Page 42 of Protecting Love

He didn’t think he was that predictable. But it was not like he did much around here that caused him to bring his laptop with him to meetings.

“I met with Rick Majors this morning. More like had a chat with him on his front stoop.”

“You finally got to him?” Braylon asked.

“He lives in a small garage apartment in the Bronx. His wife works close by; he was the one taking more time to come into the city for work. I’ve been watching their patterns for a few days and knew when she left. He was still home so I knocked.”

It wasn’t always what he liked to do, but he’d done it enough in his life. Stake out a place to find out the right time to strike.

Though this was hardly striking anything in his book.

“And?” West asked.

“I told him he had his moment and it’s done. He didn’t ask who I was, just what I was doing there. At first he thought Westerly Consultants sent him.”

“Did you confirm or deny it?”

“I didn’t even reply, and moved on. Then he talked himself out of it and said it had to be MHT. He had an earful to say about them.”

“Most disgruntled employees do,” Braylon said dryly.

“Exactly. Not much of what he said jived, but not a big deal. Said they were hired cheap, then the carrot was dangled to work hard to make more.”

“That’s a common enough practice,” West said.

“I didn’t think much of it. Was Rick right, could there have been worse employees than him that could have been fired? Most likely. Paris had said that Debra has been reaching out a lot trying to figure out how to handle things.”

“I thought their contract was done,” Braylon said.

“I think it is now. They had some time left for follow-up, but I haven’t talked to Paris since last Monday.”

“She’s been out of town,” Braylon said. “She came back on Sunday night.”

He knew. He’d asked Molly, who was much more willing to volunteer that information.

“I looked into MHT last week. The company itself has been struggling for about a year. They probably should have had someone come in long before now. But it was a sudden drop in revenue, almost overnight.

“Not unheard of,” West said.

“No. But Rick made a comment that he wasn’t going to speak about what he saw.”

West lifted an eyebrow. “Don’t suppose he said much more?”

“Nothing more than he thought Michael sent me there. So this afternoon I dove into the three owners.”

Braylon grinned. “Did you find anything?”

“Not as much as I’d like. I haven’t had a lot of time.”

“But something if you’ve got your laptop,” Braylon said.

“Michael looks to be going through a divorce. A nasty one. It’s going to cost him. Or he’s worried that it is. He lived a pretty lavish lifestyle prior. I’m sure his two co-owners might not be so thrilled about that.”

“So he needs things to turn around to pay for it?” Braylon asked.

“Could be. Todd seems pretty dull and boring. Nothing standing out there. Henry, I’m still working on him. He seems to have the most assets. The most investments and cash too.”

“He’s the finance person,” West said. “Could be he’s just the only one smart with money.”