A Deadly Promotion

by Melanie Jones Brownrigg

  “Yes, Freddy even sleeps on my chest half the time. Like I said, don’t worry about it. I keep a supply of lint removers in my car and my desk. I’m very used to this.”

  “Well okay then,” I said rising from the floor and tossing the brush onto my entry table.

  “Let’s do a walk-thru to make sure nothing has changed since you were last here.”

  The thought of someone, other than Amy, having been in my home was unnerving. But under the circumstances, a sweep of the premises seemed reasonable. As we walked from one room to the next, I scrutinized every object, making sure nothing had been removed or even just moved. “Everything is in its place,” I concluded at the end of our short tour.

  “Good. Do you think you’ll be okay here by yourself?”

  “Yes, I’ll be fine,” I assured him. “I know you need to get back to work.” Or Angela, before she texted him again.

  “I really do need to go,” he said softly. “We’ll get together soon and discuss your case.”

  “Yes, of course,” I acknowledged. Paul hadn’t mentioned Angela. And even though she was none of my business, for whatever reason, it irritated me for him to have someone in his life.

  * * *

  Once Paul left, I headed down the hall to my bedroom. Before I made it there, my doorbell rang. Thinking he had forgotten to tell me something, I headed back and pulled the door open without first looking through the peephole. When I realized it was Detective Sutton, my mouth fell open. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were Paul.”

  He looked surprised. “Oh, I thought Paul would still be here. I saw the two of you leaving the station and tried to stop you.” He held up my handbag. “I wanted to return your purse. Your phone is inside, otherwise I would’ve tried calling you.” He chuckled as he handed it over to me and stepped back. “But I also wanted to talk to you about some results that came back.”

  “Oh, what results?” I asked, wondering what he was talking about.

  “No, I don’t want to talk to you without your attorney being present. I should’ve called Paul before simply showing up on your doorstep, but I knew you’d want your phone back and thought I might catch you both here.” Clearly, he wasn’t aware of my burner phone. “Just have him give me a call and we’ll schedule a time to meet up.”

  “Okay. I’ll let him know.”

  “Well, have a nice day.” He tossed an attractive smile in my direction, turned and then headed for the elevators.

  “Thank you,” I called out to his back as he walked away.

  What results? Now I was curious and couldn’t wait to find out. Then again, what if it was something that made me look even guiltier? Maybe I didn’t want to know.

  Closing the door and relocking it, I fished the phone from my purse and immediately called Paul. It went to voicemail, so I left him a message. Then I called Mr. Harrington. Unable to get through to him too, Rose, his secretary, scheduled me an appointment for two o’clock this afternoon. With several hours ahead of me, I checked on Callie’s food and water and cleaned her litter box. Then I took a nice long shower.

  Emitting through a cloud of steam, I smoothed some lotion over my reddened skin and spritzed on some body spray in a luscious apple scent. Sliding on a robe, I made myself a pimento cheese sandwich and dined in front of a recorded show. After spiffing up the place a bit, I rummaged through my closet for something appropriate to wear to be fired in.

  A few days prior, my parents had graciously retrieved my car from the office complex and parked it in my designated apartment space. Another hour later I was in Mr. Harrington’s waiting room, seated on a brown leather couch where I was wringing my hands and staring at a painting of a wild horse running free through a field of oil wells. Next to it was a portrait of a young image of Mr. Harrington as the founder of Harrington Oil & Gas.

  Turning my gaze away from the décor, I tried looking at a magazine, but my hands trembled so badly I dropped it. My stomach had managed to lodge itself in my throat and my heart was racing at the speed of a bullet. Over and over I practiced my speech, graciously telling Mr. Harrington I understood why he had to discharge me. I imagined myself telling him how deeply I appreciated all the wonderful years I had worked for him and wished him the best of luck. When I walked out, my head would be held high and my back would be straight. Then I would go cry myself a river and be back in tip-top shape before I met with Paul and Detective Sutton, never letting either of them know what a baby I had been.

  Two o’clock came and went. With time dragging on, my anticipation rose. My hands became clammy and my breathing grew erratic. At the point I feared vomiting, the phone buzzed, causing me to almost jump out of my skin. Rose answered and then looked at me. Thus far, she had avoided all eye contact and hadn’t uttered a single word to me, other than, “Please have a seat and Mr. Harrington will be right with you,” when I first arrived.

  But now she was staring straight at me. “Mr. Harrington will see you now. You may go in.”

  “Thank you,” I said with the thinnest of smiles.

  It took me a moment to get to my feet. Hoisting my purse over my shoulder, I smoothed out the black pencil skirt I was wearing. Straightening my matching jacket and running a hand through my golden blonde hair, I willed my feet to move. It was a long dreadful walk to his door, ending with my hand freezing on his doorknob. Closing my eyes, I prayed for courage. And with a small twist of the knob, I opened the door and stepped inside.

  From across the large corner office, looking out across the Trinity River on one side and the various buildings of downtown Fort Worth on the other, my eyes landed on a giant mahogany desk with Mr. Harrington seated in a power chair on the other side.

  “Mr. Harrington,” I addressed, waiting for instructions and assuming I shouldn’t make myself comfortable in one of his posh leather guest chairs.

  He didn’t bother to stand and greet me which I took as a bad sign, especially considering he was more the jovial type. “Paige, please have a seat,” he said in a formal tone, straightening his bold red tie in the process.

  “Yes sir,” I responded. Making my way over to him, I perched my rear on the edge of a chair. Forgoing making myself comfortable, I anticipated my visit being but a moment, assuming he wouldn’t take long to fire me.

  “I’d like to hear your version of what happened,” he began, twisting his chair around to a more direct view of me.

  His taking the time to hear my rendition took me completely by surprise. Then again, he couldn’t have possibly known of Julie’s accusation about me stealing. When he heard those scandalous details, I’d be done for anyway. Nonetheless, I was pleased he was at least giving me an opportunity to state my case. Then he could fire me. So once again, I told the story to the best of my recollection, including Julie’s accusation about my stealing from the company. When I was finished, I just sat there and waited.

  Interlocking his fingers, he did the same. The silence between us grew to an unbearable point and I wondered what he was thinking and what he was waiting for. For a moment I considered turning in my resignation in favor of being fired. It might look better on my resume. Then he broke the silence.

  “This misallocated money … you said you didn’t know what Julie was talking about?”

  “No sir, I don’t. She had finally agreed to go over the documents with me the next day, but…” I paused, unable to rehash the stairwell incident again. “Even so, no matter what she presented to me, I didn’t take any company funds,” I added firmly.

  Mr. Harrington leaned back in his chair with his fingers threaded behind his head and stared at the ceiling. We went through another long period of silence, once again causing my stomach to flop like a fish out of water. Finally, he rocked down in his chair and swiveled to face me. “She was new to the position. Do you think she was looking at the data incorrectly?”

  “It’s certainly foreseeable. I’ve already discussed the possibility with my attorney. We considered a possible scenario where I could have ma
de a payment thinking it was an equipment purchase and James might have made a duplicate expenditure with the understanding it was an equipment rental. Of course, that’s just the example I used with my attorney. It might be nothing at all and Julie simply misunderstood an entry. If I could’ve seen what she was concerned with, I might have been able to explain it away.”

  “Are you aware the police came in and confiscated everyone’s computer and all of the files?”

  My mouth dropped open. “No, I haven’t heard anything.”

  “It was only yesterday evening when they returned the equipment and documents. They’ve made copies of every piece of paper and a duplicate of the hard drives. They’re going to have their forensic team go through everything with a fine-toothed comb.”

  “I see.” I sighed heavily. “I’m sorry this has put so much strain on your company. I wish I knew what theft Julie thought she had discovered, and I wish I could remember what exactly happened in the stairwell. But I know I didn’t take any money and I didn’t push Julie. Regrettably, I can’t remember what happened … at least not right now. My doctor said I might at some point. But who knows? And even if I do, I still wouldn’t know what Julie was talking about.” I stopped talking because it felt like I was prattling.

  “Would you know what she was talking about if you looked through the files … all of the files?”

  He meant not just my record keeping, but everyone’s books … as in what the CFO had access to. “Yes, I might be able to. I mean, obviously I’m not familiar with the system like Ethel and Lidia are, or even Julie. But I’m sure if I applied myself, I could figure it out.”

  What was happening here? Was he not firing me? Was he merely asking me to search the records long enough to see if I found a mistake that was made? Or was he offering me the CFO position? No, he wasn’t offering me a promotion … not after what happened. I almost laughed out loud at my ludicrous thoughts. After all, my head was the one on the chopping block.

  “Until this mess is cleared up, I’m not hiring anyone to take over your position.”

  There, you see, my job was going to be available. This meant I was going to be fired.

  “Do you think you can handle the CFO position and your regular expenditures?”

  “Excuse me sir?” My whole face tightened in disbelief. “Are you not firing me?”

  “Do you think you did something wrong to be fired over?” he posed, arching a bushy gray eyebrow at me.

  “No sir. But I don’t want to disparage your reputation or your company’s good name. I’ll fully understand if you don’t want to keep me on.”

  “Paige, I’d like to share a story with you, one you’ve never heard, but one I’ve never forgotten.”

  “Okay.”

  “A few years ago, our firm was having an event over at the Worthington. You were in line at the bar and the gentleman in front of you dropped a fifty-dollar bill. No one saw it happen, except you. Well, and me from across the room. You stooped and picked it up and not even for a millisecond did you consider keeping it. You instantly tapped the man on the shoulder and returned the bill to him. It was the defining moment when I knew you would be a great asset to this company. In those years since, you have done everything to prove me right. I can’t imagine you would be stealing from this company. And for the life of me, I can’t fathom you having murdered someone when you almost died yourself. In my wildest imagination, all I can picture is you and Julie having a huge fight which resulted in a horrible accident. But what I think most likely happened, despite what those videos portray, is that someone was in the stairwell with you, and that person is the one who is stealing my money.” He looked straight at me. “I want you to find out who it is.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “I’ll be more than glad to look at the books, but what if I can’t figure out what Julie was referring to? Like you said, she was new to the job and may have misconstrued an entry.”

  “Then I won’t have to worry about someone stealing from my company … now will I?”

  “No sir.” I paused, picturing Lidia getting completely in my face if I took over what she still perceived was her position. “Sir, if you don’t mind my asking, why wouldn’t you ask Lidia to do this? She’s much more acquainted with the system.”

  “No, I’ve made up my mind. You’re the one with the most at stake. You’ll be more dedicated to finding out if there is something underhanded going on in this company.”

  “With all due respect sir, what if I was stealing from this company and simply decided to cover it up and tell you nothing was going on?”

  “Well, I’ll tell you what … after you’ve gone over the records, if you come up with something concrete pointing to someone else, then you’ve solved the puzzle. If you don’t come up with something, I’ll have Lidia go over things and if she finds you’re hiding a misappropriation, then I’ll fire you.” He paused for a moment, finger-grooming his gray-haired beard. “Remember this Paige … the police have a complete backup of the company’s system. It’s too late to cover your tracks. There’s either something there, or there’s not.”

  “Yes, you’re correct. But if there was someone in the stairwell, what if they came in Thursday night and covered their tracks?”

  “I’ve talked with the police. They’re looking at every possibility, including your theory of someone having pushed you and Julie. We’ve already bounced around the scenario of someone wanting to get rid of Julie, or both of you, for one reason or another, including the possibility of company embezzlement. If this were the case, Forensics has reset everyone’s computers to the beginning of business on Thursday. I’ve already notified the other employees that all of their entries will need to be reentered.” He smiled, almost devilishly. “So, you see, if someone changed anything beyond the restore point, those changes have been deleted.”

  “Good thinking,” I agreed. “I’ll begin my search by looking at all of the checks issued on the day of the stairwell incident. If someone knew Julie was onto them, they might’ve changed something earlier in the day and then planned on killing Julie in the stairwell.”

  “Yes, and you just happened to be there,” he said with a nod of his head.

  “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to clear my name. Hopefully, it will also lead to answering whatever happened in the stairway.”

  “Well then, welcome to the company as the new Chief Financial Officer,” he said, rising from his chair and sticking out his hand to congratulate me.

  “Thank you so much, sir,” I said, getting to my feet and grasping his hand. “I will not let you down.”

  “I’ve already had the locks changed.” He fumbled in the front tray of his desk.

  “Thank you, Mr. Harrington,” I graciously accepted the new key to my new office.

  “If you fall behind on your regular job, you might ask David Ross to help you out. I’ve never been able to understand how he always looks so busy with those reimbursements. There’s just not that many of them.”

  “True,” I said with a small laugh.

  I wasn’t about to ask David for his assistance … because what was he doing all day? My investigation was going to begin with him.

  Chapter Fifteen

  On the way home, Paul returned my call from earlier in the day. “I received your message about calling the detective. Did he indicate what kind of results?” Paul questioned.

  “No, he didn’t want to say anything without my attorney being present.”

  “Good. He shouldn’t have.” He paused. “It might be the toxicology report. I know the police requested one at the hospital. The results have probably made their way to his office. When I didn’t hear anything, I just assumed you tested negative for any kind of drugs or alcohol levels.” He paused again. “Paige, would anything questionable have shown up in your system?”

  “No! I don’t do drugs,” I barked, offended at the very idea. “And I haven’t had any alcohol since …” I tried to remember when I drank last.
“Well a long time … probably weeks.”

  “Well then there’s nothing to be concerned about. I’ll just go over and talk to him myself tomorrow morning.”

  “So, I don’t have to go?” I asked.

  “No. I’ll let you know what I find out.”

  “Thank you. I’d hate to call in late on my first day back at work.”

  “You didn’t get fired?” he questioned since we’d talked about the possibility.

  “No, I spoke with my boss today. He said the police confiscated the computers and are looking to see if any embezzlement was going on. And, believe it or not, I’m the new CFO.”

  The airwaves between us went silent. “You’re kidding,” Paul finally said.

  “I’m not,” I squeaked, unable to quash my excitement. Guess I really did want the job. “Instead of getting fired, I was promoted. Beginning tomorrow, I’ll have a corner office, one floor below Mr. Harrington and with the same incredible views.”

  “How did you pull that off?” he asked in a less than congratulatory tone.

  “He wants me to audit the books and see if I can find out what Julie was accusing me of.”

  Paul grunted. “I don’t know, Paige. This sounds like a trick … like he’s putting the fox in charge of the henhouse.”

  “Well, I didn’t steal any chickens, or eggs,” I pointed out. “What do I have to worry about?”

  A long sigh came through the line. “I don’t know. But bear in mind, if someone knew Julie was onto them, they may have killed her, and now you’ll be in their crosshairs.”

  “But she thought I was the one stealing,” I pointed out. “I think she was just looking at something incorrectly.”

  “You can’t be sure. She may have approached every employee and pointed the finger at each of them to see if anyone confessed. This promotion … it could be dangerous. You need to be extremely careful.”

  I frowned. Paul had managed to burst my happy bubble. “You’re right. Even if Julie looked at the books incorrectly and no funds were misappropriated, someone pushed her for a reason. It could’ve been Lidia because she didn’t get the promotion and Julie did. Now, Lidia is going to hate me the same as she did Julie.”