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CHAPTER nineteen

  I had every intention of going home and I almost went there in an ambulance. I suffered the closest thing to a heart attack I had ever experienced when I saw Rick Cox coming out of the kitchen as I hurried down the hall. The sight of him made me stop dead in my tracks. When did he come in, I wondered frantically. He certainly didn’t get off the elevator when I was at reception. Maybe I was so intent on eavesdropping, I’d missed him. But he was one of those fitness nuts and had probably taken the stairs.

  His presence frightened me so much my heart was in my throat. Not just his sudden appearance but knowing what was about to happen.

  "Rick," I croaked out. I cleared my throat and tried to act nonchalant. "When did you come in?" I asked. I still felt like I had a fur ball in my throat so I coughed again.

  "I just got here. What’s this I hear about a board meeting?" he asked. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I thought quickly of a response but nothing came to mind. I’m not a good liar.

  My eyes widened in mock surprise. He was dressed casually in chinos and an open-necked golf shirt and the muscles in his jaw and neck were moving. He must have been clenching his teeth.

  "Cut the crap Kate. I know there’s a meeting going on. And, I heard Oakes on the phone in his office. Who’s on the call?" he demanded.

  Who’d he think I was? The Amazing Kreskin? Who was I to know what was going on in this godforsaken place? I continued to stare at him, speechless. Sweat was pouring out of my armpits and down my back. At least offer me a last cigarette before the firing squad cocks their rifles, I prayed.

  "Don’t know," I mumbled. There. I said it. I lied. God was going to strike me dead. I could feel Sister Josephine pulling on my earlobe and sweet Jesus, it was painful. That was the last time I out-and-out lied. Six years old. I hadn’t forgotten. I hope the poor dear wasn’t turning over in her grave.

  "Fine," he hissed. This man was pissed and I didn’t want to be in his way. He hurried down the hall towards executive row.

  Really Kathleen, you have nothing to worry about. The man’s history. I headed towards my office and vowed to myself I wouldn’t get interrupted this time. I was leaving. My phone was ringing when I got to my office and I automatically answered it.

  "Kathleen Monahan," I barked into the phone.

  "Yes ma’am. Security here. There’s a Mr. Johnston here to see Mr. Oakes and I’m not getting any answer on Mr. Oakes’ phone. Do you know if Mr. Oakes is in?" the security guard asked.

  I sighed. "Yes, he’s here. Please send Mr. Johnston up and I’ll meet him at the elevator. Thanks." I dropped the handset back into its place on the phone from my standing height, hoping it would break. I couldn’t answer a dead phone, now could I? The handset bounced once and settled on my desk. Fuck it, I thought. I should have brought my jammies. I knew I was going to be here all night.

  Cleveland Johnston was waiting by the back door when I opened it and I smiled up at him. Cleve and I went back a long way and as tired and fed up as I felt, I was glad to see him. He leaned over and pecked my cheek.

  "Katie, how are you?" he asked. I stood back to let him pass and the door swung shut behind us. Cleveland was the only person besides my brother who was allowed to call me Katie.

  "Not so great. You’re here to see Chris?" I asked. He nodded. "Want a coffee or something before?"

  "Naw. I was at dinner when Chris tracked me down. I had just finished a coffee and brandy. My sister and her husband are in town and we were having a great time."

  I was impressed that Chris had actually tracked someone down on his own.

  "Well, Cleve, you know the way to his office. I was just leaving and I’m outta here as soon as I get my purse."

  "Katie, can you stick around? I might need your assistance drafting some documents and if things turn out the way I think, it could be a long night."

  "For you Cleve, anything." I couldn’t say no to Cleve. Harold would want me to help out.

  "What’re we working on?" I asked him.

  "I’ll let you know." We had reached Chris Oakes’ office and I knocked on the door. I opened it a crack and peeked in not knowing what or who I’d find. I wondered if Rick Cox had barged in on Oakes yet demanding an explanation. Chris was sitting by himself at the table.

  "Chris, Cleveland Johnston’s here," I announced. I opened the door wider and Cleve winked at me as he passed.

  I once had an enormous crush on Cleveland Johnston and was thinking yummy thoughts about him as I headed back to my office. There were voices coming from Rick Cox’s office and I slowed down to listen. I couldn’t make out the conversation but I think he was alone and talking to someone on his speaker phone. I hurried on because I didn’t want to be caught eavesdropping. Didn’t think of that while you listened in to a whole board meeting, did you Kathleen?

  I slumped in my chair and put my feet up on the desk and thought about Cleve. We had first met about ten years ago when I was working as a legal secretary at Scapelli, Marks & Wilson, one of the largest law firms in the city. He was a junior partner and we had worked long nights together on some pretty hairy deals. Initial public offerings, cross-border transactions, junk bonds, you name it. It was the high flyin’ nineties. Limos, expense accounts, posh hotels, fancy dinners. He was the brain and I was the brawn. Most of my work was strictly clerical and secretarial but we were a great team.

  We were both single at the time but never had the energy to make anything of it. I had the energy now but he was married. I burned out before he did and moved on. He’s still with Scapelli’s but now he’s the senior partner in charge of the securities department. Scapelli’s were hired as TechniGroup’s outside counsel when the company had first gone public and Cleve had worked on the file at that time. I was sure it wasn’t a securities matter that had brought him here tonight to see Oakes. Chris was most likely having Cleve draw up the termination documentation to fire Rick. Cleve would want to make sure everything was nice and neat so when we had to disclose the termination package in our annual information form, the annual filing we made each year with the Ontario Securities Commission, we’d all be speaking out of the same side of our mouths.

  I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew Jay was shaking my shoulder. The man was making a habit of waking me up lately.

  I touched my hand to the side of mouth to make sure I wasn’t drooling. My face was dry, thank God.

  "Jay," I said. I tried to push my chair back and get my legs off my desk. This must be very attractive, I thought. I was having obvious difficulty so Jay helped by pulling on the chair. I put my feet on the floor and looked up at him. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.

  "What are you doing here?" I demanded. I looked at my watch and saw that it was eleven p.m. I’d been asleep for over an hour and a half. My father always said a good soldier could sleep anywhere and I was proving his theory.

  And where the hell was Cleve? If he’d left me here without saying so much as a good-bye, the man was in trouble. I focused on Jay. He definitely wasn’t looking well.

  "The fuck just fired me," he stated.

  "I beg your pardon?" I was in shock. "What the hell happened?"

  "Rick called me at home at nine-thirty and told me to get in here. I thought it was about the stock option report I was supposed to be preparing. I wish I never answered the phone."

  Getting called into the office on short notice on evenings and weekends wasn’t an unusual thing around here. Jay was a poor lamb heading for the slaughter when he agreed to come in.

  When he didn’t continue, I prompted him, "And?"

  "Rick was calm. No ranting. No raving. I was surprised at how mellow he was. I figured he’d been drinking."

  "What’d he say? Why’d he fire you?" I asked.

  "He said that he was about to be fired by the board because of that information on the stock option system. You know, the different numbers I showed y
ou yesterday." I nodded. Oh yeah, I knew. Rick Cox obviously had an ally on the board who had let him know what happened at the meeting.

  "He said that Grace O’Grady had proof that the numbers had been changed by him on the system."

  "Right," I agreed. Seen it with my own two eyes.

  "But he said that both he and I knew that he never used the system so it must have been me. I asked him why he thought I would do something like that."

  "What’d he say?" I asked.

  "He said to benefit me. His numbers, mine and two others were changed. I’d benefit he said."

  "But Jay, Grace said she had proof it was him," I said. I wasn’t letting on that I knew everything. "If Grace had proof, it must be pretty solid. The proof must’ve shown that he was on the system," I prompted.

  "He said it was me using his password. He’s never used the system," Jay said.

  "How would you know his password?"

  "When I first transferred into finance Ray was away a couple of days and wasn’t able to set me up with access to the stock option system. Rick gave me his password to log in."

  "Right, but the system requires a password change every month, doesn’t it?" I asked.

  "Yeah, and that’s where he thinks he’s got me."

  "How?"

  "He told me to change his password every month. I change it to the name of the month. In March I changed his password to March. Same for April." Jay was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and he hung his head.

  "Can’t you take the Nuremberg defence on this one?" I asked him.

  "The what?"

  "The Nuremberg defence. You were just following orders. That’s the excuse all the Nazis used at the end of the war," I said.

  Jay stood up and started pacing in my small office like a caged animal. "But I didn’t do it," he yelled. "He can’t just fire me. He’s got no proof."

  I felt helpless. Rick felt he was being falsely accused. So he fired the person who he logically thought was guilty.

  "What the hell am I going to do?" Jay asked me. I didn’t know what to say to him. He turned his back to me and slammed his fist against the door. "Fuck. Fucking cocksucker." I heard him take a deep breath. "I’m screwed. This isn’t fair."

  He turned around and smiled weakly at me. "He gave me thirty minutes to clear the premises. I was on my way out when I saw you sleeping in here so I just thought I’d let you know. I’m going to get drunk. You coming?" he asked me.

  "I can’t. Cleveland Johnston’s here meeting with Oakes and he asked me to hang around. He needs me to help with some agreements. At least I think he’s still here. Let me check. If he’s gone, I’ll go with you. Wait here."

  I hurried out of my office and down the hall to Oakes’. With the amount of walking I do in these halls each day, you’d think I’d wear off my excess pounds. The door to Rick Cox’s office was open and I could see that he wasn’t there. I could hear voices inside Chris’ office and I put my ear up to the door to listen. I tried to decipher the voices but couldn’t make out anything. I opened the door a crack and peeked in. Cleve was standing with his back to me looking out the windows. Oakes was talking. Shit. This could go on all night. I closed the door quietly and walked back to my office. This was going to be hard. I didn’t want to have to make a choice between a good friend and this thankless job. In fact, there should be no choice. Fuck ‘em. Jay was more important. Cleve could call his own secretary. I wasn’t getting paid overtime.

  Jay was gone when I got back to my office and there was a yellow post-it note on my computer screen where I wouldn’t miss it. "Nose to nose" it said. "I’ll call you later. Jay."

  I shoved my cigarettes and lighter in my purse and headed out the door. I stopped and turned around to grab the note off the computer screen. I put in my shirt pocket. Fuck ‘em all, I thought. They won’t engrave on my tombstone, "She should have spent more time at the office." I pulled the door shut behind me.