They both laughed.
They arrived at Kevin and Deena’s place fifteen minutes early, and that was even after stopping at the wine store and picking up a nice white wine. They were having seafood.
They knocked on the door.
“Bonsoir!” Kevin and Deena said at the door.
“Bonsoir!” Jeanette and Adam replied as they walked in.
“We are so glad you can dine with us,” Deena said, taking Jeanette by the arm and walking her to the living area.
“We wouldn’t miss having dinner with such gracious hosts,” Adam said, walking behind them with Kevin. “And this is for you.” He handed Kevin the wine.
“Merci. Have a seat and let me put this in the refrigerator.”
“So, you’re leaving tonight?” Deena asked.
“Yeah,” Jeanette said, nodding. We love to live on the edge.” She laughed.
“We’ll we won’t keep you long,” Kevin said, coming back into the room and taking a seat in a chair next to a stone fireplace.
“Don’t worry about it, we’ll have plenty of time.” Jeanette looked around the room. She needed an excuse for her and Adam to check the place out. They wanted desperately to get to their home office. She knew some of the supplies that the offices ordered, but Adam would know for sure. “This is a beautiful place you have…and large too.”
“Ah, yes, you probably want to see the closet.” Deena giggled.
“Oooh, may I?” Jeanette said.
“Sure, in fact let give you a tour of the place.” Kevin sat up and brushed himself off.
Jeanette glanced over at Adam, and he nodded in approval.
They followed their host from room to room. It was what Jeanette was use to seeing when she visited European countries. Small, cozy, rustic old world. However, their place was bigger than the average home; but it still had that rustic feel too it. Modern to a point, but not overly done. It was still a French style home. The house itself had to be over one hundred and fifty years old and it was in the countryside. A long way from the office.
“You guys don’t mind living so far away from the office?” Jeanette voiced her concern.
“No, we prefer it,” Deena said. “Away from the rat race as you Americans say.”
They moved to the bedrooms. First the guest bedroom. It looked like something out of a brochure for a Bed & Breakfast. It was done in soft pastels, yet it wasn’t too feminine. It had two twin beds with a low-lying bed stand in the middle. The floor seemed like the original hardwood.
They made their way to the master, done in all modern design. Grays and whites, throw rugs, and modern art deco looking lamps.
“Here is my walk-in closet which I made Kevin put in,” Deena said, proudly.
“Oooh, niiice.” Jeanette took a peak inside, not just to see how big it was, although that was cool too. Kevin did a fantastic job. Roomy, two levels of rods and a Chester drawer in-between. But what Jeanette wanted to see was any unopened boxes of supplies, like maybe a laptop here or there. Or maybe some extra five inch D-ring binders. Or very expensive graphic software.
“Hey, Adam, come look at this.” She called Adam over to see if he would notice anything suspect.
“Oh yeah, great job Kevin.” Adam looked around, then shook his head to her.
They headed to another little room down the hall. When they stepped in, Jeanette immediately recognized it as the home office. She stood in the doorway and did a scan from corner to corner. She then nudged Adam.
“Hey, I thought you said you wanted to get away from the rat race,” Adam said.
“This is mostly Deena’s stuff. She does greeting cards. Come look.” Kevin waved them in the room.
Jeanette looked up at Adam, but he was still looking around.
“Now this card is very popular for children’s birthdays,” Deena said.
Jeanette took a look at it. It was real detailed and pretty. It was 3-D with popup art in the middle. “How sweet.”
Adam came to her side and shook his head.
Well so much for finding suspicious goods. Of course they didn’t expect anything out and obvious in the open, but people do slip up, and a binder here or there or an empty graphic art box would have helped.
They all sat down to eat and talked mainly about travel and places they wanted to go to in the future. When the conversation turned to she and Adam, she quickly changed the subject.
Deena smiled, but was gracious enough to let it go.
The meal was great. It consisted of fresh seafood, freshly backed bread and grilled vegetables.
After dinner, Adam checked his watch. “Hate to eat and run, but it looks like this evening is over.”
“We were so happy to have you and please don’t be strangers. Just don’t visit us when you’re sent on a business trip,” Kevin said.
“You got it,” Adam said. He took Jeanette by the arm and they headed back to the hotel.
***
Adam and Jeanette made their flight. And just like he told her, he slept through the whole trip. He occasionally looked over at Jeanette in-between his own slumber and saw her sawing wood too.
Yeah, it’s been a busy interesting week.
When they landed, they were picked up by Renee and Noah. They all greeted each other like old friends.
“So glad to finally meet you Noah,” Jeanette said, giving him a hug.
“Likewise. Adam wasn’t exaggerating when he told me about you.” Noah smiled hard. Adam felt his face turn hot, cause he knew Jeanette was shooting daggers at him. He glanced over at her. Yep. Narrow eyes.
“Come on guys, we’re still tired and want to get home. Can we meet in the morning? We have to have a pow-wow about this.”
“No problem. Come on Jeanette, I’m parked over here,” Renee said, taking Jeanette by the arm.
Adam walked with Noah to his car. “Did you have to mention I talked to you about Jeanette?” Adam asked, punching him in the arm.
“Sorry, just couldn’t help it. She’s beautiful. Almost as beautiful as Renee.”
Adam smiled. “So it’s really serious?”
“Well, I haven’t official asked her out on a date. It’s been purely business, but I’ve enjoyed being with her all the same.”
“Treat her right,” Adam said, in a stern voice.
“Ahh. Don’t worry. You think I’m going to fuck this up. I know you’re hot and heavy—”
“And serious.” Adam added.
Noah threw back his head and laughed. “Alright, I get it. I bet the girls at the office are feeling some kind of way. In fact, I’ve been hearing murmurings about you and Jeanette being in Paris.”
Adam sighed. “I was afraid of that.”
Chapter Thirty-One
They arrived back at her place, but Jeanette didn’t know how long it took to get there. She fell asleep in Renee’s car.
“Okay sleepy head, let’s get you in the house.”
Jeanette yawned. “It’s still daylight.”
“Uh…yeah. Your plane landed at eleven. Why don’t you take a nap? I’m going back to my office. Noah is going to meet me there. Oh, he forgot to tell you that Sam wants you to call as soon as possible.”
“Oh dear. I wonder what she wants to talk about.”
“She’s really suspicious of the IT department, but she’s keeping the faith. She can’t imagine Adam having anything to do with this. But IT can’t seem to catch up with the disappearing office supplies.”
“I understand her concern. But I think we have the answers, at least Adam does.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll explain later. Let me take a two-hour nap, then call Sam. All five of us need to come together. Adam will explain everything.”
Renee nodded.
Jeanette was on autopilot. She went straight to her bedroom and fell on the bed. She tried to wrap the whole week up in her head, but it was futile. She drifted off to sleep in no time.
Two hours later her alarm went off. She didn’t remember setting it at all, b
ut grateful none the less.
Before she went to fix herself some coffee she called Sam at the office.
“Good afternoon. Lambert, Parker and Bradley, how may I direct your call.”
“Hey Pam, it’s Jeanette.”
“Welcome home! How was Paris?” She squealed.
“I’ll tell you about when I come into the office tomorrow. Is Sam there?”
“Sure is, hold on.”
Immediately Sam picked up the phone. “Hello Jeanette, how are you?”
“Fine. Um, Adam and I need to talk with you but it has to be away from the office. We think we have something, but Adam wants us to meet somewhere else. I’ll explain later, just trust us.”
“Oh dear. It’s worse than I thought, isn’t it?” Sam asked, with a slight groan.
“I’m not sure, Adam seems to have figured it all out but hasn’t really clued me in yet. He wants to talk to all of us at the same time.”
“Huh?”
“I know, I know. Let me call you back once I get the time and place we should meet.”
“Okay, Jeanette. I have faith in you and Adam; you know that. No matter how bad it looks.”
Jeanette disconnected and then called Adam. Yeah, Sam was hanging on to her faith by a thread. Jeanette listened to the ringing of the phone. Adam picked up on the fifth ring.
“Hello,” he groaned.
“Hey, it’s me.”
“Hello babe,” Adam said, more cheerfully. Jeanette then heard movement in the background. “Okay, I had to get settled. I just woke up.”
“Me too. I called Sam.” Jeanette went on the relay the conversation.
“Okay, let’s meet at Renee’s office. Noah told me she has all the pertinent info and files and stuff there. We can explain to Sam why we had Noah come in and this outside P.I. that happens to be your cousin come in this investigation.”
“Good, cause Sam is just as confused as I am,” Jeanette said.
It was after working hours. Jeanette gave Sam the directions to Renee’s office. She, Adam and Noah were already there. They were sitting in Renee’s private office away from all the other employees. Noah was sitting very close to Renee.
Jeanette smiled. Noah was shy, however he did make it known just through his actions that he was interested in Renee on more than a business relation.
Adam was a lot bolder. As soon as he arrived at the office, he planted a kiss fully on the lips.
Ten minutes passed and Sam walked into the office, escorted by one of Renee’s partners.
“Hello you guys. Boy, what’s going on? Jeanette didn’t tell me the whole story.” Sam took a seat next to Jeanette. Renee was sitting behind her desk with Noah to the side. Adam stood in the middle of the room.
“I’m sorry I kept you in the dark Sam. But I had to go outside the office to look for help with this. This is Renee.”
“I’ve met her. You’re Jeanette’s cousin. Nice seeing you again.” She smiled.
“She’s not only that, she’s a private investigator. I had Noah come in and apply for work with the company again for a reason”
After Adam explained why they hired Renee and what Noah was actually doing at the job. Jeanette was trying to read Sam’s expression. At first it was unreadable, but when Adam finished, she smiled.
“I knew it! I knew it! I knew you couldn’t have anything to do with this mess,” she said jumping up and shaking Adams shoulders.
“Well, I’m thankful for that.” Adam did try to hide the sarcasm in his voice.
“Oh Adam, I didn’t know what to think, and the way Laura was going on about—”
“Laura what?’ Adam all but yelled.
“She kept saying that the only way this could be happening is that IT is screwing up the system and making sure stuff can’t be traced and making it look like orders were coming and going to other office. Or not being ordered at all.” Sam looked embarrassed.
“Well, I’m glad you clarified some things for me, it helped me put together the last piece of this puzzle. I know who’s doing this and why,” Adam said, taking a seat next to Jeanette.
“Let us in on it.” Renee said. “I gave you names. Who’s the winner?”
“There are several winners so to speak.”
Jeanette got comfortable in her chair.
***
Adam took a huge breath. He needed to explain this whole fiasco from the beginning and worse yet, how he was probably the catalyst for the entire thing.
“This all started a year and a half ago with my interest in Miriam.”
“What?” Sam looked shocked.
“Yeah, let me finish. True enough office supplies were going missing and some were ordered twice but no one could physically find stuff. That’s in every office, but after that crap went down with Miriam, it seemed to pick up a bit.”
Sam sat there with her hand underneath her chin. She was thinking. Sam may be hyper and cheery and acted a bit ditzy, but she was actually a smart cookie. She was loyal to her friends, and didn’t like to be crossed by those she thought to be loyal to her. Adam could see her wheels turning.
She nodded. “You’re right, it did start getting really crazy, and then the money from the petty cash.”
“Yep. Now get this. When Jeanette and I were in the Paris office, she noticed that a lot of orders were going there then routed back to the Alaska office.”
“But…why would the Par….oh my! Is someone in cahoots with…Miriam?”
“Bingo.”
“So this fiasco is going on because of a woman scorned?’ Sam asked, looking disgusted.
Adam felt bad, real bad. “I am so sorry about this—”
“You don’t need to apologize. You had no idea you were working with a crazy woman. But one thing puzzles me,” Sam said, scratching her head.
“Only one thing?” Noah piped in.
“Well actually two. Who in this office and who in the Paris office is helping all of this go down?”
“Noah can tell you that I think. Especially after what I just explained.”
Noah nodded knowingly. “You’re right. It’s Laura.”
“I knew I didn’t like her. She just rubbed me the wrong way when I first met her,” Jeanette said, as she huffed and folder her arms over her chest. “Didn’t you say she helped you with the new program Adam? No wonder the system was being overridden. She knew how to do it!”
“Exactly!” Adam slammed his fist in his hand.
“Fine that takes care of the Los Angeles office. Who’s the mastermind in the Paris office?” Renee asked. “I couldn’t get anyone there and the folks my people came back with were clean.”
“That’s why we have to put a plan together,” Adam said.
“We thought it was Kevin, the head of purchasing there. But he could be just a patsy and not knowing really anything,” Jeanette said.
“And we had dinner at his house and we did a search,” Adam said.
“You searched their house?” Sam’s eyes grew wide.
“Discretely,” Jeanette said. “They gave us a tour of the house and we just examined everything they showed us, that’s all.” She smiled.
“Speaking of discretion,” Sam said.
“Uh-oh,” Adam groaned.
“Uh-oh is right. If you two plan to have a relationship you either better announce it to the whole office or you two need to decide if you’re right for each other.”
Jeanette spit out her water. Adam stood there dumfounded.
“What?” Sam asked, shrugging your shoulders. “Sometimes the best defense is a good offence. You nip this in the bud, and be upfront and not sneak around, people will be on notice.”
Well, well, well. Sam never cased to amaze him.
Four hours later they were still at Renee’s office. Her staff left, but they were all there eating cheep, yet delicious Chinese food. They where trying to figure out a plan on how to catch these people.
“Lookie, lookie here!” Renee shouted.
Everyon
e came over to her and glanced over he shoulder and looked at what was on the screen.
“What the fuck!” Adam yelled and reached over to scroll down.
All the things, at least the stuff that was mentioned being missing was on an online auction site.
“They have the nerve to have an actual online office supply store! Are they fucking kidding me?”
Everyone turned and looked at Sam.
“What? You never heard me curse?”
“No.” The four said.
This was way past grand theft; this was embezzlement and selling stolen goods. They still didn’t figure out the missing cars, but Jeanette had a feeling from her old days working on mob books, that those cars were being shipped overseas. Add black market dealings to the rap sheet. The people involved with this was going to jail for a long time.
Once they caught them.
“So what’s our plan of attack?” Jeanette asked.
“A good old fashioned sting,” Renee said.
“Wow. How can we pull that off?” Noah asked, rubbing Renee’s shoulder.
“Let me think about it for the next few days. In the meantime, keep track as best you can all these phantom orders. Adam you continue looking behind the system, see where these orders originate from and where they go. Jeanette, you continue to hang around the purchasing department. But try not to be obvious.”
After they finished wrapping up things, Adam and Jeanette walked to his car. He had given her a lift to Renee’s office; she was too tired to drive back home anyway. Which was perfect for him, cause he wanted to spend some time with her anyway. And especially since he got the okay from Sam.
Not that he was looking for anyone’s approval, but she did shock the hell out of him with that statement she made.
“This isn’t my way home,” Jeanette said.
“No, it’s my way home. You never saw my place.”
“Oh. That’s right?”
“Are you okay with that?”
‘Sure. I mean since we are officially going together, I guess I should see your place.”
Adam tried with all his might to hold down his emotions. He wanted to leap out of the car. Jeanette finally mentioned that they are going together. If she only knew how much that meant to him.
Office Play: Freaky Geek Series Page 23