Chasing Glory (22 page)

Chapter Thirty-Two

Tal had nothing. He tapped
the edge of his desk then slanted his wrist to look at his watch. Less than a half-hour until the meeting he’d called would start. He’d hoped to present some concrete, if not incriminating, information. Up until five minutes ago when he’d received a call from the State Attorney General’s office that blew him out of the water. According to the caller, O’Mara had produced a contract granting him manufacturing and distribution rights for Kingston products.

He swore all business transactions had been done by phone, mail, or email; he’d never met A. J. Lashar and was aghast and angry when presented with allegations that the operation on Antigua was illegal. He claimed he had a large amount of money invested. Although they were still taking statements, O’Mara was temporarily enjoined against further production and all inventory confiscated pending the investigation’s outcome.

Tal had one slim course of action and he was taking notes when someone tapped lightly on his door.

“Come in.”

Glory stepped through the doorway. “Got a minute?”

He dropped his pencil. She looked sexy as hell in a navy blue suit and a peach-colored blouse that looked soft to the touch. “All the minutes you want.”

She smiled. “I came down to wish you luck in the meeting.”

He stepped around his desk and closed the door behind her. The kiss started soft, and Tal immediately wanted to deepen it, his control wavering. He pushed back. “I need to shake up a few people, then we need to talk.”

Glory cleared her throat, her gaze a little unfocused. “That was nice. Um, let me know how it went, tonight?”

“Okay,” he said distractedly, as he watched her blush; knowing from experience that it started at the tops of her breasts and climbed to her face.

“You want to go first?” she asked.

“Deal.” He picked up his notes and kissed the tip of her nose before leaving.

• •

Catherine winked at Tal as he strode toward the conference room. He stopped.

“You still here?”

She grinned. “Got a stay of execution. Shelly told me this morning.”

He gave her a thumbs-up and walked into the meeting. All undercurrents of conversation died. Besides his brother, Alyssia, and Jeff Lassiter, two other officers were present, the vice presidents for procurement and operations.

William stood. “Tal has some news about the illegal reproduction and sale of our products in a country where we have no license to export. This information is to stay in this room until further notice. Tal?”

The only people in the room who showed little surprise at William’s statement were Alyssia and Jeff.

Tal glanced around the table. “About a month ago, we received a letter from a woman complaining about the poor quality of our products at a resort in Antigua. In a follow-up letter she included the jar label. It was close, but not ours. I went to Antigua to look for something that would lead to the bootleggers. With some luck, I found a connection; the procurement manager of one of the hotels selling the product.”

The VP of Procurement raised his hand. “So, is it over? Their operation is under lock and key, end of story?”

Tal phrased his response carefully. “The immediate threat is over, but they’re still investigating and a great deal of damage has been done. Odds are someone here at Kingston initiated the scheme. I want to focus on that.”

Angry red flagged Jeff Lassiter’s cheeks, the pen between his thumb and forefinger, flipping. “I don’t know what you mean by ‘someone here,’ but that’s a little overkill, don’t you think? This man in Antigua got the idea, you found out, and that should be the end of it. Besides, the attempt sounds short term; hit and run.”

“Speaking as CFO, then,” Tal said, masking his anger at the man he knew took advantage of his position to cheat the company that trusted him. “And not knowing the extent of the damage, you don’t believe this will hurt our bottom line?”

“Absolutely not. Except for the free vacation
you
got, there shouldn’t even be even a dent.”

Encouraged by a few chuckles, Jeff continued. “I wouldn’t recommend budgeting any money to pursue this. We should consider ourselves lucky and cut our losses.”

“I agree with Jeff,” Alyssia said. “A few sunburned tourists not used to the spicy island food and who think the fruit sauce is too bitter are inconsequential. If this were on the same scale as the bootlegging Microsoft or the entertainment industry suffers, I’d say continue, but it’s not.”

“That’s true,” said Tal. “But consider the revenue loss due to the negative experiences of those unhappy tourists. Not all of them will write letters of complaint, but the ripple effect
will
kick in. Remember the alleged hypodermic needle in the soft drink can, or the E.coli bacteria infecting those children because of tainted meat in that fast food chain? Both those companies had their hands full with lawsuits, FDA inspectors, and public distrust for several years.

“My point is; the hundreds or maybe thousands of people who can afford to travel to the Caribbean and stay in one of the expensive resorts where the fake product was sold or used in the restaurants, fall into the demographics we target. They will not only
not
buy Kingston products stateside after tasting the poor counterfeits, but will likely spread the word to friends and relatives.”

The CFO frowned. “Overly dramatic. This little blip never even hit the news media.”

“True,” Tal said, already tired of Jeff’s snarky retorts. “But if it had continued, the unsanitary production and storage methods I saw would have eventually made someone seriously ill. So, we were lucky.” He pointedly fixed his gaze on Jeff. “What I can’t understand is the reluctance to go after whoever instigated this operation. If not in our own interests, then in the interests of the next unsuspecting small company that could be ruined.”

“What are you proposing?” asked Alyssia. “And how much will it cost?”

Tal saw, that, except for Jeff’s attempt’s to sweep the whole issue aside, the rest of the officers were listening. He shrugged. “In revenue, money that was in the five-year plan anyway. Get our export license for that area and sell the hotels on the idea that the real product will make for much happier tourists. If we can accomplish that within six months, I’d say we won.”

Alyssia gave a small nod.

“As for going after the person or persons in this country, and possibly this company,” he paused, letting his gaze touch everyone at the table. “The State Attorney General’s office and local police have some leads. It could take some time, but I think we should not only help if we can, but prosecute to the fullest extent.”

Jeff Lassiter’s pen looked like a propeller about to take flight. “There’s no way we can get an export license that quickly. And I think the prosecution issue should be voted on.”

Tal straightened his notes. “The Antiguan government is anxious to keep its quota of well-to-do American tourists. Their governor general is embarrassed that a resident of theirs has been implicated in a counterfeiting scam and he has already agreed to expedite our license request. I’ve also passed the prosecution
issue
, as you call it, by our holding company. The owners agree with me.”

The angry red on Jeff’s face drained to a chalky white. “So, the working officers of Kingston Limited have no say in this, this crusade of yours? Why are you so set on it anyway?”

“Mostly because I’ve yet to hear any valid reason why I shouldn’t be,” Tal said. “Also, there’s less likelihood that there will be a next time if we don’t present ourselves as an easy target this time. Just common sense.”

Alyssia tapped her pen on the table. “This sounds very ambitious, but all we’ve heard are phrases like
odds are
and
some leads
. You haven’t mentioned any real evidence.” She smiled “Will the officers be told if you do?”

Tal’s confidence slid a notch. She was right, but IT and Security had pulled dozens of files and he was confident they were zeroing in on that evidence. “When,” he said. “When I do.”

Alyssia glanced at the CFO and sat back.

Jeff Lassiter stood. “Is this over?”

Tal nodded and met the CFO’s gaze until he turned away.

William and Alyssia waited until Jeff and the others left. Tal’s brother asked to speak to him in his office.

“Sure.” Tal started to follow.

“Wait,” Alyssia said. “I want to talk to you, too.”

He knew she was involved with the counterfeiting and most likely with Jeff Lassiter, but Tal couldn’t bring himself to be outright nasty. “As soon as I’m done with William, okay?”

Alyssia nodded and left.

Tal went into William’s office. His brother looked worried. “You think Jeff Lassiter’s part of the Antiguan setup, don’t you?”

Tal sighed. “And Alyssia.”

William paled. “Do the police really have leads? Do you have any proof you couldn’t tell us about in the meeting?”

“I turned over what little hard evidence I have so far,” Tal said. “The state department has copies, too. And we have a clerk who can identify Jeff and Alyssia. I’m betting the audit of company files turns up something we can use. There’s no such thing as a deleted document. IT can find it on your hard drive.”

“Do you think there’ll be enough to prosecute?”

Tal huffed out a breath, his anger still receding. “I don’t know. I want to file charges, but I also want them to stick. I can’t think how else to buy time. That’s why Alyssia and Jeff are still working here and why I tried to color this as a personal matter in the hands of the Antiguan government. I wanted them to know there was a serious investigation, but I also wanted them to feel like they have time to cover their tracks. Who knows? Maybe one or the other will take a misstep.

“By the way, did you share the letter of complaint with the officers that Friday I left?”

William shook his head. “I never saw it. I only told them a letter had started your investigation. Why?”

“Because something was said in the meeting that corroborated what was in the letter.”

“Great,” William said, sounding depressed. “What are we going to do if this hits the trade papers?”

Tal had thought of that, too. “We have a clean image. We ride it out.”

“Anything I can do?”

“Just be charming and honest when those trade papers call for a quote.” He shrugged. “We’ll be fine.”

“In any case, I’m glad you’re handling it,” William said.

“Not me,” Tal said, then brightened. “But I did get that personal problem solved.”

His brother grinned. “Oh, yeah? Happy ending?”

“You’re going to have a sister-in-law, bro. As soon as I can talk her into it. But we have a little intra-company hurdle to get over, first.”

“She works here?”

“Yep.”

The grin widened. “Luckily the holding company can be persuaded.”

Tal shook his head. “Nope. Rules are rules. I’m working on a solution that should make her happy, though. Besides, I’m worthless with her in the same building.”

“That bad?”

He could hardly wait for lunch so he could see her. “That bad.”

William shook his hand. “Congratulations.”

Tal left his brother’s office and headed for Alyssia’s. He glanced at Glory. She watched him with those beautiful, solemn eyes. He ran into Catherine’s desk.

“Sorry.”

The brunette gave him an impish grin. “Considering your weekend, I’m not surprised you’re walking into furniture.”

Surely Glory hadn’t told Catherine
everything?

Catherine burst out laughing.

Tal stepped back. “Can you come down to my office for a few minutes after I’m through speaking with Alyssia?”

Catherine glanced at the VP’s closed door. “Anytime. My workload’s been very light today.”

“Glad to hear it,” he said. “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

He tapped on Alyssia’s door and went in. Her office had the same feel as her condo, hard edges and no warmth. “You wanted to see me?”

She stood and gave him her full attention, smiling brightly. “Yes. I wanted to tell you how much I admired the way you handled that business in the conference room. I could see, after you explained it, how important it is to Kingston to set the record straight. After all, as one of its officers, I have a vested interest.”

“Thanks,” he said. “Is there anything else?”

Alyssia tilted her head in what Tal interpreted as an attempt at coquettishness.

“I’ve been thinking about last Friday,” she said. “Our discussion concerning Catherine, then my visit to your place. I’d like to apologize for both and take you up on the suggestion to move my office to the third floor.”

Tal should have been amazed at what he was hearing, but assumed there was an ulterior motive. “I thought you didn’t like that idea.”

Genuine surprise crossed her face. “That was anger talking. I gave it some thought over the weekend and it’s really not a bad idea. I’d be closer to my direct reports and what’s one floor anyway?”

“The decision is yours,” he said.

She leaned toward him. “You’ve changed. I’m not sure when it happened, but you wear it well, and it’s attractive.”

Tal pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. Of everything he’d tried to get Alyssia to notice him; the strawberry farm, new clothes, party for Pryce, enduring the sashimi lunch, it had taken a business crisis likely brought on by Alyssia herself for her to express admiration. Then again, she was probably shining him on because she thought he could help her distance herself from Jeff Lassiter. He really didn’t care. “Flattering,” he managed.

“Not at all,” Alyssia said. “I’ll check with Facilities about moving me.”

He nodded, not wanting to encourage additional conversation.

She held up a hand. “I also meant to tell you that marketing our line in the wake of the counterfeit products is a stroke of genius.”

Tal dredged up a smile at the false praise, unable to muster more.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Tal got right to the
point when he and Catherine were seated in his office.

“Has Pryce found the right commercial space, yet?”

Catherine nodded. “He signed a lease for a quarter of a floor in a building a couple of blocks from here, why?”

He grinned. “I thought he might need a highly-recommended executive assistant. And because Kingston doesn’t employ spouses.”

She blinked at him for a second, then a stunning smile curved her lips. “Does Glory know you’re going to fire her?”

He shook his head. “I wanted to run it by you first. If Pryce hired Glory as his executive assistant, she could learn more about contracts and fill in on some of his trips. She could write her travel blogs and Pryce could spend more time with you. How does that sound?”

Catherine’s eyes shone. “Perfect, like the genius Glory thinks you are. Pryce asked me to screen candidates for his new assistant. Now, I won’t even have to interrupt my wedding preparations. But won’t you miss her?”

Tal smiled. He’d warm up to Junior now that he knew Glory was his. He had the feeling they’d all be good friends. “It’s about time Kingston opened some new markets. That means a more international selection of products. I’d need to go along with her on some of those trips. Research, you know.”

“I mean miss seeing her every day.”

He made a wry face. “I’ll miss her like crazy, but it’s only a couple of blocks and I’ll have to be satisfied seeing her every night. Besides, as I told William, I’ll get a lot more work done knowing she wasn’t within reach. Sooner or later, I’d embarrass us.”

Catherine clapped her hands then sobered. “What’s going to happen upstairs when Glory leaves?”

“Alyssia’s moving to the third floor. That’s why she called me into her office; to accept the suggestion I made last Friday. You can pick up William and Jeff, then we’ll move our legal counsel and his assistant into Alyssia’s space.”

Catherine’s eyebrows raised in suspicion. “She’s giving up her executive suite to move to a smaller office? Change the combination to the company safe. She’s up to something.”

Tal sighed. “Got that figured already, but Glory comes first. Can you arrange for me to talk to Pryce tomorrow, or soon, so I can pitch my idea?”

“Oh, he’ll go for it,” the brunette said. “It makes good business sense and Pryce is all about making good decisions.” She grinned. “He decided on me, didn’t he?”

“Good point. And thanks. I’ll talk to Glory tonight.” He glanced at his watch. “Hey, I’m eating into your lunch hour. I’ll let you get back.”

Catherine stood. “When you approach Glory with the idea that you want her to work someplace else, really stress the part about missing her and going nuts without her within reach.”

Tal was so wrapped up in his surety about his feelings for Glory; it never occurred to him that she might harbor some uncertainties. “I’ll work on that, right now.”

• •

Glory’s curiosity was piqued when Tal and Catherine got off the elevator. Why was he back again so soon? Catherine walked to her desk and Tal came directly toward Glory, stopping inches away. He smelled faintly of ginger and his eyes twinkled. He took her hand and pulled her from her chair.

“Dinner,” he said. “Your place, seven o’clock, my treat. We’ll talk.”

She nodded nervously. It was lunchtime and no one was around, but Tal’s gaze left no doubt as to how he felt.

Before she could ask what the heck was going on, he pulled her into his arms, kissed her silly, and stepped back, leaving her breathless. She had to reach for her desk to regain her balance.

“Just to tide me over,” he said and walked to the elevator, whistling. He didn’t look back.

Catherine applauded from across the room.

Glory smoothed the front of her suit, and although she couldn’t muster a look of total aplomb, she took a deep breath, said “ladies room,” and stalked away.

• •

Tal knocked on her door at seven sharp with flowers and a gourmet pizza. She met him wearing the tight black t-shirt.

“You’re trying to get even with me aren’t you?” he asked.

She stuck her chin up, took the offerings and turned toward the kitchen. “Come on in.”

“Will you at least put on a bigger shirt so I don’t have to eat around my own drool?” he called after her.

“Save your energy for our talk,” she shot back. “I’ll change.”

A half-hour later, they’d cleaned up the dinner mess and sat in Glory’s living room. Catherine was right. Tal looked and acted like he belonged with her, and it made Glory beyond happy. She relaxed, despite the perceptible buzz she got when he was near.

“What did you want to talk about?” she asked. “Is there news about the counterfeiting? Oh, before I forget, how did this morning’s meeting go?”

“Us. Yes. And as expected.”

Glory laughed. “I’m most interested in us, but tell me about the other stuff first.”

“At the meeting, Jeff Lassiter tried to play down the whole thing. Like the problem didn’t exist or was so minor it didn’t matter. Alyssia referred to tourists experiencing the bitter taste of the fruit sauces. Since she never saw the letter of complaint, how would she know it was about fruit sauce unless she’s involved?”

“Wow.” Glory took one of his hands in hers. “It’s one thing to have strangers do this, but to have people you trust betray you is awful.”

“I stressed the investigation in Antigua, but made it clear sooner or later the local connection would be found. I’m banking on Jeff’s arrogance. I think Alyssia’s banking on flattery, plus, she’s having herself moved to the third floor.”

“What? Why would that help her? And she wouldn’t do it if it didn’t.”

Tal shrugged. “My guess is she’s trying to distance herself from Lassiter. At least physically.”

“Too late for that,” Glory said. “But I wish there was more evidence.”

“We’re getting there,” Tal nodded. “I received a faxed copy of the contract O’Mara produced that was signed by A. J. Lashar. It looks authentic. Since Alyssia handles Kingston’s contracts, she probably put it together.”

“Have you compared signatures?”

Tal was lost. “Signatures?”

“Yes. Contract signatures. Maybe Jeff or Alyssia signed the fake name. If one or the other has similar handwriting, a match could be verified by the authorities and the contract would be evidence.”

He grabbed her in a hug. “I was so busy looking at the sales terms it hadn’t occurred to me.
You
are a genius.”

Glory laughed. “You would’ve thought of it sooner or later. Anything else?”

“Security is overseeing an IT audit of all company files, active and deleted since the trip. I gave them criteria and they’ll pull and copy anything fitting it. It’s a huge job, but they’ve promised results in the next couple of days. I’m betting either or both of our officers deleted incriminating documents.”

“Nothing is ever really deleted,” Glory said.

Tal nodded. “We’re hoping for digital fingerprints.”

Glory tugged his sleeve. “Change of subject. You said you wanted to talk about us.”

He looked at the face he’d come to love, took a deep breath and let it out. “You have to promise to listen all the way to the end of my idea
and
sit on my lap while I’m explaining.”

She stepped out of arms’ reach. “Sounds like one of us will have the advantage.”

“True,” he said. “But I need you close for this.”

His tone must have convinced her. She straddled his lap, but leaned back, arms crossed.

“Let’s hear it.”

He studied her as he outlined his idea, stressing how much he would miss her. Glory’s face brightened at first, then dropped into a frown.

“You’ve put a lot of thought into this,” she said.

Tal tipped his head, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Maybe too much. The whole
fait accompli
aspect bothers me,” she admitted. “I like the part where you travel with me, though.”

“I went too far, didn’t I?”

Glory nodded, although her gaze didn’t condemn him. “You’re so good at solving problems, I guess it comes naturally.” She dropped her arms. “It’d be much nicer if we could have worked out the details together. Especially when the decision affects, oh, I don’t know, my career!”

Tal bowed his head. “You’re right. It seemed to solve everything. I didn’t even stop to think whether you’d like to work for Pryce. I promise team decisions from now on.”

Glory patted his chest. An action which encouraged him to put his hands over hers.

She held his gaze. “Team decisions sound good. I’ll miss you and Catherine a lot. However, I’d like to be the one to talk to Pryce. Set my own employment terms.”

He leaned forward to kiss her. “Then you don’t mind changing jobs?”

“Can I keep my key to the workout room? Get sweaty, then use the shower?”

Tal groaned. “I can live with that. As long as I’m the only one who has another key. And, I promise you won’t have to run on the treadmill to get sweaty if I have my way.”

Glory raised a teasing eyebrow. “What way is that?”

He held onto her hands. “The way where you not only change jobs, but your last name.”

“Oh.”

That single syllable made his stomach drop.
It was too soon and she was going to turn him down. Okay, that was okay. He could wait a while, then ask her again.
He cleared his throat. “If you didn’t recognize my clumsy effort, that was a proposal. And you don’t have to change your last name if you don’t want to.”

Tears started in her eyes. “I could say I wanted to think about it since we’ve only known each other for six weeks, but I’d be lying. Would you mind a short engagement?”

“I’d prefer it,” he said, in between kisses.

• •

Tal borrowed William’s office for the meeting with Kingston Security and IT. He wanted privacy.

Greg Hannity knocked promptly at 9:00, then entered. He was followed by Sharon Polk, head of IT.

Tal stood, smiling at the tall red-haired security manager and the shorter, well-tailored brunette who oversaw Kingston’s computing needs. “Hope I haven’t wasted your time.”

Hannity carried a folder and huffed out a breath. “It was a good call.”

Tal eyed the folder. “You found something?”

“Yes. Several documents that fit your criteria. They’d been deleted. Copies have been turned over to the police as evidence in your case.”

“Good news,” Tal said, reaching for the folder.

The security manager handed it to him, but neither manager smiled.

A hard knot formed in Tal’s chest. “What?”

Greg Hannity shook his head. “No way of proving these documents were generated by the person assigned to the computer they came from.”

“What does that mean? All this,” Tal flicked a finger on the folder, “was for nothing?”

“No,” Hannity said. “It’s a starting point. But we wouldn’t be able to prove without a doubt that no other employee had access to either computer. Executive assistants, people working for either party dropping in to leave reports, any number of reasons a defense attorney could come up with. There’s also the communal printer that all five people on this floor share.” He shook his head. “Without the original hard copies with fingerprints, you need to know you’re up against it.”

Tal’s mind raced. He hadn’t considered any of this. If cornered, Jeff and Alyssia could easily throw blame on Glory or Catherine and walk away. He wanted to step into Jeff’s office next door and throttle him until he confessed.

Hannity said something he missed.

“. . . if you think of another way Security can help, let me know.”

Sharon Polk nodded. “We found a number of questionable uses of company computers. Time to issue another all-staff memo on what they can and can’t be used for.”

Tal didn’t care about that at the moment. He wanted to get to his office, review the copies Hannity had given him and work on a new angle.

• •

Glory knew what the meeting in William Kingston’s office was about and was surprised it took less than five minutes. The Security and IT managers walked out and got on the elevator. Tal came through the president’s door a half minute later. He did not look happy. He stopped by her desk. “Catch you up on break?”

An hour later she tapped on Tal’s door, then went in. He sat at his desk scratching notes, his hair messed as if he’d run his hands through it repeatedly.

“Tough meeting?”

He lay down his pencil. “Two steps forward and one back.”

Glory itched to hug away the frown that now replaced the smile that had greeted her, but his open door policy meant just that, anyone could knock and walk in. “Can I help?”

“Sure,” he said, his expression wry as he tapped the pages in front of him with his index finger. “Come up with hard copies of incriminating documents that have fingerprints.”

Her gaze dropped to the top papers in the open folder. They were Excel spreadsheets, something she dealt with every day as the CFO’s executive assistant. “Can I see those?”

He nodded and turned the folder around.

Glory saw the origination date followed by an F, for final. “This is less than two weeks old. And the total’s off.”

Tal stood. “Are you certain? I mean how do you know?”

Her heart started pounding. “I do all the monthly comparisons; to the month before and the same month last year. The total from last month compared to the previous month came up as a consecutive number. Something like $432,123.45. This is over $20,000 different.”

Tal flipped the papers around. “More or less?”

“Less,” she said. “And there’s something else.”

He grabbed a binder, flipped it open and was studying the printouts. “Something else?”

“The mobile shredder picks up every other Thursday morning from our locked unit down the hall. The originals might still be here.”

His eyes lit as her idea took root. “Tomorrow is Thursday and it hasn’t been picked up since the day before William told them about our trip. You really think Lassiter kept hard copies?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Glory said. “But it’s worth looking into. Part of my regular duties is to take all the printouts in a specific tray on his desk to the locked shredder box every Wednesday. I saw some papers sitting on the credenza behind his desk the second week I was here and started to take them. He freaked out about me never touching them. After we got back from Antigua, I noticed they were gone.”