“Yeth, Mama. I know. I lithen to you all the time when you’re telling me.”
“All the time?”
We’re at the door when he answers. “Well, motht of the time. Thometimeth, I don’t wanna lithen.”
“Well, at least you’re honest,” I mumble.
I lift my hand to press the buzzer on the keypad, to let them know we’re here, but before I get there, the door starts to open.
Sammy jumps back in surprise, and looks up at it with eyes full of wonder. “Whoa. Thatth a big door.”
I smile down at him. “Yep. This is a warehouse. It’s kind of a weird place for Mama to work, but I’m trying to look at it as interesting and different. Not everything that’s different is bad. Sometimes different things are good.” I hope my advice is sinking in and that maybe it’ll apply to his daycare situation. I have a feeling there’s a new kid on the block who’s inserted himself into the pecking order in a spot that Sammy doesn’t agree with. I make a mental note to call the daycare and talk to the director.
May is at the crack of the door as soon as it’s big enough to reveal a person. She grins at me first and then she looks down at Sammy. “Sammers! You made it!”
“Whereth Felix?”
May laughs. “I guess I know where I stand.” She gestures for us to come in. “Felix is just over there by that exercise equipment, Sammy. You can go over there and play with him, but don’t touch any of the equipment, okay?”
I give my sister a hard look that says, How long do you think he’s going to listen to that rule when none of us are watching?
She looks at me as she continues. “I’ll be right over. And when I get there, I can show you some of the equipment if you don’t touch it first.”
Sammy goes running over to the makeshift gym, yelling as his little shoes slap the concrete floor. “I won’t touch anything! I promith!”
There’s nobody around but May and me. I’m a little sad that Dev isn’t here to say hello.
“Where is everybody?” I ask, trying to be cool.
“They’re upstairs. I figured you probably wouldn’t want to be overwhelmed on your first day, especially after everything that happened . . .”
I wave my hand at her to stop her from going down that path. “I’m doing better. Better, but kind of walking a thin line between sanity and insanity, so if you could just not talk about it while we’re here, that would be awesome.”
“Okay, no problem. But after you’re done working, we’re going to talk about this. About your job, about the panic room, about Dev.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me.
I ignore the innuendo I’m sure she’s just delivered. I’m not ready to analyze his possible motives toward me yet. For the first time in my life, I’m ready to keep a secret from my sister. I don’t know if this is a good sign or a bad one.
“Okay, whatever you say.”
May squeezes me around my shoulders as we walk side by side. “So, are you excited to be here?”
We head toward Sammy. “Do you want my honest answer or my playing-nice answer?”
“Be honest. I can handle it.”
“Well . . . I would say that I’m grateful to be here. I’m grateful for the job, even though it’s just a one-time freelance thing. If Ozzie could give me a letter of reference when it’s all over, it could really help with my new career.”
“What’s your new career? You have a new career already? What did I miss?” She laughs, but not at me, so I don’t take offense.
“My new career as a freelancer.” I try to smile, but I’m not sure I pull it off, because May is looking at me funny.
She pats me on the back. “That’s the spirit, babe. You’re going to be fine.” She shifts her attention to Sammy. “Hey there, little man, are you ready to see some super cool stuff?”
Sammy’s hand is reaching up toward a piece of gym equipment, his fingers hovering just inches away from it. His eyes are big and round. “Yeth, I’m ready.”
“How about if we look at that gym equipment later? I have other things to show you first that are way cooler.”
Sammy points at a stack of weights. “Cooler than that?”
“Yes.” May is nodding. “Way cooler. Like ninja-stuff cooler.”
My eyes pop open at that. “You’d better not let him touch . . . those things that are up there.” I don’t want to say ninja swords; that’ll only pique his interest more.
May rolls her eyes. “Give me some credit, Jenny. You know I’m not going to let my nephew cut a finger off.”
“I can cut a finger off?” Sammy’s eyes are practically falling out of his head at this point.
May laughs. “No. Didn’t you hear me? There will be no cutting off of any fingers today.”
I feel the very strong urge to emphasize this point. “No cutting fingers off, Sammy. No fingers, no toes, no nothing. No cutting of anything.”
Sammy nods vigorously. “Okay. I won’t cut anything off.”
I’m not nearly as excited about this job as I was ten minutes ago.
“Come on, guys,” says May. “Let’s go upstairs so that Mama can talk to Ozzie and the team and find out what they need her to do.”
We walk up the stairs together, with May holding Sammy’s hand. At the top of the staircase we’re faced with another keypad. May enters in a code, there’s a click, and she pushes the door open.
“Now, Sammy, you can’t touch anything in this room. You can look at everything, but you can’t touch it. No matter what.”
“Okay.”
Her voice goes stern. “You have to promise me, Sammy. You can’t touch anything.”
Sammy’s a little breathless. “I promith. I won’t touch anything. And I won’t cut anything off.”
“Okay, little man. I’m trusting you.” Auntie May puts her hand on his back and pushes him toward the opening. “The light will come on as soon as you step inside.”
Felix runs past all of us and disappears into the darkness. Seeing that tiny dog be so brave makes me realize how silly I’m being, acting nervous about entering the ninja room and then the meeting area or kitchen or whatever they call it in there. I made a bit of a fool of myself the last time I was here, and I don’t relish facing the music, but damn . . . if that tiny excuse for a dog can walk around in here like it’s no big deal, so can I. I’m as brave as a chihuahua, at least. I think.
The light goes on in the room as Sammy steps inside, and he stops so suddenly, I walk right into the back of him. I barely keep my laptop from swinging forward and knocking him unconscious.
“Sammy, what’re you doing?”
“Whoa. Doeth a real ninja live here?”
That brings a smile to my face.
“Kind of,” May and I both say at the same time.
She looks at me funny, probably because my cheeks are turning red as I imagine the man who owns these swords. I can’t meet her eyes, so I focus on Sammy instead.
“You’ll get to meet him later. His name is Dev, which is short for Devon.”
“There’th a girl named Devon at my thchool.”
“We don’t have to tell Dev the ninja-man that, though, right?”
Sammy looks up at me. “Why not?”
“Because . . . sometimes men don’t like to think that their name is a girl’s name too.”
Sammy thinks about it for a second or two and then nods. “Okay.” His attention is back on the ninja swords in seconds. “I could cut a lot of thingth off with theethe thords in here.”
I try really hard not to laugh. “Yes, you could. But you’re not going to, because you promised Auntie May and Mama that you wouldn’t cut anything. Remember, you are not allowed to touch anything in this room.”
I start to wonder why on earth they would have a room full of such dangerous things lying around when Dev has a child; he must bring his son here from time to time, right? But then, it might make perfect sense to have the swords here rather than at his house. The more I think about it, the more it appears to be
a very good parenting decision to have the swords here, yet a very bad parenting decision to have my kid here. That Mom of the Year award is definitely moving further and further from my grasp.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
May walks into the next room, holding the door open so we can pass through. Sammy starts heading off toward one of the swords instead, so I rush forward and take him by the shoulders, shifting him in the other direction. “Here we go, this way. Let’s go see Felix. Won’t that be fun?” I’m really trying to sell it, like hanging out with Felix is better than candy. Better than ninja swords, even.
Sammy remembers his buddy and shifts focus, moving to follow his Auntie May. “Where are we going?” he asks.
“We’re going where they have cookies,” says May.
I shake my head at her and whisper as he walks past. “He’s already ingested an entire box of animal cracker cookies this morning for breakfast.”
She gives me a sly grin. “Shooting for Mom of the Year, are we?”
“Judge not, lest you have children and be judged. God saves his most special mommy-curses for critical kid-judgers, you know.”
“Hey, it’s cool with me. You know whenever I’m in charge they eat lots of cookies.”
I wave her off. “Shush, I don’t want to know.”
Goofing around with my sister about her Vegas rules is making this event easier to handle than I thought it would be. I could be fretting about what these people will think of me, but instead I’m thinking about kid-Vegas. What happens at Auntie May’s house, stays at Auntie May’s house. Vegas rules apply whenever she babysits, no matter where or when it is. It’s the best way I know to allow my kids a little spoiling without making it a regular part of their lives.
“There she is,” says a bright voice from inside the kitchen area. As I come around the corner I see the man who said it—Thibault, along with his Cajun accent and his friendly smile.
I smile back. “Hey, Thibault. How’ve you been?”
“Never better. Welcome.”
“Thanks.” I look around the room. Everyone but Dev is here, including a woman who I haven’t met yet. But I don’t need an introduction because I already know who she is: Little Miss Kickass. My sister’s description of Toni couldn’t have been more perfect. I would not want to get on this girl’s bad side. Even though she’s smaller than I am, she looks like she could definitely take me down.
The woman stands up and walks over, her high-heeled boots making sharp noises on the floor. When she’s in front of me, she stops and holds out her hand forcefully, with almost military precision.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Toni.” There’s no smile there, but I’m not getting the vibe that she’s unfriendly toward me; she’s just all business. I can respect that. I’m a Wonder Woman fan.
I take her hand in mine and give her a firm shake. “Nice to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Toni’s right eyebrow goes up. “Do I want to know?”
My smile is suddenly warmer at what appears to be the tiniest hint of insecurity on her part. “It’s all good, I promise. You really impressed my sister, so you must be somebody special.”
I detect a very slight softening of Toni’s features, or at least I think I do. “Good to know,” she says, letting my hand go.
“This is my son, Sammy.”
Toni looks down at him. The tiniest hint of a smile quirks up the side of her lips as she shakes his proffered hand. “Nice to meet you, Sammy.”
“Nitht to meet you too, Mith Toni.” His little hand falls to his side and he immediately starts scanning the space under the table, looking for Felix. I take hold of his shoulders to keep him from dropping onto all fours.
Toni turns, goes back to her chair, and resumes her seat.
May speaks up. “You’ve met Lucky and Ozzie, of course.”
I nod. “Yep. Great to see all of you again.” I finally allow my gaze to be drawn over to Ozzie. My face heats up once more as I wait for his judgment to be cast.
He nods at me, no signs of judgment anywhere. “Thanks for coming. You’re really helping us out of a bind.”
It always feels good to be needed. I wonder if Ozzie knows that well enough to use it to his advantage. He seems very cool and relaxed, but I think he’s a hell of a lot wilier than he appears. I won’t hold it against him if he’s purposely buttering me up, though. I like butter.
“Well, I don’t know for sure if I can help you, but I’m willing to give it a shot.”
Lucky pulls out the empty chair next to him. “Why don’t you have a seat here, and I’ll show you what we’re looking at.”
I take Sammy by the hand and bring him around the table with me.
“But I want to go with Auntie May,” he whines.
May follows behind us and I stop, waiting for her to catch up. I’m about to tell her she doesn’t need to play babysitter, but she takes Sammy by the hand without hesitation and starts to lead him away. “How about we go meet Sahara?”
“Ith that the big doggie?” Sammy asks, sounding excited about the prospect.
I’m trying not to panic over the idea that Ozzie’s dog could have Sammy as a snack between meals.
“Yes, that’s right. You already met her once, didn’t you?”
Sammy nods. “She’th big. Mommy thayth we can’t have a big dog, ’cuth big dogth have big poopth and she doethn’t wanna pick them up.”
Everyone chuckles under their breath.
My face goes a little pink, but I know they’re not laughing at my son. His little speech impediment makes him sound like he’s cracking a joke when he’s just saying whatever he needs to say. I don’t hold it against people who find humor in it.
I’ve been told he’ll grow out of it, but that if he hasn’t by the time he starts school, he’ll have speech therapy through the system. Regardless, I don’t pressure him because it’s part of who he is, and I think it makes him special.
May leads Sammy away into an area of the warehouse I’ve not yet seen, and I sit down at the table. Where I was working before, the environment was really casual. Meetings were held sometimes in a circle made of beanbag chairs. It feels nice to be sitting in a room full of grown-ups who actually act like grown-ups. With all the muscles around me, I can almost imagine I’m hanging out with the Super Friends, circa 1973.
Everyone takes a seat as Ozzie speaks. “First of all, I assume that May has spoken to you a little bit about the situation, but just to make sure we have all our bases covered, I’d like to start by having you sign an NDA.” He nods at Lucky and one is presented to me.
“Absolutely.” I scan it to be sure I’m not signing over a kidney or anything, then use the pen Lucky gives me to put my signature on the paper. It looks like nearly every other one I’ve seen. Confidentiality has been pretty much standard procedure in every job I’ve had since college.
“Good. Now that that’s out of the way, we can talk about the case. This one concerns a marine accessories retail chain called Blue Marine. Maybe you’ve heard of it?”
I shrug. “I’m not really into fishing.”
“It doesn’t matter. You don’t need to know about the marine business to know something’s not kosher with this particular outfit. We’ve been hired by one of the owners of the business, who is also the major shareholder of the corporation. The other shareholders are not aware of our involvement.”
I nod, letting him know I get it. So far, so good.
“There’re some irregularities in the accounting, and Lucky, who is our financial expert, has been going through the books. He’s also made a site visit to verify some of the things he found. I’m going to let him give you more detail on that, but the gist of the matter is, we suspect pretty substantial embezzlement is going on.” His expression goes dark as he delivers that bad news. “We have no idea who is responsible; we don’t know if it’s a single actor or more than one person, and we don’t know if the other owners are even aware there’s a problem.”
And the plot thickens. I hate to admit to myself that I’m actually getting excited about working in the middle of this mess.
“Because this is a closely held corporation, a family business, we want to be careful about not stepping on toes. This operation is entirely covert. If and when you make site visits, you will go as a customer, as an undercover employee of some sort, or maybe even a vendor. But under no circumstances will any of our team let anyone at Blue Marine know what we’re up to. And that includes the person who hired us, Hal Jorgensen.”
Ozzie pauses to let that sink in. It seems like everyone’s on board by the way they’re nodding, so I nod too.
“Hal will be aware if and when we put someone in place, but that person will not interact with him; and on the off chance that they do interact with him, it will be as a new employee or a new vendor would with a business owner who they’ve never met before.”
Ozzie’s waiting for something, and I notice that everyone around the table is nodding all over again, so I go ahead and nod more too, although I don’t really know what the hell he’s talking about. Who is he going to put in place over there?
“Lucky, why don’t you give her a rundown of what you found. And anyone else who has something to add, feel free. We want to give Jenny as much information as she needs to get her job done.”
I lift my finger, and everyone stares at me.
Ozzie lifts an eyebrow at me.
“Can I ask one question first?” I say, trying not to sound meek, but failing badly.
Ozzie gestures at me. “By all means. We don’t stand on formality here. If you have something to say, just say it.”
“Do we know exactly what my job is going to be? Or is it something I’m going to have to figure out later, once we get deeper into the financials?”
Ozzie looks at Lucky. “Lucky, why don’t you answer her question.”
I turn to face the man who will now be telling me whether this is a job I can handle or not. This is way more interesting than stringing together code for a company I kind of hate.
Lucky opens up a folder in front of him. It’s very thick. After thumbing through a few papers, he pulls one out and places it on top.