He's Got Her Goat (12 page)

“Hey, Mr. Keller.” Austin sat on the red kidney-bean-shaped sofa, the only bit of color in the room. “I’m ready to start working for you.”

Sterling paused, trying to remember why the intern would be there.

Austin took a tentative step toward him. “You promised me a position after introducing you to Paige.”

Sterling continued to his desk and sat. Opening his briefcase, he took out his report and scanned the pages one last time. “Give me a week, and I’ll have your assignment ready.” He’d check with their sanitation division.

The intern hung his head, and Sterling let the kid show himself out. He had almost shut the door when Sterling called him back as an afterthought. “I’m expecting another document today. A private survey of three recycling facilities?” Once again the hard copy policy annoyed him, and he wished they could use digital copies like every other business in the twenty-first century.

Austin grinned. “Check your inbox.”

Sterling gestured to the mahogany box on his desk, which contained a handful of single page office memos he’d never bothered to read. “No folder in sight.”

“Not that one.” The intern was at his side, bending over his computer, typing on his keyboard. “There.” He pointed at the screen.

It was a computer application Sterling hadn’t seen before. To the right of what looked like an inbox icon, a set of parentheses had a two in it. He clicked, and sure enough, the digital copy was there. A chuckle ruptured from deep in his chest. “What app is this?”

Austin stood a little taller. “It’s my thesis. I’ve created a hyper-secure interoffice server that records every document within Erickson Holdings. Not only can you retrieve your documents, you can track where they are physically and electronically—here.” He clicked a few more keys, and the screen lit up with little squares moving constantly back and forth around a spreadsheet.

Once the cursor lit over a square, a text box appeared with the details of the document and its location. Sterling played with the application for a few minutes, becoming more amazed by the second. “You did this?”

Austin hung his head. “It’s the reason your document was delayed on Friday. That’s when we went live. But it’s still no excuse.”

“I think it is.” Sterling rose to his feet and shook the intern’s hand as an equal. “By end of business today, I’ll have a better idea of where I stand with my next assignment, and I promise you’ll be my right hand man.”

Austin smiled with the look of a sports fan whose team won the playoffs. “Thanks, Mr. Keller.”

Walking back around his desk, Sterling opened the survey doc and sat down. “No, thank
you
, Austin. I should have believed every word Paige said about you.”

The mention of Paige stopped the boy in his tracks. “She says nice things about everyone. I’m glad you got to meet her.” Austin opened the door and walked past a stunned Dotty. Apparently, she wasn’t expecting him to be so chipper.

The intern’s last words played across his mind. He thought of Paige’s dark curls, olive complexion and bright mind with a little regret. “So am I.”

HALF AN HOUR LATER
, he was ready to face his boss. The survey he’d reviewed was more than he’d ever expected. Technology recycling was the untapped wave of the future, and with enough capital upfront to ensure they came in top of share, they could easily maintain the prime spot and make more money than his dad ever dreamed of. He pressed the button on his phone again. “Dotty, are you sure she still hasn’t come in?”

His secretary’s voice was strained. “I told you three times that you should get up and wait at her office. Stop acting like that annoying girl you’ve been trying to avoid, will ya?”

He got to his feet and began pacing between his desk and the sofa Austin had been sitting on. His boss hated to be pressured into anything, preferring to be the initiator of any conversation. He was the same way. But if the intern could do it, why couldn’t he?

Sweeping the Lindon report into his hand, he strode down the hall. Once his boss gave him back the prospectus, he’d be ready to make a move on Earth Tech.

“It’s about time,” Dotty said as he passed. He’d inherited her from a retired partner, and she’d never steered him wrong. Although no longer the true beauty she'd evidently been twenty years ago, Dotty was still sharp as a tack and knew more secrets about his associates than Sterling would ever dream of. It had gotten him out of more than one tight spot, and he knew she wouldn’t let him forget it.

THE EXECUTIVE OFFICES WERE AROUND
a blind corner, opening to a wide bay of cubicles. At the end of the hall, double doors led to a plush waiting room which led to the president’s office. The secretary wasn’t there, but he could see through the thin window to the left of her door that his boss was.

Sterling moved forward to knock, but she saw him first. “Open it.”

Elaine Erickson didn’t stand. She wore a fuchsia pantsuit and a dour expression. Across from her sat a man whose watch was the only interesting thing about him. It was a Hublot knockoff. Anyone that knew anything about quality wouldn’t trust him as far as they could throw him, and anyone that didn’t shouldn’t be playing in this league.

The vapid fellow was about to introduce himself, but Elaine took charge. “This is Ryan Scott of Emu Bliss. He claims that Bill Lindon used his formula for soap without permission.”

Sterling couldn’t imagine the man he was looking at having anything to do with something as lowly as soap. “You’re talking about Paige Lindon’s uncle?”

“Deceased uncle,” Elaine clarified.

Taking the arm of the closest chair, Sterling sat. “I didn’t realize he had passed. Was it recent?”

Elaine steepled her fingers. “Yes, that’s what brought this issue to our attention. Bill’s obituary outlined his accomplishments and mentioned the soap.”

The other man didn’t respond, content to let Elaine do his talking for him. Sterling wanted to punch him in the mouth for some reason but decided the best tactic would be to ignore him all together.

Sterling knew lawsuits like this seldom went to court. They were usually the result of some slick Willy looking for a quick buck. Evidence was fabricated all the time to syphon profits off a skyrocketing product, but with Paige’s limited resources, Lindon Beauty Cakes had years before it would get to that level. “I don’t see what he hopes to get out of the operation. It’s barely solvent. Her production is so low she can’t even keep a booth at the flea market stocked.”

“That’s because it’s in such demand she can barely meet her orders.” Elaine got to her feet and walked around her ample desk with a printout in hand. “I thought you investigated her this weekend.”

Sterling clutched his report but suddenly didn’t want to relinquish it. “I did.”

Sitting on the edge of the desk in front of him, Elaine handed him the page. “Frankly, I expected more from you. This is extrapolated from the information we’ve been able to obtain. Do you know her wholesale price is $30 per bar?”

Sterling followed the numbers on the page with his finger. “I assumed that was retail, but yes.”

Elaine glanced at Ryan before going on. “And she currently has fourteen producing does that yield forty bars per day each.”

Licorice, Concrete, Cinnamon and the others came to mind. Sterling nodded. “Yes, that’s about right.”

Elaine continued. “Do the math. That works out to 566 bars per day. Over 500k of product per month at thirty a bar.”

“Six million per annum?” Sterling read the figures over again. It didn’t make sense. “Have you seen her house? Her car?”

Moving back to her leather chair with a look of triumph, Elaine explained, “Of course, that’s only her potential gross. Given her uncle’s funeral and other setbacks, her production is down. It also looks as though most of her retailers are new relationships. Once she’s hired a few employees, that girl’s prepped to break open an entirely new niche market.”

Again, Sterling found himself admiring Paige’s business acumen, but a few things did not compute. “So what does this have to do with you?” He turned his chair to look at the man beside him. The snake averted his gaze.

His boss answered for the man again. “Her success is a direct result of Ryan’s scientists. He has the documentation to prove it. If he takes this to court, she’ll lose everything.”

Sterling couldn’t stay sitting down. Jumping to his feet, he clutched the arms of Ryan’s wingback and jammed his face within inches of the creep. “So what do you want?”

Again, Ryan didn’t react. Sterling could tell the guy was pretty confident he’d already won.

At last Ryan opened his mouth, but his words were directed to Sterling’s boss. “You can call off your dog now.”

She didn’t have to. Sterling knew he’d crossed a line, but this whole thing still didn’t make sense. He withdrew to a corner to cool down, and Ryan got to his feet.

“My lawyers will be in touch,” he said to the room in general before exiting.

Now he’d get some answers. Sterling sat in front of Elaine who was reading through three single page documents on her desk. He waited. When she met his eyes, he said, “So what is your part in all this? Why are you even involved?”

“It’s somewhat confidential.” She dropped the pages into her top drawer. “I was a close friend of her uncle, and am watching out for Paige’s interests.”

He wasn’t buying it. “Where’s the Bobsie twins? I can’t believe you’d even talked to that character without them present.”

“Evans and Little are in Vancouver, as we speak, explaining the situation to Miss Lindon. She should be arriving within the hour.” Elaine’s gaze returned to her desk, meaning he was excused, which was fine with Sterling because he was speechless.

As he wandered down the empty hall to his own office, Sterling was reeling. He remembered Paige telling him about the worst offense that could ever be committed in her view. Lying. And she was about to find out that he was perhaps the worst criminal she had ever known.

As he rounded the corner to his office, it took everything he had not to lunge himself at the man leaning over Dotty’s desk. Sterling’s jaw clenched so tight he could hear his teeth grind against each other.

Ryan hung over the counter surrounding Dotty’s desk. “I’m divorced now. Come on, Dotty-kins. It’ll be like old times.”

Dotty stood and leaned toward him suggestively. “Not old enough, sweetie.” With both hands she shoved at his chest, causing him to tip backwards and have to catch his balance.

Sterling took that moment to advance, trying not to laugh too hard. “Dotty, I think we’ve got some work to do. If you don’t mind?”

She grabbed a pad and pencil. Sterling hadn’t seen her respond that quickly since the day he took her on. “I think we’re done here,” Dotty said to Ryan.

He gave her a wink as he walked away. “Not by a long shot, babe.”

Chapter Fifteen

P
AIGE WAS MILKING WHEN
a black SUV rolled up her driveway. She thought it was a lost sightseer until two men got out of the car with their dark suits and solemn faces.

She stood at the door of the barn in her Wellington boots, rubbing Petunia behind one ear, as Bob Evans and Bob Little told her how everything she had ever worked for could be gone. Previously, she had spent the morning wondering how Petunia had escaped again. What they were saying seemed to make that concern trivial. She couldn’t believe that they were accusing her uncle of doing something so dishonest. It made no sense.

When they suggested she come with them, they didn’t need to ask twice. “You bet I’m coming. We’re going to straighten this out because it’s the biggest pile of goat poop I’ve ever heard of.”

They waited while she changed into the navy blue pant suit she had bought for graduation last winter. Paige pinned her hair up and brought out her makeup kit, spending more time than usual. She left feeling prepared for anything they could throw at her.

The two lawyers encouraged her to ride with them. She didn’t argue but got in her own car anyway and started the ignition. After letting them worry for a minute or two, she rolled down the window and agreed to follow them.

They exited the freeway on Couch and Burnside and passed a huge sign touting the world’s largest bookstore which took up a whole city block. They drove by a gold Chinese lion and a donut shop with a line that reached around the corner. Though she lived less than an hour north of Portland, she had spent very little time in the city. Once, while gawking at the interesting architecture and even more interesting inhabitants, she missed a light. When she pulled through the intersection, the SUV was waiting. At last, they entered a basement parking facility where a well-dressed valet opened her door.