Lucas guided me from the warehouse and to his vehicle.Once we were on the road, I turned to him.“Something is wrong, not only with their books, but their manufacturing.”
“Agreed.But we don’t have anything concrete.”
“Cracks and splinters are concrete.Plus, you took pictures.”
“That could be an intricate way of hiding errors, and Fred wasn’t sure if quality control had been done.”
“But if Fred doesn’t know, why was the equipment on the floor looking ready to send out?”I couldn’t shake the feeling that Rustic wasn’t what they appeared to be.
“Good question.He should know, but it’s possible he hasn’t looked at the paperwork yet.I don’t know.I’m a finance guy.”Lucas rubbed the back of his neck.“It’s also my gut feeling something is off.”
I glanced out the window.This was more complicated than I thought it would be.And it was a puzzle I would have to figure out.
“I’m going to call the boss and the department heads together when we get back.I want you to join us.”
“Me?”I wasn’t expecting that.
“Yes.You saw what I saw.The others might have questions, and I want you there to help answer them.”
“All right.”That made sense.It wasn’t like I hadn’t met them, but my nerves still tingled with anxiety.While I’d talked with all the department heads, this was different than the casual settings we had been spending time in.I was a worker bee.I did up the reports and didn’t talk to the higher ups.
It was just business, I told myself.Nothing to worry about.
“Don’t be nervous.”
I glanced at Lucas.Was he reading my mind?Again?
“It’s all over your face,” he said before I could ask.“Valerie, you’re fantastic at what you do.Stop second guessing yourself.”
Lucas was right.“I’ll try.”It wasn’t easy for me.I’d spent too much time being blamed for everything that went wrong when I was a child.It didn’t matter that I was innocent, blame always fell on me.I blew out a breath.I was an adult now.Time to be that woman.I was good at my job; it was why FI hired me.
Chapter Seventeen
Lucas
“It’ll just be a quick lunch,” I told Valerie as we entered the café.
“We need to get everyone up to speed.”
She’d been arguing with me since we walked into the building.I was insisting we get some food.“We will.I doubt everyone will be able to meet until later this afternoon.”
“I get that, but…”
I rested my finger against her soft lips to stop her.“We both need to eat, but I’ll compromise.How about we grab food and go to the office to eat?Can you agree to that?”
“All right,” she mumbled against my finger.
“Good.”I removed my finger and guided her into line.
“Cheeseburger with fries, please,” Valerie ordered.
“I’ll have the same.”At least she was ordering solid food, something that would sustain her through the afternoon.
I carried our food back to the office.Valerie grabbed her box and went to her desk, while I went to mine.“Are you mad at me?”I asked.
“No.I just hate it when you’re right.This smells wonderful, and my stomach is growling.”She opened her box and took a big bite of her burger.
Hiding a grin, I dug into my food.In between bites, I called everyone, and we decided to meet at two.
