by Susan Kohler
“Yeah, and the heroine is going to mangle the assistant controller if the assistant controller doesn’t go protect the controller,” Kate told her sternly.
“I thought the assistant controller was the heroine,” Laura muttered as she left the office. After a couple of steps she turned back and said, “Hey Kate, remember, it’s my office, don’t you have some work to do in yours?”
Kate returned to her cubicle and spent the morning working to keep up on the Accounts Payable paperwork. It was a tedious day. She finally input her data and ran a summary of which invoices were ready for payment. Shortly before lunch, a man she had never met before brought a large, bulky envelope and placed it on her desk.
“Hi! I’m Frank.” His smile was warm.
Kate finished inputting a sum before she looked up. She saw a handsome man in his mid-twenties. He was tall and had blonde hair, brown eyes, and a super, friendly smile.
“That’s good, frankness is an important quality in a man,” she told him in a cool, noncommittal voice. “But who are you?”
Frank looked at her, puzzled for a second, then he laughed. “No, Frank’s my name.”
“So you’re not especially frank?” she asked, laughing.
“No, actually I’m more earnest,” he said sincerely. “It’s very important to be earnest.”
“You have a real identity crisis there, Ernie.” She smiled and held out a hand, “I’m Kate.”
“Kate, dainty Kate, the sweetest Kate in all of . . .” He kissed her hand.
“Cool it, Petruchio. This shrew doesn’t need taming.” She looked at the envelope. “What’s this?”
“These are the bimonthly reports from the retail stores. You get a copy just so you can match any products against invoices, since some of our purchases are drop shipped to the stores,” he explained.
“More work, gee, thanks a lot.” She smiled at him. “So what else is new around here?”
“Not much, you’re the newest thing around.” He sat on the edge of her desk.
“Maybe so, but I’ll bet you’re the freshest thing around.” She stood up and started to hustle him out of her cubicle, but he stopped at the entrance and asked her out to lunch.
“Who’s asking me? Frank or Ernie?” she asked mischievously.
“The invitation’s from Frank. Ernie’s still loading sixteen tons, and Who’s on first,” he laughed.
She thought for a moment. It would be a good chance to find out if he knew anything about the thefts. “I need another half-hour to finish running this report, okay?”
“Sure, I’ll be back.” He left, whistling softly.
Shortly after that, her phone rang. It was Bob. “Kate, I know it’s not wise but meet me for lunch, please.”
“Gee, sorry Bob, I already have a hot lunch date.” She paused dramatically. “Frank asked me to go out to lunch with him.” There was dead silence on the intercom.
“And you’d rather go out with him?” Bob suddenly appeared in the opening to her cubicle, his voice was ominously low.
“No, of course not, it’s part of my investigation. A new path to follow, so to speak.” Her voice was also low to avoid being overheard. “You sound jealous, and you know you shouldn’t be, even if he is nice, handsome and single.”
“He’s handsome?” The tone was ominously low.
“Hey, boss, take it easy,” Kate smiled at the jealously implied in his tone. “It’s a working lunch.”
“Just don’t enjoy it too much, and remember I get to take you to dinner.” This was definitely an order.
“And after dinner? Boss, sir?” she answered with exaggerated meekness. “Who’s going to take me then?”
“I’ll take you then, too,” he answered boldly.
“Take me where?” she asked, trying to sound confused.
He glanced around, then replied, “To bed, where I’ll make love to you all night long.”
“Good plan. I’m glad you thought of it.” She pushed him out of the cubicle. “Now let me get some work done today because I have a feeling I’ll be rather tired again tomorrow morning, and so will you.”
As Kate left for her lunch date with Frank, she spotted Bob leaving the building with the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen. She had long, raven black hair, a slender, perfect figure, and an arresting face.
She asked Frank, “Who’s that with Bob?”
“I don’t know, maybe it’s his new girlfriend. He seems suspiciously happy lately. She’s really gorgeous, isn’t she?” Frank grinned at her.
“If you like the type,” she said, then paused and laughed at herself. “Meow! You’d better get me a saucer of milk for lunch.”
“Come on, little cat. Maybe I’ll even get you a nice fresh mouse.” He turned and looked at her, his gaze full of speculation. “Maybe I shouldn’t say this but you sounded jealous just then.”
“Me? Jealous of Bob? I’ve just met him, don’t be ridiculous.” Kate tried to sound indignant but she blushed. “Besides, he just spent the whole morning yelling at me.”
“Either you’re in love with the guy and jealous as heck and lying about it, or you just got sunburned in world record time,” Frank kidded her, as he held the car door for her.
“Just wait till you fall in love,” she muttered as she got into the car. “Scratch that, Frank. It’s a secret, please.”
“Why are the good women already taken?” Frank asked in an exaggerated, plaintive voice as he walked around the car to his door.
“Because we are good women, you silly man,” Kate told him archly.
He opened the car door and got in. “But what’s the problem with you and Bob? Why are you both hiding the fact that you’re in love? And why is he always yelling at you? Everyone in the office is talking about it.”
“The yelling part is easy, he yells at me so that we can keep people from finding out that we’re involved with each other, outside of work. It also gives me an excuse to spend some time behind his office door.” She paused, trying to think of a good explanation for hiding her relationship with Bob. “We’re keeping our relationship a secret because it would cause friction with my co-workers. No matter what we did, they’d think Bob was somehow playing favorites.”
Kate knew it was a weak reason to hide her relationship with Bob. She thought for a moment and decided to tell Frank part of the truth. It was a risk she felt justified in taking. She instinctively trusted Frank.
“There’s been some money stolen from the company and I’m the logical suspect. I didn’t take it Frank, I swear, but if it looks like Bob and I are too close . . .” she trailed off, trying to find the words.
“Somebody might think that either he’s not investigating you as vigorously as he should, or that you’re using your feminine wiles on him,” Frank finished the thought.
“Right. And there’s nothing calculated in our relationship, we just fell in love. It was practically love at first sight.” Kate hesitated and then added, “I know that Bob’s a decent, honest man. There’s no way, even loving me, that he would let me steal from the company.”
“Your act is flawed though. There’s talk all over the office about how Bob’s treating you. It’s not like either Bob or Laura to yell at a temp.” Frank pointed out, “If your work wasn’t up to par, he’d just replace you.”
“Maybe we’ll have to polish our act if I’m there long enough to worry about it.” She gazed at Frank, a long, steady gaze.
They arrived at the restaurant, were seated, and placed their orders.
“So let’s drop it for now, Romeo, and have lunch,” Kate said as a waiter appeared with their lunches.
“The name is Petruchio, remember?” he teased.
“I can’t wait until a shrew finds you and tames you,” she replied as she cut up her grilled chicken breast. “When it happens, I hope I get ringside seats. Maybe I’ll sic Laura on you.”
He made a cross using his two forefingers, and backed away from Kate feigning fright. “No, not that! Please s
pare me. I’m a good guy!”
“When Laura and I get through with you, you’ll be even better. Just don’t worry about a thing.” She grinned wickedly, then reached out to pat the back of his hand. “Somewhere out there is a good, stubborn, spitfire of a woman just waiting for you and maybe we’ll help you find her. She’ll drive you crazy before you even know what’s happening.”
“Please Kate,” Frank pleaded, “don’t be so helpful.”
Over lunch Kate learned that Frank, among his other jobs, acted as a courier for the company’s money on rare occasions. She liked him a lot and felt an instant kinship with his quirky sense of humor, but she couldn’t help wondering why he wasn’t listed as a suspect. Almost hating herself for the thought, she decided to ask Laura about him that afternoon.
As they drove back to the office, she had a favor to ask Frank. “Please, help us keep our secret. I hope I can trust you.”
“Of course I’ll keep your secret.” Frank quoted, “I have a feeling this is the start of a beautiful friendship.” Frank smiled as he quoted. “You know, I’m not stupid though, I do realize what you told me is not the whole story. You’re not really a suspect; you’re the one investigating the thefts.”
“How did you know?” she asked quickly.
“I don’t think Bob realizes I know this, but I know that money’s been missing long before you came to work. I’m fairly sure that no one else knows about it, or I would have heard rumors. I just realized that there’s no logical reason we should have to replace the Accounts Payable clerk every two months. Something had to be wrong.” Frank looked sideways at her. “If I can help in any way, let me know.”
“I sure will. Frank, I’ll have to tell Bob that you know, okay?” She glanced at him.
“Of course, if I wanted you to keep something a secret from Bob, it would have to be something juicier than that,” he laughed. “Now if we went to a hotel and made mad, passionate love, that’s a secret I’d keep.”
“Dream on, lover boy,” Kate laughed, shaking her head.
After lunch Kate walked into Laura’s office and asked Laura her opinion about Frank.
“Frank?” Laura replied to Kate’s question. “He takes locked bags of money between the stores and this office occasionally but he doesn’t have the key.” Laura thought out loud, “He could have found another way to embezzle but I don’t think so. For one thing, he’s on a fast track to promotion.”
“You’d hate to think any of the others are the thief either, wouldn’t you?” Kate prompted.
“That’s what’s so hard about this,” Laura said sadly. “I like everyone. I even trust everyone.”
“I’m sure Frank’s innocent, too. But I’m going to look over everyone I can think of, not just the women in the office,” Kate stated.
“We looked at others too, but go ahead. I hope you can clear all of us.” She sighed, “You do realize that Bob and I are under suspicion, too.”
“Some detective I’d make, I never thought of either of you.” Kate worried, “Is someone making things hard on you?”
“Well, the division head, Mr. Watson, hasn’t been too bad. But corporate, um, corporate wants this solved or they want both of our heads on a platter. Soon.”
“So, as they say, time is of the essence.” Kate started to leave. “By the way, who was the woman Bob went out to lunch with?”
“Sorry, Kate, I don’t know.” Laura was no help at all.
Kate went into her cubicle and got Bob on the phone. “Are you alone?”
“Yes, what’s up?” he asked.
“Pull your angry boss act and summon me again. I want to talk,” she replied.
A short time later Bob stuck his head in and briskly said, “Kate, please come into my office, again!”
She pulled the door shut behind her. “Tell me Bob, who was your lunch date?”
Bob laughed until his sides hurt. “So that’s what you wanted to talk about. That was a business lunch. Elissa’s going to be a model in our new brochure. She’s very beautiful, but she’s also very dull. No spark, and very few brains.”
“Bob, really, that sounds so chauvinistic. Not all beautiful women are dumb.” Kate protested, “Lots of models have plenty of brains.”
“I agree, after all you’re a beautiful woman and you’re extremely intelligent,” he said smoothly.
“Good save.” She laughed.
“I have met lots of intelligent models, but she’s not one of them. She’s like a pretty picture. She’s great to look at but hard to talk to. Her subject matter is limited to two things: the latest styles and her looks. If she really gets going, she might even talk about how she looks in the latest styles. She could put me into a coma. Let’s face it, she just wasn’t you.” He pulled her down onto his lap and began to nuzzle her neck.
“That’s funny, my lunch date was very charming, handsome, funny and witty . . .” She paused, savoring the feel of his warm mouth on her soft neck. “And he still wasn’t you. I do have something to report though, and I hope I did the right thing.”
She told Bob what she had said to Frank and also Frank’s guess about the truth of the situation.
“I hope I didn’t mess things up,” she finished.
“I had eliminated Frank as a suspect in my own investigation. I just didn’t tell you because I wanted you to look at everybody with fresh eyes.” He kissed her gently. “So let’s forget all about him and talk about us.”
Their lips met in a lingering kiss, then Kate sighed. “Did I mention that my kids were going out of town?”
“No, you didn’t mention it. Where are they going and when?” he asked between kisses.
“My mom’s taking them to her mother’s ranch for a week or two. They’re leaving tomorrow,” she told him.
“Why are they leaving tomorrow? Won’t they be gone when Teddy has her puppies?” He was puzzled. “That seems strange.”
“The trip was planned long before Teddy got pregnant. I almost changed the plans, but I thought the new mom could use a moment’s peace,” Kate explained, “and the puppies could grow just a little bit stronger.”
“Hey! I just thought of something. If you and I were both so nervous about making love with the kids in the next room, why didn’t you tell me that the kids were leaving this weekend?” he questioned. “We could have waited one more night.”
“Did you want to wait any longer?” she asked him gently. “I sure didn’t. And I don’t regret making love to you last night.”
“No I didn’t want to wait another second to love you, but I would have, if you had asked,” he told her quietly.
“That’s why I didn’t ask.” She kissed him gently on his forehead. “I’d better go back to work. I’ll tell them that you were annoyed at me but eventually apologized. Maybe it will throw them off balance and help save your reputation as a fair employer.”
“You throw me off balance,” he admitted.
“Hey boss, you’d better not flirt with me like that, I’m the hired help.” She opened the door and left.
As soon as she stepped out of Bob’s office the other women came over to her. Mary asked, “Was he mad at you again?”
“He was a little annoyed at first, but I explained what was going on and he apologized,” Kate replied with a smile. “He was really very decent about it.”
She went into her cubicle and went back to work leaving her co-workers staring after her.
Kate spent the afternoon working on the cash trail, matching cash register tapes and cash room reports. She began to see a pattern, confusing and blurry, but a pattern. She placed a call to Shelly and they worked on a plan to find some answers. Shortly before she finished her work for the day, she noticed something strange about certain invoices. The ones in question had purchase orders which had been written by Laura and initialed by Bob, and the receiving slips showed that the purchases had been drop shipped to another location. She made copies of all the suspicious paperwork. She also asked Bob to provide her with a
list of all the known thefts. She put everything in a briefcase so she could take them home.
Before she left, Kate told Bob that she wouldn’t be in the next day. She had three major lines of investigation to pursue: the store cashiers, the cash room clerks, and the trail from purchasing to payables. It looked like there was more than one thief, and they seemed to be unconnected. The major thief, the embezzler, seemed to be one of three people: Laura, Bob, or the purchasing manager, Jerry Weisner. She also had two paths to follow: the cash receipts and the paper trail. Finally she had something she could really dig into and investigate. She could hardly wait to get and home begin her work.
Chapter Seven
Kate’s plans changed as soon as she got home. Teddy was in labor. Martha, her mother’s friend, was trying to keep the kids calm but it was obvious there was something wrong with the little dog and they were worried. Martha wasn’t able to calm the kids down, she was fidgeting and fretting as much as they were.
“I’m so glad you’re finally home, Kate.” The agitated woman paced. “She seemed fine but about fifteen minutes ago she started acting sick. I called your office but you were already gone.”
“She’s fine, Martha,” Kate reassured her. “You did a wonderful job of looking after her and the kids.”
Kate sent Martha home, with her thanks. She checked the little dog and Teddy was definitely in labor. Sometimes Bostons have a hard time delivering their puppies, so just to be safe, Kate took care of a few special errands.
First, she called Ida and had her come over to sit with Teddy who was fussing too much to get into her whelping box. Then she put Charger outside. Finally, she changed clothes, poured herself a cold soda and called Bob. She told him not to come over.
“I’ll probably wind up spending the night at the pet clinic.” She sounded both disappointed and excited. “Teddy might need a C-section.”
“Would you like me to come too?” Bob offered.
“I’d love for you to come, but you need your sleep.”