AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why would you know, I guess? You’re an area manager. Not specialized in accounting. You turn in statements and contracts. Why would you care what happens after you pass them on, when everything was handed over to me to organize for the IRS?”
His lips moved but no sound came out.
Charmaine and Wes remained focused hard on their own sorting, but there was no doubt they were listening to every word of our exchange. Their attention wastooengrossed in a task that didn’t require that much meticulousness at all. I almost laughed at how diligent they suddenly were.
“Well, if I can’t help out here, I guess I have other things to do.” Parker started to back away.
“I guess you do.” I remained upbeat. Chipper even.
He turned to leave.
“Oh, but Parker?” I stopped him, but he didn’t turn back to face the room.
He simply waited, his shoulders tense in his ill-fitting suit. It had a sheen to the material, too, like it had been washed or ironed too hot.
“I’m actually going to need to see your most recent client contracts as part of my paperwork, too. I just want to be sure we’re securing the best rates.” I didn’t explain myself further.
I was the boss now, no matter what he thought. And I didn’t really give a shit about his opinion, anyway.
He nodded, the movement sharp, and it was probably just as well that I couldn’t see his face. His shoulders remained tense.
“I’ll have everything brought to you as soon as possible.” Even his tone had become more formal.
That was a good thing, though. He needed to respect me as the CEO. And the sooner I started earning — or at least demanding — that, the better.
He left without another word, closing the door quietly behind him. My wolf hearing picked up his footsteps receding, and when he was far enough away, I relaxed.
“Oof!” Wes sharply exhaled. “Damn, Jo. I thought you were about to spring into fight mode.”
“He’d really not worth it, though,” Charmaine said. “I mean, he’s a petty little man, but I think you can keep him in his place.”
Wes shuddered. “Ugh. I can only imagine all the ways he’s little. And you know what? I really,reallydon’t like him.”
I didn’t like him, either, but I couldn’t put my finger on exactly why. Mom’s dislike of him played a big part now that I knew about that. “He keeps showing up.” Although maybe there was a plausible explanation for that.
He did work at Gold Moon after all. Maybe I was just being overly suspicious.
“Yeah, he does. Kind of when I don’t expect him to.” When Charmaine nodded, her curls bounced around her face.
“He’s kind of shifty.” Wes stretched his mouth into a grimace. “I mean, for a guy who’s not a wolf and all, that’s a red flag, right?”
I didn’t reply, but Wes’s words had given me something else to think about. We all returned to the steady rhythm of our work, compiling my new filing system into an order that made sense. Maybe if I’d known things were so disorganized here, I could have helped out earlier, and it would have made whatever Dad was investigating easier.
But I couldn’t base any regrets on a “what if.” I only had the present, and I could only work with what I could see.
“You know how you asked Parker for his client files?” Charmaine’s voice broke the silence.
“Mmhmm.” I slipped some paperwork back into place.
“Well, some of his newest clients have had shipments stolen while they’ve been with us.” She took a deep breath. “But they still continue to use us for their business.”
“Accidents happen, right? People give us the benefit of the doubt?” Dad had a good reputation, a good name. There was no reason people wouldn’t trust us to make things right, especially if they had a contract stating it.
She shook her head. “It’s more than that, though. I mean, ifIpaid a company to be responsible for my risk in shipping something, and several of the shipments ended up lost or stolen or even just misplaced briefly, I’d be livid. I wouldn’t throw more money at the company, anyway. And I’d tell anyone who’d listen about my experiences, too.” She lowered her voice. “I’ve seen the invoices for some of those companies. They’re up in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. But I haven’t seen any of the original contracts—Parker must still have them. Either way, he’s bringing inbigmoney. And it’s quite a new thing.”
“You haven’t seen any other paperwork except invoices?” That was definitely strange. Charmaine had access to whatever she wanted to see.
“I’ve seen partly completed forms, but something was always missing. Address, company name, point of contact, or quantity of items. Anything. Just incomplete documents. Things that would break the chains connecting the documents elsewhere. Make it hard to cover the paper trails, I guess.” She looked at me. “Your dad was right, you know. Something shady was going on in his business and right under his nose. I think it still is.”
