A Deadly Promotion

by Melanie Jones Brownrigg

  “I was NOT hallucinating,” I loudly protested, my words having the similar effect of banging my head against the wall.

  Detective Sutton wrapped up our conversation, leaving me with the impression he thought I was a lunatic.

  “I believe you,” Amy assured me, wrapping her arms around me as soon as Paul had escorted Detective Sutton to the door.

  “I believe you too,” Paul said, returning to get in on a group hug.

  “Thank you for believing in me,” I said to my friends. I glanced at the clock. “I’m sorry, Paul. I know you had trial work ahead of you and I’ve monopolized your whole evening. Amy and I will get out of your hair so you can salvage what’s left of the day.”

  “You’re more important to me,” he said, shocking me, but at the same time causing my heart to fill with warmth. “And, considering the circumstances, I don’t want you girls left alone.” He looked between me and Amy. “Why don’t you two spend the night here. I have an extra bedroom and a couch. We’ll make it work.”

  Paul had a large condo with not only a spare bedroom, but he also had a separate study and a spacious kitchen decked out with high-end appliances. French doors off his living room provided a to-die-for view of the Trinity River.

  “Thank you for the offer, Paul,” Amy responded, “but I don’t think Lisa or Angela know where I live. I’ll be perfectly fine returning home.” She flicked her gaze to me. “Paige, you should stay. You’ll be safer here and I know you’ll sleep better with a man protecting you.” Then she wiggled her brows. “And you two can get to know each other better.”

  “But my stuff is at your house,” I reminded her. “And we were going to spend girl-time together.”

  “Amy, my trial materials are still in my car and I can easily pack a bag. What if I slept on your couch tonight?” Paul gave her a pleading look. “I’ll work from your kitchen table, while you two gossip in the living room. I’m sure Jeff would understand … and don’t you think he’d feel better if I stayed with y’all while he was out of town?”

  And so, it was decided. Three vehicles trained across town to Amy’s house where she and I gobbled popcorn and watched a movie while Paul munched from his own bowl and worked on tomorrow’s trial. Then I ended up sleeping in the same bed as Amy so Paul could cram his tall frame into a tiny twin bed.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Seated back at my desk the next day, I could barely concentrate for glaring out the glass divider at Lisa. And more than once, I caught her eyeballing me. Did she see me at the restaurant? Did she and Angela panic and scurry all over town to retrieve their cameras? Maybe they had already collected their electronic equipment. Detective Sutton said Carter was furious at the thought of Lisa having hidden a camera in his house. I’ll bet he was relieved when not a single device was found. But why wasn’t something found? I specifically recalled Lisa wondering if Carter was at home and saying she was going to look at the video. Angela made a similar comment regarding Paul. Given that, I simply couldn’t understand why nothing was detected.

  While I watched her, she watched me. But with each glance in her direction, I glimpsed David was also watching me. Perhaps I was paranoid. Maybe I should speak to my doctor as Detective Sutton had suggested.

  * * *

  David couldn’t concentrate on his work. All he could think about was the act of violence he had committed on a poor helpless teddy bear. He couldn’t understand what got into him. Never had he experienced such rage. He wanted to go into Paige’s office and beg her forgiveness. Yes, that’s what he would do.

  Slow minutes ticked by, making him more and more nervous about confessing, yet excited about the prospect of being near Paige. He even stood once. Another time he made it a few steps toward her door. But no, he couldn’t. No one must know he did such a despicable thing. All he could do was peer through the glass and telepathically let her know how remorseful he felt deep within his tortured soul.

  * * *

  Lisa couldn’t stop staring at Paige. She’d obviously overheard her and Angela’s discussion. Otherwise, Paige wouldn’t have called the cops, a measure which became evident when Carter told her someone from forensics had searched his home for hidden cameras. There could have only been one source to raise such an accusation. Thank God, she and Angela had removed all cameras, even from the fitness center. There was no telling what would’ve happened if the police had found any one of them. She imagined she and Angela being brought into the police station for questioning. If it came down to it, she’d turn on Angela. Throw her under the bus. After all, it was Angela’s cameras and she’d been the one to steal Paige’s keys. And Angela was the one who wanted to know what Paul was doing with Paige. All roads led to Angela. Why should Lisa be punished?

  * * *

  I forced my head away from Lisa and David, putting forth a tremendous effort to delve into my work. I was so far behind. The only audit I had completed was on myself and David. I had only completed my regular work through the date of the stairwell accident. And, Mr. Harrington had just sent me an email asking if I felt I could perform Penny’s work for a short interim.

  Absolutely, I stupidly replied. What the hell was wrong with me?

  Since I hadn’t found anything out of the ordinary with David’s work input. I concentrated on Lisa. She worked in payroll. It was her responsibility to keep track of every employee’s payrate and thereafter issuing checks on a 1st and 15th monthly basis. Within such gross pay, she had to take into consideration whether the employee was salaried, paid hourly, or had possible overtime due. Additionally, she was responsible for withholding any relevant taxes, and any deductions for employee’s retirement plans, such as 401(k) contributions. She allowed for medical insurances and applied reductions for court-ordered child support payments. It was also her job to complete W-4 forms and 1099 forms. Finally, it was her duty to maintain the payroll records.

  My eyes glazed over when I brought up the bazillion pieces of information her job entailed. To go through each employee and backtrack the calculations seemed like an arduous task. After spending most of the morning reviewing corporate compensation, my brain was frazzled. It seemed there was no logic when it came to wages – one employee made this amount of money, while another employee made a different amount of money. It was all over the map. Looking back through the months, I began comparing each gross paycheck. If it matched within an acceptable range of dollars for any given employee, I kept on moving. It was all background work anyway, because wasn’t I the one Julie had accused of embezzling? Since I had already audited my own books, the next logical place to look would be an inappropriate fluctuation in my own paycheck, which I knew for a fact hadn’t happened. My base salary hadn’t changed in over a year. In fact, I had been due a raise before receiving my promotion.

  My old job had paid well enough. I wasn’t striking it rich by any means, but I hadn’t been struggling either. It was one of those situations where the cost of living increases had my paycheck barely keeping up, remaining at the same constant ratio forever. It was the main reason I had applied for the management position. I knew a promotion to this level in the company would provide an increase in salary, helping me to create a nest egg and possibly even purchase a house. Out of curiosity, I pulled up my new payrate.

  “Holy cow,” I mumbled under my breath. Honestly, I had no idea the pay increase was this substantial. It was no wonder everyone was vying for this advancement. My hands literally began shaking when I saw what I’d be making. And now I knew … whoever wanted my job was going after the money and nothing was going to stop them, including killing me.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Honestly, I was flabbergasted after seeing my new payrate. While I knew it would be an increase, I had no idea it was going to be this significant. Flipping through the screens, I searched for an error in input and came across Julie’s one-month paycheck, which had been much lower than mine. Going back in time to Ethel’s payroll history, I was surprised to see her base salary was
even less than Julie’s. Why was mine so much higher? Had Lisa incorrectly entered the gross amount? Or was she setting me up somehow?

  With a printout in hand, I headed up to Mr. Harrington’s office, asking his personal assistant if I might have a few moments of his time. After a fifteen-minute wait, she authorized my entry.

  “What brings you up?” Mr. Harrington inquired, wrestling through a few papers on his desk and then checking the calendar app on his phone.

  “I believe Lisa may have entered my base salary incorrectly, possibly with an ulterior motive.” I went into a background discussion on the hidden cameras, only leaving out the balloon incident, because looking crazy was certainly a possibility. “Here’s the printout.” I passed it across the desk to him. “It’s excessive. There’s not a reason I should be making this much more.”

  He smoothed the document out on his desk, adjusted his readers and then referred to a logbook in his desk while I waited patiently. “No, no, this is right. I had Lisa adjust your salary.” He raised his head from the material and looked over at me. “You’re not only responsible for your position as the CFO, but you’re still handling your old job, not to mention Penny’s. You’re doing the work of three people, one of which is high management. This is correct. As soon as I received your earlier agreement to handle Penny’s old position, I sent Lisa a message to change your pay rate.” He paused and gave me an admiring look. “Man, Paige, for you to have caught this adjustment so quickly, you must be right on top of things.”

  Not even close. “Yes sir, I’m trying.” It was a lot of money and I didn’t feel worthy. “Sir, I greatly appreciate this … but … it’s too much. I don’t want to be a drain on the company’s overhead. Please, I’m happy to take a reduction.”

  “I appreciate your offer, but I also know you’ve only ever dealt in company expenses. You’ve not been privy to the revenues, earnings, and rental incomes flowing into this company. The bottom line will knock your socks off. This company is extremely lucrative.” He paused a moment. “Look, I know the oil and gas industry is volatile. It’s up one minute and down the next. Undependable, for lack of a better word. When this company expanded the Property Development & Maintenance Division, one of the purchases, as you’re aware, included this building. We’re collecting rentals from every tenant occupying space, including The Terrace.”

  He was referring to the high-dollar restaurant on the top of this building. I’d only eaten lunch there once. Drinking only water with a simple club sandwich, my bill had been a staggering total nearing one hundred dollars. Yet, the place was so busy it required reservations to be made weeks in advance. It made little sense to me and I hadn’t made a second appearance.

  “Thank you, sir,” I said overwhelmed by his generosity. “If you don’t mind then, I’d like to request for James Pierce to be granted a raise. His little girl has medical issues and our company’s insurance plan doesn’t meet with some of her health requirements.”

  He frowned, biting at the inside of his gums. “Okay, here’s the thing … it’s the higher management running this company. If James receives an increase, then it’ll open the door for Lidia, Carter, David and Lisa, and every other lower-level employee within this company to demand a raise. Somewhere the line must be drawn, or the company will go bankrupt.”

  He had a point. Not everyone could receive the same salary as I apparently was. “I assume my salary will be reduced when someone is hired in for my old position, as well as Penny’s replacement. Otherwise, I’d ask to forego some of my salary and redirect it to James. It seems unfair of me to receive such a large paycheck when he’s struggling.”

  “You have a well-made point. If James is willing to take over Penny’s old duties, it will eliminate the need to hire someone in her place. If this can be accomplished, you’ll still be receiving a hefty paycheck from your old and new job, but it’ll be a way to give James a large boost. And too, I’ll switch him over to the company’s catastrophic insurance plan. It should cover his little girl’s medical needs.” He paused. “Of course, this it totally dependent on each of you being able to handle the additional workload. Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to hire additional employees.”

  “I’ll let you know if one, or both of us, can’t take on the excess duties,” I told him in closing and then made my way back to the fifteenth floor. “James, please come into my office,” I called to him upon my return.

  “Yes, right away,” he responded.

  James pushed back in his chair, taking in another glance at David who had been acting weirder than normal. All morning, James had noticed David swiveling in his chair like a merry-go-round, spinning to look in Paige’s direction every few minutes and he had big rings of sweat under each armpit.

  “You wanted to see me?” James said, easing his butt into one of the guest chairs.

  “Yes, I’ve spoken with Mr. Harrington about your requested raise. Here’s what he has proposed.”

  After laying out the plan, as well as the change in insurance, a relieved look settled on James’s long, thin face. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

  “You’re scheduled to begin Penny’s duties next Monday.” This would give me a chance to audit Penny’s books before he took over. Penny had dealt with royalties and bonus payments to oil and gas owners.

  On his way out, he turned, sending me an appreciative look. “I’m sorry about the other day. I know I came across as …” He took on a shamed look. “I was under a lot of home-stress. You won’t have any future problems from me.”

  Good, maybe there was one employee who didn’t want to kill me. Or had I just asked the wolf to guard the henhouse?

  Chapter Fifty

  Realizing it was nearing lunch, I called in a pick-up order from a nearby Italian place and headed out the door. Upon passing by the breakroom, Carter called my name.

  “Paige, please, can I speak with you?” he asked, heading in my direction.

  “Yes, of course.” Changing my path, I entered the small room, noticing David seated alone at a nearby table, peeling an orange. “What is it?” I asked on approach.

  “What was this stuff last night with the cops coming to my house?” He looked past me, peering down the hallway. “Lisa went to get us a sandwich from the deli downstairs. I don’t want her to see me talking to you.” He gave another wary glance before turning to look to me.

  “Well, I’m sure you know by now. While at dinner last night, I overheard Lisa and Angela speaking about hidden cameras they had placed in both my office and apartment … your home too.”

  David had tuned into our conversation, his big old ears practically growing before my eyes.

  “Everyone knows about your medical condition … after hitting your head, you might experience hallucinations. Lisa said you imagined the whole thing.”

  “No,” I shouted, sick and tired of everyone alluding to hallucinations. “I’m not brain-damaged. I overheard them looking on their phones to see if you were home, and if Paul was at home. Then they shifted to looking at cameras in my apartment.”

  Out of my peripheral vision, I caught David clutching his fist around the orange to the point the fruit ruptured, creating a puddle of juice on the table and spurting a burning spray into his eyes. He dropped the squished object on the table and ran to the sink, dousing his eyes with water.

  “Look, I’m just telling you what Lisa said,” Carter sympathized. “I believe you. I know Angela is one crazy bitch. On two occasions, when she wasn’t aware of my presence, I saw her checking her phone, looking at camera feeds to see if Paul was still at work, or had made it home. She’s like a stalker girlfriend. I also know she hates your guts and thinks you’re the only thing standing between her and Paul.” He shook his head. “After Paul kicked Angela out, she went to stay with Lisa. Now Lisa is starting to act just like her. Lisa’s with me all day at work, but whenever I’m not with her, she’s on my ass about where I am, who I’m with, and what I’m doing. This weekend, I went to visit my
parents just to get the hell away from her. It’s getting ridiculous. I can’t deal with her any longer. Please, will you move her to a different division in the company?”

  Having kept a close eye on her this morning, I had noticed a torrential undercurrent raging between Lisa and Carter, making it crystal clear that the two lovebirds were not walking the same rosy pathway. Not that Carter had ever strolled along with Lisa, considering he had used her to dump Penny. Still, it was surprising to see he was still letting her hang on to him.

  “You’ve witnessed Angela looking at hidden cameras in Paul’s office and home?” I asked, afraid of getting my hopes up.

  “Yes. That’s why I believe you. It makes sense for Lisa to have been doing the same thing with me. I don’t want this kind of scrutiny in my life.”

  “Break up with her,” I suggested.

  “No, you don’t understand.” He sucked in a big gulp of air. “At the risk of sounding like a pussy, I’m going to admit to being afraid of her. I think she might kill me if I dump her. Please, I need your help … at least separate us at work. Maybe she’ll find some other poor sucker to latch onto in a different sector of the company.”

  It would be a relief to get Lisa out of my department. I had my own reasons for not trusting her. “I’ll look at moving her, if you’ll do something for me,” I bargained.

  “Name it,” he replied firmly before hearing my proposal.

  “This is the number of the detective working on Julie and Penny’s murders.”