Sean and Sara were on the sofa and Jimmy was in one of the chairs. He dragged it over so he was closer to them.
Sara didn’t really want to verbalize her craving for a robust cup of java, but all this talk about beans wasn’t going to help her predicament. If the hotel served coffee from the local company, it was quite likely many in the area would do so as well. But surely there had to be someplace that brought in their coffee from elsewhere. There had to be…
First she’d have to acknowledge her dependency on the beverage to get them out looking for her. And fessing up to her need would equate to a heavy drinker admitting to alcoholism—she’d fall into the addict category. She shook her head at the labels spinning in her mind. Her caffeine enslavement wasn’t hurting anyone. Maybe if she became active in the conversation, it would help. “What does Tasty Beans do, exactly?”
“Well, when they get the beans they’ve already been processed.” Jimmy hoisted his one leg over the other and continued. “There are five common roasts—American, Viennese, Italian, French Dark, and Espresso Black…”
Jimmy kept talking, but she wasn’t really listening. All she could think about was a full-bodied coffee coating her palate. She held out her hand. The good news was it wasn’t shaking yet.
“—the perfect roast for flavored coffee is medium to dark. And, that’s where you’ll work next to Casey.”
She tucked her hand under her leg, hoping that the men wouldn’t have noticed how she had held it out a moment earlier. She needed to come back with something to show her mind was following the conversation. “How is the flavoring added?”
“Two ways. For whole beans, flavoring is added through spraying. For ground beans, it can be mixed in. Before you ask, both methods are used at Tasty Beans.”
“Sounds like quite the elaborate process, eh, darling? You probably never thought about how much went into that cup of coffee.” Sean reached for her hand. He watched her take it out from under her leg to meet his halfway. It was possible he hadn’t caught on to her, but her mind was screaming so loud for a coffee, she just assumed everyone could hear it.
“What else should we know, Jimmy?”
“From there it’s sent through quality control. It sits for four days and is then shipped.”
Sean let go of her hand and straightened out. “Quality control. You’re telling me that people, in-house, are drinking this tampered coffee?”
“It is quite possible.”
“Three o’clock can’t come fast enough.”
Sara glanced at Sean, but she wasn’t going to remind him that he’d be picking up a broom at that time. She had her own drama to sort through. How was she going to work in a coffee factory without some caffeine in her system? Surely a chain coffee shop wouldn’t risk using someone else’s coffee with their name stamped on each cup.
“Guys, why don’t we go for a little drive around Williamsburg? We have time for a little sightseeing.” What she didn’t add was that somewhere along the way she’d be taking them into a Dunkin’ Donuts.
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Chapter 28
ROLL CALL
THE WOMAN AT THE FRONT counter of Tasty Beans directed them to follow a security guard. He led them back to a heavy-set woman in human resources who was holed up behind a desk. Her gaze traveled over the three of them.
“Who are they?” she asked the guard.
“New hires sent over from the agency.”
The woman rolled her eyes and let out an audible sigh. “Sit them outside there. I’ll come get them one at a time.”
“You got it.” The guard directed them to a row of chairs that lined the wall across from her office. “Take a seat and she’ll be out for you soon.” He walked off mumbling, not waiting for them to follow his instructions.
Sean couldn’t discern what he was saying, but imagined it had something to do with the lady’s lack of decorum.
The woman got up and shut her door.
Jimmy leaned in toward Sean. “She’s a sweetie pie.”
“She’s probably not used to three hires showing up at once.”
Sara nudged into Sean’s side. “Adam would have called, posing on behalf of the agency right? I mean if—”
The door opened again and the woman called out, “Gwen Levine.”
“That’s you, darling,” Sean said.
Sara got up and went into the office. Sean heard the woman tell her to shut the door. It wasn’t long after and Sara came out.
Casey came down the hall toward them. He saw Sean and then did a double-take. “You got a job here after all?”
Sara intercepted and went up to Casey. “He did. We must be the luckiest people in the world.”
“Oh yes, lucky.”
Sean read the sarcasm in Casey’s eyes. He wasn’t so certain about their jobs at Tasty Beans denoting luck, but in this economy, getting a job was something to celebrate.
“You’re going to take me to my post—I mean, our post?” Sara smiled at Casey, her eyes all doe-like.
Sean realized she was role-playing and winked at her when he was certain Casey wouldn’t notice. The guy’s gaze went back to him though.
“There’s something different about you. Didn’t you have a mustache?”
“Sometimes a guy needs to change things up.” Sean touched the top of this lip and it was enough to prod the recollection of the pain from the night before. At least his skin wasn’t red when he woke up.
“Ah. I guess so.”
“Shall we get to work?” This was from Sara, who was still attentive to Casey as if a high school teenager.
“Yeah, sure. Let’s get to it.”
Sean watched after Sara as she left with Casey. The knight inside of him, the portion of him that required he be Sara’s protector, didn’t want her to go with him. But she was more than capable of taking care of herself. He preferred to believe that everything would be fine. It’s not like Casey would kill her here anyway…right?
“Gavin Rossdale,” the woman bellowed from inside her office. This time she never even bothered to get up. “I said, Gavin Rossdale.”
“I think that’s you, Jimmy.”
“Really, Gavin?”
“Guess so. It is Gwen Stefani’s husband’s name.”
“Does this day get any better?”
“For you it does. I’ll be swinging a mop and cleaning out toilet bowls soon enough.”
“Point taken. Gavin, it is. I won’t say another word about it.” Jimmy guffawed as he got up.
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Chapter 29
ON-THE-JOB TRAINING
SARA KEPT PACE BESIDE CASEY. Just as she had assumed, the smell of coffee beans permeated the building and she was happy that they had found a Dunkin’ Donuts. Despite the fact it was now three in the afternoon, and other days she could have easily drunk six coffees by that point, one was enough to keep her from shaking. She used the lack of withdrawal symptoms to soothe any earlier inclinations that she might be an addict. She could cut back her intake.
“So, tell me everything,” she said to Casey.
He turned to her and kept walking. “You’ve never worked for a coffee company before?”
“Nope.” She said it with an innocent flair, hoping he’d find her cute, past the blond wig and the fact she was married.
“It’s not that hard of a job, but it might be overwhelming at first. We have a quota to meet each shift but don’t worry, the beans are in huge mixers.” He took them right down another long corridor. “There are three mixers dedicated to our signature flavor alone. You do know what that is?”
She considered playing stupid but didn’t see the harm in confirming her knowledge. “Dark cherry almond.”
“Right.” There was the hint of a smile. He opened a swinging door and held it back for her. “Now, you’re going to have to suit up here.” He pointed
to a dispenser on the wall for white caps. “You’ll have to tuck your hair up. Can you imagine what would happen if a customer found hair in their beans?”
While the thought was revolting, Sara’s mind thought of one much worse.
SEAN WAITED PATIENTLY FOR JIMMY to finish up with the human resources lady. She took ten minutes with Jimmy and he came out wearing a comical t-shirt with the company’s logo center mass.
It only took what seemed like two minutes for Sean to be shown the janitor closet and given a breakdown on what he’d be responsible for from the hours of three to eleven each day.
At the top of the list were the factory bathrooms. It took a lot of self-talk for Sean to give in to the fact he was likely the richest man in the world cleaning public toilets. It was certainly a call to infamy he could have done without. Maybe he could get his job switched around with Jimmy’s. But even as the thought entered his mind, it was kicked out. Jimmy was perfect for talking up customers and the other drivers. Even though Casey was their chief suspect, they had to remain open to other possibilities.
Sean would be calling Adam on his first break to prompt him for an update on Casey’s financials. Not that Sean was typically a micromanager, but bathrooms? The thought made his stomach roil and his heartburn flare up. It had been a long time since he’d felt that discomfort. Yet here he was, stuck without anything to calm it down, and he was confident that swiping the inside of a toilet bowl was going to make it worse.
Somehow he’d have to place himself out of body.
After dinner break at five, he’d have the offices to do—emptying their trash and cleaning their washrooms. He’d also have to wash all the floors.
According to the schedule, every Friday he would have to vacuum some of the older ones that still had carpeting. It was Tuesday. He hoped the case would be wrapped up by then.
Guess time would tell.
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Chapter 30
MORE THAN AN OMISSION
THE MAN APPROACHING JIMMY WAS dressed in a Tasty Beans t-shirt. It matched the one that Jimmy was told to put on before being directed where to go. Based on the open bay doors and the two delivery trucks backed up to the loading docks, it was apparent Jimmy had the right place. Now he was supposed to seek out a Bruce Baldwin, who was the shipping manager. He had a feeling the man coming toward him was Bruce.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Jim—Gavin Rossdale.”
“Which is it, Jim or Gavin?” The man crossed his arms.
Obviously there were a few people at Tasty Beans who didn’t much care for their jobs.
“Gavin.”
“Well, Gavin, I’m not sure what the agency told you, but there’s no position here for you.”
“What? I was—”
“Forget what you were told.” The man was obviously Bruce, based on his territorial stance.
“But I need this job.” Jimmy pretended to panic and it wasn’t that hard to conjure up. If he lost his job, Sean would willingly quit to open up a slot in the cleaning department.
“I appreciate that it’s a tough economy.”
“I’m a hard worker and I know my way around customers. I received a star of excellence from my former employer.” All right, so maybe Jimmy was stretching the truth a bit. But if they were going to get to the bottom of what was going on at Tasty Beans, some exceptions needed to be made.
“The star of excellence you say? Well, we could always use the help. Don’t misunderstand what I said earlier. I don’t know what they told you down at the agency, but this isn’t a long-term placement. It will be temporary. Likely very temporary. My name’s Bruce Baldwin.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Yep, now follow me and I’ll introduce you to Luke. He’ll be running you through how everything works and getting you out on a truck. You do have your CDL?”
Jimmy recognized the abbreviation as a commercial driver’s license. “Of course.” This was another lie and could cause damage if he got behind the wheel, but he had no intentions of letting that happen. He’d come up with excuses to get him by for the duration of this ruse.
“I’m going to need to get a copy for the file.”
“I gave it to the—” Jimmy stopped talking. He was going to say the agency had it but then the man would go calling over there and they’d have no idea who Gavin Rossdale was—besides Gwen Stefani’s husband. “I left it at home.”
“That wasn’t thinking, now was it?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think I’d be driving the first day.” A lame excuse, but he hoped Bruce would let him have it.
“We’ll get you hooked up with Luke and he’ll do the driving today.” They made it to the shipping office and Bruce grabbed a clipboard off the wall. “Here, hold this.” Then he picked up the receiver of a nearby phone and paged over the speaker system. “Luke, to shipping. Luke, to shipping.”
And so it began. Jimmy had exchanged his badge for a coffee uniform. He glanced down at the shirt. It was teal with brown ribs that lined the ends of the short sleeves and the scoop of the neck. On the front was a circle with a steaming coffee cup in the middle, but instead of it simply being wisps of white vapor, three sets of beans formed hearts. The company name followed the curve of the circle with Tasty arched at the top and Beans at the bottom. It was more cheerful than he was at the moment. He wondered how Sean and Sara were making out.
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Chapter 31
IT’S ALL IN THE PROCESS
SARA ANALYZED THE MACHINE IN front of her. It was essentially a trough made of stainless steel. Inside, curved blades came off a center axis and Sara could imagine they spun when the power was turned on. The tub was full of beans and, she assumed, waiting on Casey’s return.
“What is this machine?”
“It’s called a ribbon blender.”
“Ribbon?” She imagined what might result if one fell victim to the metal once it started to spin.
“Yes. Those,” he signaled toward the inside of the machine, “are called ribbons. They are not blades if that’s what you were thinking. Although, I still wouldn’t recommend getting your arm caught up in there.”
The way he spoke of getting ‘caught up’ was spoken in a light, even joking, manner. She needed to get closer to him and while this should have scared her, discovering the truth pushed her forward. “I’m sorry that we had to leave so quickly yesterday. We never got to know much about you.”
Casey reached for a control that dangled down from a wire. “Not really much to know and now’s not the time. We’ve got work to do. Stand back.”
She did as he said. She wasn’t going to test out how she’d fare against the ribbons.
As the beans tossed, Casey pushed something else and a pressurized spray coated the beans. It was just as Jimmy had described the process earlier that day.
Casey let go of the controller and waved for her to follow him out of the room. “That will mix for twenty-five minutes. It’s set on a timer to stop. Now we go on to the next room.”
“I do have a question. Where does the spray come from? I mean it’s obvious we’re adding the flavor to the beans by that method. Who is responsible for making the flavoring?”
“It’s all measured out in the company’s lab. There is a science to all of this, you know. It’s not as easy as grabbing a cup of coffee and enjoying it. Not once you see what goes on behind the scenes.”
She found Casey’s tone even more defensive than his words, and it did nothing to weaken her suspicions about him. If anything, it served to strengthen them. He had moved across the country, taken a pay cut, received miscellaneous deposits in his bank account, and now, as it turned out, was obsessed with the coffee process.
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Chapter 32
AND THE KEY FITS
SEAN WASN’T SURE WHAT HE was supposed to accomplish as a janitor
, besides giving himself a stomach ache and learning how to bring up the shine in a dull floor. But as he mopped he realized the one thing in his favor was the time to think.
First of all, Dee Dee had said that cyanide wasn’t easy to come by. She did mention it was in natural substances such as apples. It was another thing that made Casey seem even more capable of being a corporate spy and saboteur. But as Sean worked his way through the numerous corridors, he came across a room that had a sign next to it that read Quality Control. He tried the handle and it was locked. Letting go of the mop altogether and leaning it against the wall, he pulled out a ring full of keys that the not-so-sweet HR lady had given him. He still didn’t have her name. It wasn’t something she had been forthcoming with.
Thumbing through all the keys, he wondered why they hadn’t upgraded to keycards. It would have made everything so much easier. He found one labeled QC and shoved it into the lock. It released, and he twisted the handle.
“Excuse me! You can’t go in there. What do you think you’re doing?” The human resources lady was huffing it toward him, her arms moving wildly at her sides.
Sean let go of the handle. “I was going to clean in there. It is an office?”
“No. You don’t have clearance to clean in there. This is your first night.”
Sean didn’t verbalize the thought he had. If the company was concerned about restricting certain areas maybe he shouldn’t have a key for it. Also, with her emphasis on this being his first shift, no one seemed to care that he was running around on his own.
“I don’t clean in there?”
“Not yet you don’t. Give me that key.”
Sean handed over the ring and met with a gruff exhale as she swiped it from him and worked to free the key.
He thought he’d press his already unfortunate luck. “Why don’t I clean in there?”
“Because this is where the beans are given a final taste before they are approved for the consumer. It’s also where all the flavor recipes are kept. We can’t have new hires getting in there and possibly messing things up.”
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