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The elevator doors opened and the trio exited, leaving her alone once again with Clay and Jay.
When the doors shut, Jay cursed. “Why the hell did Uncle Bill inform Arnold why we are here?”
“Because he’s still not ready to trust us with the keys to the kingdom,” Clay answered, clearly as frustrated by the turn of events as she and Jay. “While I respect and care for Bill, he needs to face the facts that you and I are taking over next month.”
Intrigued, she asked, “Taking over what?”
“Gibbs Worldwide Investments,” they answered in unison as the doors opened to their floor.
“Hello, gentlemen.” A woman who looked to be in her early sixties stood in front of them, offering her hand to Izzy. “I’m Janice Michaels and you must be Ms. Clemens.”
She shook the regal lady’s hand. “I am. Please call me Izzy.”
“Janice has been with GWI from the beginning,” Jay told her. “She and my parents were good friends.”
Clay gave Janice a hug. “The London office wouldn’t run without her.”
Janice smiled. “I’ve prepared the conference room as you had instructed James to let me know. I’m afraid that several executives here are aware of your investigation, though they are unclear as to the specifics. Your uncle let it slip out on a conference call last night.”
“Damn it.” Jay’s frustration mirrored her own.
“James who?” Izzy asked.
Janice led them down the hallway. “James Sullivan is on the board of directors.”
Izzy thought she detected a look of longing in Janice’s eyes as she talked about James.
“He can be trusted,” Clay told her. “Mom and Dad were also very close to James.”
She remembered reading about Mr. Sullivan on GWI’s website. There had been a photo of a ribbon cutting for a new building with him and Clay and Jay’s parents.
The conference room had a large wooden table, clearly a space that was used for meetings. But not today. On the table were three laptops, each with a biometric hand scanner, notepads, and paper.
“Ms. Clemens, you’ll need to set up your access first,” Janice told her, pointing to the laptop in the middle. “Clay and Jay can help you with that. Once your fingerprints are in the system, you’ll have unlimited access to all our files.” The woman pointed at the massive printer by the window. “I had that brought in just a little bit ago in case you needed to make files. Is there anything else you three need?”
“No,” Clay told her. “This looks great. Thank you so much.”
“Very good. I’m in my office if you need anything. Good luck.” Janice left.
Jay pulled out her chair. “Let’s get you set up so we can get started.”
She sat. “How many people have unlimited access to GWI’s files?”
“Uncle Bill, me and Clay, all the presidents of our international offices, like Janice,” he told her.
“Is there any way we can check to be sure no one else has access?”
Clay nodded, taking the seat to her left. “We can pull up a list. That’s a great idea. Glad you are the team lead on this project, sweetheart.”
“Thanks.” After Clay and Jay finished getting her access set up, she said, “We better get to work.”
They verified that the people who had the unlimited access to GWI’s systems were legit. She wasn’t surprised by the company’s security measures, which were some of the best she’d ever seen. Alterations to any file were logged electronically along with the name of the person who made the change.
She leaned back in her chair. “I knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but it’s always best to rule out the most obvious possibilities.”
“I wonder how your two buddies from the firm are doing, Izzy?” Jay asked.
“I just sent them an e-mail with instructions. I’ll cc you and Clay with their response once I hear back. Let’s split up the work. Clay, can you check the invoices for all the items that were supposed to be delivered to the warehouse?”
