I patted my face dry with a paper towel and took a few deep breaths. Armed with new resolve, I returned to my desk and picked up the report. When the numbers danced before my eyes, I gave up and stuffed it into my purse. Maybe I’d have better luck at home.
Stupid me– I decided to look up Carolina Oliveira. Pictures of the Brazilian beauty filled my screen. With every click, an even more beautiful version of her came up. Bronzed skin. Dramatic, passionate eyes. Perfect body.
To make sure I drove the point home, I searched for images of her with Jake. Immediately, a photo popped up of them standing on the red carpet at a film festival. He looked amazing in a tux, with his arms wrapped around the model’s tiny waist. She was dressed in a burnt orange gown few women could pull off. They looked like the quintessential power couple. Tall, beautiful and rich.
The taste of bile on my tongue prompted me to close the browser. There was a burning at the back of my eyes and I closed my eyes to relieve the pressure.
“You needed a reality check, Cora. No more daydreams,” I admonished myself.
An hour later, Jake’s door opened.
“Cora, come into my office. We didn’t finish our conversation.” His whole demeanor had lightened and I wondered if the talk with his girlfriend had cheered him up.
Unaccountably depressed by the thought, I pretended to look for something on my desk. “I’ll be there in a sec.” When I was myself again, I walked into his office.
He grinned at me and I wanted to glower at his good mood, but I kept my face neutral.
He must have sensed my mood because he sobered quickly. “Is something the matter?”
“No, of course not.” I looked down at the report and spoke briskly. “I couldn’t tell you exactly what it is, but something seems wrong with Bauen’s financial statements. I need a bit more time to find the cause though.”
“Very good, Cora. You have excellent instincts.” There was a note of pride in his voice and I raised my gaze in time to catch his look of approval. “There’s no need to look any deeper. I already know what’s wrong.”
“What is it?”
“Someone’s embezzling money and is very good at hiding it.”
“What? How could you tell?”
“Experience. Look at the operating budget. There’s no way they could have spent that much on marketing on a company this size. They’re cooking the books to hide their incompetency. Bauen has been suffering for the last few years.”
“Is it one of our companies?”
He shook his head. “No. One of our rivals. Their headquarters is in New York, but they have a local office. They just outbid us for a billion dollar project on the North Side. Do you remember the bid you typed up a couple of weeks ago?”
“Yes, but if they are doing so poorly, how could they outbid us?”
“That’s the million dollar question. My guess is that either they have someone from City Hall in their pockets or they found out about Weston’s bid ahead of time. And I doubt it’s the former. I know the administrator in charge of this particular project.”
The implications hit me between the eyes and my mouth rounded. “You think someone is leaking information from the inside? But who?” It felt unreal that Jake and I were talking about corporate espionage. Didn’t that only happen in the movies?
His face hardened. “I don’t know. But when I find out someone is betraying me, they’re going to pay.”
I shivered at the unforgiving note in his voice and felt sorry for whoever dared to cross this man. “How are you going to find out?”
“First, I’ll have the tech department make sure the system had not been hacked. Then they’ll sweep the email correspondences. But whoever had access might have been smart enough to do this the old-fashioned way and not have left a digital trail.”
“If they don’t find anything, then what?”
“It has to be someone on this floor. I’d hate to think that someone on the executive team betrayed me, but bids for projects this large would only have come across a few people’s desks. I’ll have my head of cyber security look into this further.”
“Is there anything I should be doing?”
“Just make sure you lock up sensitive documents and log out of your computer when you leave your desk.”
Since I already took those precautions, I just nodded. This job was certainly shaping up to be a lot more exciting than I had expected.
Chapter 5
“Cora, I don’t want to go to school today. Can I stay home?” Marcus stood at the kitchen counter, his gaze fixed on the half-empty plate in front of him. His hair flopped over his eyes and I reminded myself to take him for a haircut soon.
“What’s wrong? Are you sick?” Of its own volition, the back of my hand went to his forehead. It was something my mom did whenever we said we felt unwell. I wasn’t even sure I would know if he had a fever from feel alone.
He pushed away my hand. “I’m not sick.”
“Then what is it?”
“I don’t want to go to that stupid school. I’m not learning anything anyway.” He looked mutinous. Most of the time Marcus acted like a grown adult, but when he was in a temper, I was reminded of how young he really was.
I stifled a sigh. The weekend had been wonderful. The trip to the steakhouse was a treat for both of us and we enjoyed our meal enormously. He was excited about the two pairs of new jeans we bought for him. I felt optimistic about our relationship for the first time in a while, but it looked like Marcus’s moodiness had returned.
“I know you’re not being challenged, Marcus, but you have to be in school. It’s the law.” I tried to be patient.
“Then it’s a stupid law. Just call the school and say I’m sick.”
He said the last sentence almost pleadingly and I felt another zing of guilt. Even though I made more money as Jake’s EA, I was still far from being able to put him into a private school. I had been hoping to hold off for another year; I would have some money saved by then.
“But you’re not sick. I’m sure once you’re there with your friends, you’ll be glad you went.” I studied his unhappy face with concern. “Did something happen at school?” Maybe I needed to call his school counselor.
My little brother’s face got alarmingly red before he exploded. “I hate school! Mom would have let me stay home!”
“I’m sorry, Marcus. I’m sure if Mom were here, she’d want you to go to school too.”
“That’s not true! Mom would have understood. You never listen to me. You always treat me like a little kid. I hate you!” He picked up his backpack and barreled his way to the door.
“Marcus!” I knew he was lashing out, but each word was a direct strike to my soul.
The front door slammed behind him.
Feeling like an utter failure, I dropped my head into my hands. I didn’t normally indulge in tears, but grief and self-doubt mixed toxically and powerfully, bursting through my control. Tears streamed onto my palms, seeping through the cracks in my fingers. My shoulders shook as raw, ugly sounds emerged from my throat.
I missed my mom so damn much. Marcus was right. She would have understood him so much better. In so many ways, I was finding my way like a blind person. I was barely able to get my own life together; how was I supposed to take care of a teenager?
I curled up on the sofa and sobbed, indulging myself in a cathartic cry.
My eyes were puffy and tender when I showed up for work. Alana looked triumphant when she saw me, but my misery insulated me from caring about her pettiness.
As soon as Jake saw me, he honed in on my red eyes and demanded, “Cora, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Jake. Just a rough morning.” I winced at the sound of my hoarse voice.
“Is there anything I can do?” he asked gently, his look almost affectionate.