Tea or Consequences

by KC Burn

  Riley squared his shoulders. He had a plan and he was going to stick to it. No one said catching criminals was easy.

  Next, he wandered over to François’s office.

  Shit. Mary, François’s admin, either hadn’t taken her lunch break, or she was back already. Still, there might be hope. Mary liked him.

  “Hello, Mary.”

  She smiled at him, a pleasant, matronly smile like he imagined a grandmother would give. “Hello, Riley.”

  “How was your weekend?”

  “Not as interesting as yours, I bet. Although my girlfriends and I went to one of those pole-dancing exercise classes.”

  Riley tried not to stare. Mary was sixty if she was a day, and plump. He’d often wondered how much say Bethany had had in the hiring of François’s admin. “Did you have fun?”

  “I did, actually.”

  “I applaud you. That would take more coordination than I have.” He got a sudden vision of trying to convince his gaming group to take a pole-dancing class and nearly tied his esophagus in knots trying not to laugh. Shaun would do it, but he was only in the gaming group under duress, as in Riley would never agree to Shaun’s more social plans if he didn’t cave and attend a couple of game nights a month.

  Mary tilted her head. “Wait, you’ve never done that?”

  Riley did his best to keep his face still and nonjudgmental, but seriously, what had she been watching? Did she just assume every gay man could work the pole—stripper pole, that was—like a pro? People had some weird ideas about gay men. Then again, maybe he shouldn’t have assumed she wouldn’t take pole-dancing classes. “Nope. Never.”

  “So did you do anything interesting this weekend, then?”

  “Just went to a club and hung out with friends.” Geeked out at Coffee and Conquer, became a confidential informant, had illicit sex twice with a police detective, and dodged drunken oral sex at Anaconda. Details no one truly needed.

  “You need to find a nice man to settle down with.”

  “One day, Mary, one day. Nice men aren’t exactly littered around!”

  They both laughed, those insincere laughs that indicate engagement and politeness but not necessarily true mirth. Social contract. But her simple acceptance pleased him. He was probably engaging in some sort of reverse judgment, but he often assumed that people of her generation weren’t as accepting of his orientation, and that often made him hesitant to say anything. But it had never been in his nature to hide.

  “I haven’t seen you since you transferred to Cody. How are you finding that?”

  That was a loaded question, especially from someone who had François’s ear. And more than likely got an earful from François after he found out about Cody’s intrusion into the business. But Mary managed to make the question sound completely innocuous.

  “It’s fine. It’ll be a while before he’s up to speed, so I expect the work will be very feast or famine.”

  “I’m sure everything will smooth out sooner or later. Did you need anything, or just visiting?”

  He’d been hoping for a chance to poke around François’s office, but it would be tricky. Might actually require a bit more planning. For now, he had other unrelated things he wanted to check out.

  “Actually, I do need to compile a report about past product launch events. Cost analysis and whatnot. But I don’t think the files I have are complete.”

  “Oh, that Aaron. I don’t know what he was about most of the time, but he wasn’t the most detail-oriented person I’ve ever come across.”

  He didn’t feel right about agreeing, but he could certainly understand why she’d think so.

  “Can I get copies of your files, or maybe just borrow them if you’ve got paper versions?”

  Riley assumed they had paper versions, since Gabrielle had been old-fashioned enough to prefer paper over computer, although invoicing, payments, and approvals were done online with paper backup. If there were full duplicate files anywhere besides Gabrielle’s file cabinets, they’d be in the Finance department.

  “Of course you can borrow them, as long as you bring them back. Do you need them right now, or can I dig them out later?”

  Riley smiled—his very best smile that usually got him a man for the night. “I wouldn’t want to put you out. I don’t mind getting them myself.” He gave an ingratiating laugh. “After all, it’s about the only task on my plate right now.”

  Mary giggled. “Oh, cry me a river. You’d best enjoy the lull while you can, because it won’t last long.”

  “Don’t I know it.”

  She waved a hand. “Go on, then. Because I’ve got a ton on my plate.”

  “Thanks.” Riley opened the door to the file room, a repurposed office on the other side of Mary’s desk. He’d have to compare what was entered into the invoicing system with the paper files, but Aaron’s files had enough errors that he needed to double-check what was correct. If there was an error, and he suspected there were at least two substantial ones, then those funds needed to be reappropriated.

  He wasn’t sure who’d be responsible for that, though. François as VP of Finance, probably, although he had more than enough things to deal with just now.

  By the time he’d selected the files he needed—in between poking around into files that were absolutely none of his business—an hour had passed. He hadn’t been kidding, though. His workload under Cody was still quite light. In addition to Cody figuring out his role, he wasn’t exactly used to having a full-time executive assistant. At his previous job, Cody had shared one with five other managers. Riley understood François and Floriana’s ire a bit more, since Cody’s new position gave him quite the boost up the scale, but it wasn’t like Gabrielle’s kids hadn’t gotten appointed to positions they’d never have been hired for in any other company.

  “What are you doing in here?”

  Riley leaped at the unexpected sound, whirling around and almost toppling his stack of files.

  François Gautier stood there, arms akimbo, scowling as though he’d just caught a street urchin stealing his wares. For a moment Riley was again that undersized bully fodder he’d been in high school.

  A frisson of fear made everything in his gut feel just a bit liquidy, but Riley stiffened his spine. The project he was working on might be self-assigned, but that didn’t change its validity. And François couldn’t have seen him “investigating” other files, or he would have said something earlier. He met François’s gaze directly, as Riley was equal in height. He might not be equal in rank, but neither was he entirely dependent on François’s goodwill to keep his job.

  “Oh, now, Mr. François,” Mary admonished from outside the file room. “Riley’s working on a report about expenditures for launch events. Which means he’s borrowing files. That’s what they’re there for—reference.”

  François slowly relaxed his stance, but his eyes remained distrustful. He moved back barely enough for Riley to move past.

  “Those files better be back here, in good condition, as soon as possible,” François growled.

  Somehow Riley managed to keep from rolling his eyes. “Of course. As soon as I’m done.”

  “And don’t leave them out where just anyone can see them. Some of that information is undoubtedly confidential.”

  Questionable, since they were essentially invoices for parties that had already occurred and been paid for, but he wasn’t about to antagonize François if he didn’t have to.

  “Mr. François.” Mary sounded almost scandalized. “I realize Riley hasn’t been here long, but he’s good at his job. You don’t have to worry about that.”

  “Thank you, Mary.” Riley nodded brusquely to François and left the room.

  “You have a good afternoon, dear.”

  As soon as he was out of sight, he almost ran for his desk. Despite the tomblike atmosphere, it still represented a haven.

  He tossed the files on his desk, dropped into his chair, and started laughing weakly, that one tiny encounter having sen
t a rush of adrenaline through him. Terrifying and exhilarating. And he hadn’t even found out anything good about François, except Riley had thought he didn’t share Floriana’s hatred of him. Turned out he was wrong about that.

  Mindful of François’s warning, Riley put the files in the squat filing cabinet beside his desk, then made himself a much-needed cup of tea. It had caffeine, but not enough to make him jittery, and he’d definitely begun to agree with Gabrielle’s assertion that it was soothing. Riley needed a bit of soothing just now.

  Tea drank, urgent messages dealt with, he set off on his next avenue of exploration: the lab.

  If Gabrielle were still alive, she’d expect him to wear his headset wherever he went and answer any phone calls, but as the majority of the calls he’d gotten since her death weren’t precisely business related and definitely weren’t urgent, he just shunted everything to voicemail. His headset wasn’t set to field Cody’s calls yet—that was another task IT would have to do—so those were also set to hit voicemail, which he checked periodically through the day.

  But he thought the headset made him look like he was on official business, and he headed for the lab. Gabrielle had taken him inside briefly when he’d been hired, mostly to show him where Floriana’s sanctuary was, but he’d not been inside since.

  He swiped his card over the reader. Red. Another swipe. More red.

  Interesting. As Gabrielle’s assistant, he would have expected his card to give him access to everything. He’d never bothered to test it, and Gabrielle had used her own access card to swipe them into the lab.

  Backtracking, he slowly approached François’s office. Mary was diligently typing away, and François’s office door was firmly shut.

  Good. He strode up to Mary’s desk. “Hello again, Mary.”

  “Riley! Twice in one day. This is a treat.”

  Riley laughed. “I was just going to chat with Renee about something, but I think she’s in the lab with Floriana, and my card’s not working.”

  “Oh, honey. Not everyone’s card works to get into the lab. Most of the office staff can’t get in there. Even Renee needs to be swiped in by someone else.”

  “Really?” That was highly interesting. “No one in the office has access? Gabrielle did.”

  “Obviously. But there’s so much proprietary information there, they locked it down to people who need access. Mr. François has access as a VP, and Mr. Cody should have access as well, but if you need to get in there, you’ll need someone to let you in, and once inside, they’ll give you a visitor pass. You can call Renee, or you can ask Mr. Cody if you can borrow his card, although they frown upon that.”

  Not surprising. The whole reason for access cards was to limit access. But it was slightly annoying that he wouldn’t have free run of the lab. He was certain there were all kinds of potential clues inside.

  First, he needed to get in. If something caught his eye, he’d figure out a way to return. “Thanks, Mary. I’ll give Renee a call.”

  Thoughtful, he wandered back to his desk. He’d figured he could go into the lab on the pretense of finding out if anything about Gabrielle’s funeral had been decided, but if he had to call Renee for access, he could just ask her on the phone. But that wasn’t the only reason he might have to enter the lab. He picked up his extension and called Renee.

  “Floriana Gautier’s office, Renee speaking. How can I help you?” Renee’s voice was brisk and professional but welcoming in a way Floriana wasn’t. Riley wondered sometimes how Renee managed to support Floriana without becoming equally vituperative, but then, perhaps what Floriana needed—what many admins provided—was a foil, not a mirror.

  “Hi, Renee, it’s Riley.”

  “Good afternoon, Riley. What can I do for you?”

  “Well, when I started here, someone mentioned the possibility of getting a tour of the lab. With Cody still ramping up, my workload isn’t quite as hectic, and with the launch of Invigorate complete, I thought maybe this week would be a good time. Do you think you’ll have some time this week to show me around?”

  “Sure thing, Riley. I won’t have time today, but let me put something on your calendar for tomorrow.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate that. Say, while I have you, do you know if anything’s been decided about the funeral?”

  Renee lowered her voice, a sure indication that Floriana must be fairly close by. “No. And I’d rather not ask.”

  Riley understood. Renee had an incredible capacity to deal with the whirlwind Floriana was on a regular basis, but Riley had seen enough of her mood swings since Gabrielle died that he wouldn’t be interested in setting her off right now either. “No problem. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  If everyone was afraid to ask about the arrangements, then Riley was going to have to gird himself and ask the next time he saw Floriana. Or François. This limbo was getting ridiculous, even if the coroner hadn’t released Gabrielle’s body.

  He wished the tiny information about access to the lab was enough to justify calling Tad, because it already felt like a long time since he’d seen him. It wasn’t, though, and he didn’t want to distract Tad from his actual work.

  He crossed his fingers that he’d find something worthwhile tomorrow, after he toured the lab.

  TUESDAY MORNING Riley could not get a handle on the launch party invoices. He’d spent the night dreaming about Tad, much like he’d done in high school, with much the same end result. Wasn’t he too damned old for wet dreams? Worse, he’d also started dreaming of other things, things he couldn’t have. Not with Tad. He wasn’t at his best, and Alisha had teased him about having a work-night date that went late. Right. Riley only wished.

  Renee had set up his tour for eleven, and IT was supposed to move his stuff at three—he wasn’t holding his breath—so he got to work on his self-assigned project.

  He hadn’t gotten enough sleep, though, and these invoices were making him crazy. Each launch party had something that seemed off. Cost per person for catering was the most common. Sometimes it was the sheer amount of food ordered, or bizarrely high prices to rent table linens and chairs. Every launch party had bloated pricing, just tipping over into usurious. It didn’t seem to include favoritism for any particular vendor, though, and the files combined the planning for both the internal and external launches, which might be the reason the excesses weren’t noticed.

  They might not even be noticed by someone who hadn’t gotten a number of proposals from vendors such as this to plan other parties. Something wasn’t right, but Riley was damned if he knew what. He’d never come across anything like this before.

  Gabrielle could have had certain favorite vendors who took advantage of her generosity by artificially inflating their invoices. Aaron might not have thought about checking for more competitive prices. It was possible to negotiate with vendors rather than just accepting the first estimate that came along. Next step would be checking the computer to see if everything matched.

  The meeting notification on his computer binged. Digging into those invoices was going to have to wait, thankfully. He was starting to get a headache, and he’d been concentrating on the files for the past three hours. A lab tour would make a nice change of pace before lunch. Riley took the elevator down to the lab to meet Renee.

  THE LAB was stunning. Renee made a wonderful tour guide, but Riley had been fucking kidding himself if he thought he’d be able to figure out what everyone was doing and if it was suspicious. The lab techs could have been making meth or nuclear bombs right in front of him and Riley wouldn’t know squat. He certainly wouldn’t be able to recognize penicillin manufacture—unless he saw a fucking piece of bread on a petri dish, growing mold.

  Also, no one in their right mind would be illicitly manufacturing penicillin when they had all this at their disposal. If there was illicit manufacture going on, it would be of something that had significant street value.

  For the first time, he understood how daunting and stressful Tad’s job must be, and that didn
’t even include having to deal with dead bodies and possibly getting shot at.

  After the tour, they ended up at Renee’s secondary desk outside Floriana’s alternate office, where her door stood ajar. Riley chatted pleasantly with Renee, asking about her kids, keeping one eye on Floriana, who was inside and on the phone.

  The moment Floriana disconnected her call, Riley interrupted Renee. “Sorry, Renee, I need to have a quick word with Floriana.”

  Before he could think better of it, Riley knocked on her door to announce himself, but he walked in without waiting for Floriana to invite him.

  “What are you doing here?” Floriana made no attempt to hide her contempt. He only wished he knew why he annoyed her so much.

  Unfortunately for Floriana, he’d stood up to scarier bullies than her. He didn’t want to confront her, but he was going to. “Cody tells me—”

  Floriana snorted and rolled her eyes at the same time. Riley wasn’t about to tell her she looked like a fractious bull when she did that, albeit one elegantly draped in Donna Karan under her lab coat.

  Nevertheless, Riley pressed on. “Cody tells me that he’s left the arrangement for Gabrielle’s funeral in your hands, and François’s. Do you have any information yet?”

  “Why do you care?”

  Riley almost took a step back. Could she really be that oblivious? “Why do I care? I have a mountain of people—people you do business with every day, that you rely on for the success of your business—requesting information because they want to pay their respects. Most of your employees would welcome the chance to say goodbye also.” Whatever faults Gabrielle had, Gautier had all the earmarks of a great workplace.

  Something in Riley’s words halted Floriana and made her think rather than react. He waited, half expecting her to try to fire him again. Instead, she crumpled under his regard, and her eyes filled up.

  Riley grabbed a nearby box of tissues and offered them up. Whatever issues he had with her, he’d managed to forget that she had lost her mother just days ago. “I’m sorry. I know how much this hurts, how hard it is.” His eyes had already begun to burn in sympathy.