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“I feel as if we should sit down for this,” said Tuck.
“Bad news?” Lucas crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you firing me?”
Tuck scoffed out a laugh at the absurdity of the statement. “I’m promoting you.”
“Yeah, right.” Lucas waited, alert.
“I’m serious,” said Tuck.
“Serious about what?”
“I’m promoting you.”
It took Lucas a beat to answer. “Why? To what? There’s nothing above director.”
“Nothing in operations,” said Tuck.
“Right,” said Lucas, as if he’d just proved his point.
“Vice president,” said Tuck.
“Are you running a fever?”
“I need you upstairs.”
“I’m no vice president.” Lucas gave an exaggerated shudder.
“You think I am?”
“Yes.”
Tuck pressed his lips together. “Only because they gave me the title.”
“You’re nuts.”
“I’m serious.”
“Okay.” Lucas braced his feet slightly apart. “Vice president of what?”
“I don’t know.”
“I can see you’ve really thought this through.”
“Executive vice president.”
“That’s your title.”
“I’m acting president.”
Lucas’s arms moved to his sides. “I suppose you are.”
“I’m drownin’ up there. Dixon’s completely dropped off the planet, and Dad’s recovery is pushed back. I know it’s not your first choice, but what am I supposed to do?”
“Hire someone.”
“I’m hiring you.”
“Hire someone else.”
“I will. For your job.”
“You don’t need to hire anyone for my job. Gwen can do it. She can probably do it better than me.”
Tuck didn’t feel any need to respond to the statement. Lucas had just made the next argument for him.
“Yeah, yeah,” said Lucas. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“What am I thinking?” Tuck asked.
“That you can pick me up and plunk me into some fancy office, and the operations department won’t even notice I’m gone.”
Tuck fought a smirk. “Your words, not mine.”
“They’re true.”
“That’s good.”
“I wouldn’t have the first idea of what to do upstairs,” said Lucas.
“And you think I do?”
“You’re a Tucker.”
“You’re the last one left,” said Tuck.
“The last one of what?”
“The last director. The others quit.”
“Not Oscar?”
“Yesterday. The rumor mill now has Dixon pegged as an embezzler who will bring down the company, and the headhunters are out in force.”
Lucas frowned. “There’s no chance he actually...?”
Tuck was astonished. “You, too?”
“No. Not really. What would be his motivation? Plus, you’d have noticed the missing millions by now and reported it. Law enforcement would be crawling all over this place.”
Tuck couldn’t help but admire Lucas’s combination of faith and hard, cold analysis. “He has no motivation. And he didn’t do anything illegal.”
“I gotta agree,” said Lucas.
“Doesn’t mean I won’t knock his block off.”
Lucas pulled out a molded plastic chair and sat down at the rectangular meeting table.
Tuck took the seat across from him.
“You’re serious,” said Lucas.
“Completely. While Amber was here, it was doable, marginal but doable. Without her, I can’t keep it going. We’ve lost three major accounts since Zachary left.”
“You think he’s poaching them.”
“I know he’s poaching them. What I don’t know is how to make it stop. I mean, maybe I can make it stop, if I can find the time to make some calls and build up some relationships. But I don’t even have time to breathe. I need Dixon, and I need him now.”
“I thought Jackson was looking.”
“He hit a dead end. It’s dead end number eight, I think.”
“Hire another investigative firm.”
“There’s nobody better than Jackson. If only—”
Tuck’s thoughts went back to Amber. Usually, when he thought about her, it was about their kisses, particularly that last kiss. A woman didn’t kiss like that, especially not in the middle of a fight, if she didn’t have a thing for the man. Amber had to be attracted to him on some level, and the knowledge made his skin itch.
