After shoving the paper files into a drawer, she locked her computer and pushed away from her desk. Though she rarely splurged on overpriced specialty coffee, this situation called for a double-shot frozen macchiato with butterscotch drizzle. Besides, she needed a few moments to clear her head and let the revelation sink in.
Soothing bossa nova drifted from the open door of the ground-floor coffee shop as she stepped out of the elevator. It wasn’t quite enough to remove her apprehension, but the tension in her shoulders relaxed a fraction. She scanned the business as she entered. With the morning rush long past, there was no line, and one of the baristas, a sweet local high schooler who also attended Hailey’s church, was taking the opportunity to tidy around the empty tables.
The girl glanced up as Hailey entered and started to wave, but then did a noticeable double take. Her eyes flew open wide, and her mouth formed an O.
“Are you all right, Mira?”
Still staring, Mira blinked and seemed to find her voice. “Mrs. Nieland! What—what happened to your face? Are you okay?”
Hailey touched the bruised area self-consciously. She hadn’t thought to recheck her makeup before leaving the office. As engrossed as she’d been in those files, she’d probably rubbed a good bit of it away without realizing what she was doing. “Oh, I’m fine. It looks worse than it is.”
“But what happened? If you don’t mind me asking,” Mira hurried to add.
How should she answer? She didn’t want to frighten the girl, but brushing her off might fuel her imagination more than the truth would. She decided on a very abbreviated version. “I ran into a couple rough characters the other day, but I’m okay. What you see is the worst of the damage.”
“That’s awful!” Mira set her cleaning rag aside. “Do you need a hug? You look like you could use one.” She barely waited for Hailey’s assent before throwing her arms around her and giving her a quick squeeze. “Your coffee’s on me today. You hear that, Timothy?” she called to the young man at the counter.
“Got it.”
“Mira, you don’t have to do that.”
The girl shook her head stubbornly. “Don’t argue. Please.”
Seeing Mira really wanted to do it and would probably be hurt if she refused, Hailey conceded. “Thank you.”
Mira beamed and waved her on. “Get whatever you want.” She returned to where she’d left her cleaning supplies and resumed wiping down a table.
Hailey’s heart swelled. She didn’t need her coffee paid for, but the kind gesture was like a balm to her spirit. She approached the counter and gave Timothy her order. He was more subtle than Mira, but Hailey could tell he was eyeing her bruises too. She supposed she couldn’t blame him for being curious.
While he prepared the macchiato, Hailey perused the items in the bakery case. The blueberry scones looked delicious. She told herself she didn’t need one—the macchiato had tons of sugar already—but her stomach rumbled, reminding her just how early her day had started, which also reminded her why she’d come in today and the problem she’d uncovered. Maybe she could use those extra calories.
A few minutes later, she made her way back upstairs, drink and scone in hand. She took a sip of the macchiato. A perfect blend of rich, bitter, and sweet—made even more so by Mira’s kindness.
But as she entered Pendleton Accounting, a weight seemed to settle back over her shoulders. She’d have to report what she’d discovered. Get Eukaria’s CFO involved. The thought of another meeting with the man made her skin crawl. There was something unnerving about him. Something almost dangerous.
She reached her cubicle and sank into her chair. Should she contact Mr. Luque immediately and let him know they needed to talk to discuss the anomalies? Or should she dig a little deeper first so she’d have a better picture of what was going on? Probably the latter.
Again, she wished Gleason were here or that she could wait for his return to deal with this. But he would be gone a full two weeks. She wasn’t sure it would be ethical to put off the notification for that long. Sighing, she typed in her new passwordand reopened the spreadsheet she’d been perusing before her break.
Soon she was deep in the world of numbers and notations. While most of Eukaria’s records seemed to be legitimate business dealings, there were definite red flags—and not just with the inaccurate statements and missing funds. Something else was going on here.
“What happened to your face?” Stefania’s mocking voice was precisely the distraction she didn’t need. Strange how the exact same words Mira had used could carry such a wildly different connotation coming from this woman.
Suppressing the urge to tell her it was none of her business, Hailey minimized the highlighted spreadsheet and swiveled to face her coworker. “Just a little incident on my way home Monday.”
“I hope you’re not as reckless with your clients as you are on the road.”
“And I hope you’re not so quick to jump to conclusions with yours.”
Stefania’s eyes glinted. She flung a hand toward the computer. “Have you figured out yet that you’re in over your head? Eukaria is far more complicated than the hick mom-and-pop shops you’re used to dealing with.”
Hailey pressed her lips together. After this week and especially after today’s realization, she was half tempted to offer Stefania the complicated client. Let her deal with the mess. At this point, she’d almost consider throwing in the towel completely and finding a new line of work. But that would be foolish. She had a responsibility to follow up on the issue. Besides, she needed this job. And she wasn’t one to give up so easily—or to be bullied.
Instead, she smiled sweetly and took a sip of her nearly empty coffee. “Thanks for your concern, but I’m afraid you’re mistaken.Eukaria might be my biggest client yet, but I’ve handled plenty of accounts that gave me all the preparation I needed.”
“You might think so now, but I’ve heard their leadership is hard to please.”
Where had she heard that? Hailey didn’t bother to ask. Probably just office scuttlebutt. She managed to keep her smile in place. “I actually met with the CFO this morning. He seems particular, but I’m thorough, so that doesn’t scare me.” The man himself intimidated her, but she didn’t have to share that fact.
