’d lingered around the office for a while. Jal had called for pizza, and I’d gone to the market on the corner to grab some beer while Carlo tried to coax more information out of the computer.
Nothing ever really disappears, he said. It just hides really, really well. Then he’d grinned. I always rocked at hide and seek.
Carlo hadn’t unearthed too much before we left, but he had managed to find out that Hammerstein was accessing an email account that wasn’t work-approved. People could email whoever they wanted if they used their own devices on breaks and at lunch, but anything sent on company time or regarding business in general had to go through the firm’s server.
When I’d asked why, Jal was the one who answered, “I don’t want any shady deals going on here. The firm’s servers are designed to monitor for possible breaches in the firm’s ethics, but we can’t monitor communications sent through third party platforms. It's all in the contract every employee signs.”
“Breaches…like insider tips, that sort of thing.”
Jal hadn’t responded verbally, but the raised brow had made it clear enough.
I wondered if Carlo had found anything, specifically something to link Hammerstein to my father.
I wondered if it even mattered because, in my gut, I already knew what was going on.
I didn't know when I'd made the conscious decision, but the plan was already coming together in my head, and I knew what I was going to do even before I really accepted it.
In under twenty minutes, I was out of bed, showered and wearing the last of my clean clothes. I didn’t have time to mess with my damp hair, so I just pulled it back into a loose braid and threw it over my shoulder.
I wasn’t out to win a beauty contest.
The one thing I hadn’t quite planned out was just how I’d get in to see my father. If he kept the same schedule as he had years ago, he'd be working from home this morning, which meant I was going to the house rather than his office. Unfortunately, that left a lot of unknown variables.
It was possible one of the servants would answer the door, and just as possible they’d get my father without mentioning my name to Diamond. Hell, there was a good chance that there weren't any servants left who knew I had any connection to the family at all.
It was also equally possible that Diamond would answer the door. She liked to make a lousy joke – I occasionally answer the door or even fix meals for Kendrick and myself. Like that was going to win her a medal.
I had no idea what I would do if Diamond answered the door, although it would probably involve causing a scene because I wasn’t leaving without seeing Kendrick. He was going to fix what he'd done, or he wouldn’t like the consequences.
I was prepared to do whatever I had to. Prepared for almost anything.
I had the cab drop me off a quarter of a mile from the house so I could use the time walking to compose myself for what was coming. I walked around the car parked in the big U just as my father and Gary Hammerstein rounded the side of the house. Both of them had big cigars in their mouths, and they were grinning, wide, pleased, smug smiles of satisfaction that made me want to punch them.
When they saw me, my father’s smile faltered. Hammerstein didn’t recognize me, which wasn't
surprising. I'd just been an intern with the wrong shade of skin when he'd met me before.
As Kendrick reached up to tug the cigar from his mouth, I looked from him to Hammerstein, weighing my options. Hammerstein still looked pleased with himself.
For all I knew, he thought I was some reward my father had planned for him. That thought snapped the last of my control.
“How much did Kendrick pay you to set up Jal Lindstrom?”
Hammerstein took a tiny step back, eyes wheeling around for the faintest second. Surprise flashed across his face. It was gone in an instant, but I’d seen it. A hearty laugh escaped him a second later, although my father was still watching me, taking everything in.
“Excuse me?” He smiled at me and then looked over at Kendrick. “Is this new girl working here at the house?”
“No. I’m not a new girl,” I snapped before my father could respond. “What did you do…send the cops some bullshit tip? No, that couldn't have been it. He got arrested, so there had to be more than that.”
“Allie.” Finally, Kendrick spoke.
“I’ll talk to you in a minute.” Lips curled, I stared Hammerstein down. “I hope you did a good job wiping the history on your computer at work. A tech's looking through it as we speak.”
All the blood drained from his face, and he shot Kendrick a panicked look.
Now my father looked a little unsettled, his gaze flicking to me before returning to Hammerstein. “She’s bluffing. Look, you go on. I’ll be in touch, okay?”
Hammerstein didn’t wait another second, bumping into me with enough force to half-knock me over as he thundered toward the car parked nearby.
“What a charmer,” I said as my father walked toward me. “Long time, no see, Dad.”
“Allie.” Voice stiff, he nodded at me.
“You don’t look too thrilled about my dropping in.”
I jammed my hands into the pockets of my hoodie. It was one I’d gotten from the school where I’d taken my classes for my aesthetician’s license, and I watched as my father’s gaze dropped, lingering on the logo. His mouth tightened. He’d told me more than once – in letters, of course – that he couldn’t understand why I’d wasted my brain on cutting hair. I hadn't bothered to try to explain my reasoning. He never would've understood.
“It’s always lovely to see you, Allie.” His voice softened a little, and he took a step closer. “I’ve missed you. I’ve told you before, if you’d like to meet for dinner or lunch…”
“Yeah, just don’t come around here,” I said caustically. He opened his mouth to argue, and I held up a hand. “We've had this talk, and I'm not in the mood to have it again. And it's not why I'm here.” Rocking back on my heels, I lifted my chin. “I know what you’re doing to Jal.”
His eyes widened slightly. “Pardon me?”
“I’m going to assume that Diamond told you that she saw me dancing with Jal. He came and talked to you. I know that, too, so don’t try to play dumb. And I know that Paisley pretended to be pregnant to get him to propose.”
Now Kendrick’s face was an ugly, apoplectic shade of red. “Allie, now listen. I’ve indulged you quite a bit, but I–”
“Don’t.” I held up a hand. “Don’t you dare start this shit with me. You gave me money every now and then, and you taught me how to play with stocks. But you never walked me to school. Matter of fact, you and Diamond went out of your way to keep me out of the schools around here. You claimed it was because I wouldn’t be comfortable in any of those places, remember? Christmas time came around? It wasn’t you who put presents under the tree. That was my mother. When I fell down, Mama was the one who was there. Tyson has been there. You never acted like my dad then, so don’t even try to pull that card now.”
He sucked in a breath.
“What? Surprised I called you on it?” Giving him a cool look, I let my eyes play over the house, grand as it was. So lovely. And it had never been anything resembling a home. I’d been nothing but miserable here.
“You’re not going to do this to Jal,” I said after I’d taken another breath.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kendrick's voice was stiff, shoulders rigid. As he tugged at the cuffs on his sweater, his eyes drifted past my shoulder, then down the drive as though he was seeking assistance.
“You do.” If he thought I would let this go, he really didn't know me at all. “For the record, I wasn’t bluffing when I said Hammerstein’s computer was being searched. Apparently, your buddy used a third-party email program which is a big no-no at Jal’s firm. He’ll figure out who he was emailing by the end of the day – and what they were talking about.” I wasn't quite sure how accurate that was, but the sweat beading on my father’s lip had me feeling reckless. When he looked at me, I shrugged. “Hey, don’t glare at me. I’m not the one who pulled this schmuck move. I wasn’t playing the game.”
“Allie, that’s enough,” he said sharply.
“Is it? Are you going to win this time?”
“For fuck’s sake, it won’t even go to court!” Kendrick snapped. “He just needs to pull his head out of his ass and get back with Paisley, okay?”
“No.” Shaking my head, I crossed my arms over my chest. “It's not okay. You can't fuck with people's lives like this. He doesn’t love her.”
“Love doesn’t even come into this. It’s a fucking business–” He clamped his mouth shut.
“What?” I barely managed to get the word out. I wasn’t even sure he heard me. Taking another step closer, I said it again, but he’d turned away, taking a few erratic steps forward. “What are you talking about?” I shouted at his back.
“It doesn’t concern you, Allie!” He turned around and faced me, gesturing to my hoodie. “You cut hair at a shop downtown. If you’d gone to school and made something of yourself, then maybe you could have come to work for me. Maybe then I would tell you, but you’re just a damn hairdresser!”
I was surprised at how little his comments hurt. In fact, all they did was piss me off.
“You’ll tell me what the hell you're talking about, or I’ll take a trip to the nearest newspaper office and tell them how you set Jal up. And I’ll tell them that you're my father. You know as well as I do, they’ll start digging.”
“Allie…”
“I’ll do it.”
He looked defeated. “It would be good for him too. We talked about merging the families – forming our own firm. We’ve even got backers. But without Paisley and Jal being married, it won’t happen. And…” He swallowed, looking pained. “Some of the backers fronted me some money already.”
I buried my face in my hands. I wanted to shake him. Hard. Instead, I just took in a couple of deep breaths then lowered my hands and stared at him.
“See?” He gave me a pleading look. “It’s a hard place to be in, but the best thing for everybody would be for this marriage to just happen.”
“No.” Shaking my head, I said, “It’s the best thing for you. Call off your dogs, Kendrick. I don’t know if you’ve got dirt on somebody at the police department or what, but however you made this happen? Make it un-happen.”
I cut around him and headed for the driveway. He shouted after me to stop, to not be foolish. In response, I turned around and pulled out the phone I’d kept tucked in the pocket of my hoodie the entire time.
Staring at him, I slid my finger across the screen, then hit the play button.
Our voices came rolling out.
The whole fucking conversation.
He was still a few yards away, so I turned up the volume. “Probably not admissible in a real court, but the court of public opinion?” I shrugged. “I'm not sure which your high society buddies would find more distasteful. Framing someone for insider trading, or having a bastard daughter with the black nanny.”
His head slumped.
“Call off the dogs,” I repeated. “You’ve only got a few days to fix this before I blow this whole thing wide open.”
Without
another look at the man whose DNA I carried, I turned and walked away.
Chapter Six
Allie
I caught the bus to Tao’s rather than getting another taxi. It was longer, and I had to change buses halfway, but the longer ride gave me time to think.
I’d meant every word I said back at my father’s house, but if I was going to carry out the threat – no, I corrected myself – the promise I had made to him, I needed to talk to my mother. While Tyson knew the circumstances surrounding my conception, no one else did. If I had to follow through and expose Kendrick as my father, it would mean exposing my mother as well.
I hated the thought of doing it. Mom despised drama. The last thing she'd ever wanted in life was to be the other woman. The mistress. My father had played on Mom’s emotions when she was young and naïve, and she’d fallen for him. Then he’d gone and fallen for her, too, though I doubt his feelings for her had ever surpassed his own self-love.
I had no doubt Diamond and even my father would tell a different story, but I knew how people in their social circle worked. They'd claim to not believe the rumors, and agree that it all had to be vindictiveness on my part, but they'd talk about it behind closed doors, spread whispers of how they'd always known.
I was counting on that to make sure my father did what I wanted, and while I did have a twinge of guilt about the effect this would have on my mother, I had no such feelings in regards to the Hedges.
The very fact that my father thought it was okay to sit by while his wife and daughter tricked Jal into a marriage showed just what kind of man he was. That he'd framed Jal in an attempt to blackmail desired behavior told me that the years had taught him nothing.
He didn't care that he could ruin an innocent man's life, as long as he got what he wanted. As long as he won.
But I'd had enough. I spent too much of my life walking away from the fight. If anyone was worth fighting for, it was Jal.
He was mine, and I'd be damned if I let my father ruin him.
