Landslide

by Robin Mahle

  “Now don’t get pissy with me. I’m just saying. Don’t give him a chance to bend your will, understand? I don’t want you to get caught up in his world, that’s all.”

  She understood exactly what he meant and felt both offended and grateful at the same time. He was trying to protect her, as he always had. Claire, however, was well acquainted in the ways of men and was more than confident in her abilities to fend off unwarranted advances, even if it meant losing her job. “I hear you, but you don’t need to worry about me, Charlie. I’m a big girl.”

  He leaned back again, this time, returning to the folder he’d been reviewing before she entered. “Okay.”

  “I also wanted to know what the situation was with the move. Do you know when I’m supposed to come up here with you?” Claire was glad to be changing the subject.

  “I think it’s scheduled for mid-next week, but I’ll find out for sure. They’ve got to clean out the office down the hall. People have been using it for storage for a while. I’ll shoot you an email when I know for sure. In the meantime, it might be a good idea for you to start throwing your stuff into boxes or, better yet, why don’t you get Lucas to do it? That’ll make him happy.”

  “Not a bad idea.” Claire started to leave, feeling that familiar happiness that had been submerged by recent events. “Thanks, Charlie. I’m glad I can still count on you. You’re a good friend.”

  ***

  Claire’s meeting with Winters was due to start in the next hour. She struggled to get through the last of the client files, and managed just in time. Now, all she had to do was draft a summary of outstanding items and formally hand off the accounts to Frank, who would divvy them up when the restructuring was finalized.

  She grabbed her notebook once again, and left for the meeting. It was amazing that anything ever got accomplished in the corporate world. People were always so busy meeting with one another; dancing around the same things day in and day out, never seeming to find solutions, only more problems. It wasn’t much different from politics, Claire assumed. No one ever seemed to want to make a decision and actually be held accountable for it. So, here she was, once again, trotting off to see Mr. Winters and who knows who else for a meeting, probably about what happened in another meeting. But, this was part of the management game and she’d better get used to playing it.

  “Hi, Sheri.”

  “I’ll let him know you’re here,” Sheri replied without further need for explanation.

  Claire could hear voices behind the door. They seemed a little heated, raised above normal conversation. “Is he in a bad mood today?”

  “No. But that FBI man isn’t the most pleasant person I’ve ever met.”

  Claire gasped almost imperceptibly, wondering if it was Sanchez. “How long has he been in there?”

  “He didn’t have an appointment, I can tell you that much. Since this unpleasant Sea-Tech situation, Mr. Winters has had to deal with several requests from the FBI.”

  “Well, they’re trying to find out who took the money, right?”

  “Yes. But it seems like they want a lot more information than regarding just that account. The gentleman that’s in there now, I think his name is Sanders, or Saunders—no, wait; it’s Sanchez. That’s right. Special Agent Sanchez. The man tosses his badge out and speaks so quickly, I can hardly understand him.” Her southern drawl was especially noticeable.

  The door to Evan’s office flew open and Sanchez was holding onto it firmly. “If there’s anything else, Mr. Winters, please contact me at your earliest convenience.” Sanchez turned to see Claire standing, stick straight; almost frozen in place.

  An acknowledgement by way of a quick head nod and Sanchez brushed past her, leaving no indication they’d already made each other’s acquaintance.

  Claire glanced at Evan, who eyed Agent Sanchez all the way out, almost glaring at the man as if his visit had caused him personal offense. Maybe it had.

  When his eyes turned away from the door, he caught sight of Claire. “I’m sorry for the delay, Claire. Please, come in.”

  She started towards the office and through the door Evan held open. “Is everything all right?” she asked, making her way inside.

  “Oh, just fine, all things considered. By the way, have you spoken to your friend, Beth?” He pulled the door closed and continued towards the large slab of a glass top that appeared to float about the metal frame on which it lay.

  The question hung in the air for a moment while Claire found her seat, unsure of how to answer. If Evan discovered she was working with the FBI without his knowledge, there was no doubt she could kiss her job goodbye. It was one thing to cooperate where the law was concerned, but spying on other staff members, looking for a conspiratorial plot to steal from WFC’s clients, and not telling him about it would probably not go over well.

  “I haven’t spoken with her in a few days, actually. Was that FBI agent looking for her?”

  “Well, as you know, it’s all but proven that Ms. Graves is our culprit, unfortunately. I didn’t know the woman personally, but her personnel records were impeccable, making it all the more difficult to believe she was capable of such a thing.” Evan leaned back in his custom chair.

  “Is that why he was here? Have they arrested her?” Her heart was pounding now, but she worked hard to keep it from showing. If Sanchez found Beth and didn’t tell her, she was out.

  “Why don’t we move on to happier topics?” Evan raised back to an upright position and folded his hands on top of his desk. “How is the transition coming along? Are you ready to move up to the seventh floor yet?”

  “I am, yes. Well, almost. Just a final summary to hand over to Frank.” Claire smiled, patiently waiting for further instruction as to why she was here. No others had shown up. Just the two of them. She began shifting in her seat, the mask of subservience never leaving her face.

  It seemed as though Evan was waiting for her to elaborate further and, when she didn’t, he stood up. “Claire, I have to tell you that I was incredibly impressed by the way you handled yourself with Paul Higgins the other day.” He started to walk around his desk, slowly approaching her.

  The smile was still plastered on Claire’s face, only now she started to feel her hands grow clammy. The closer he moved, the stickier they became.

  “I’ve been thinking about how undervalued you’ve been here at the firm. What’s it been, ten years you’ve worked for me?”

  “Yes. Ten years in April.”

  “And you’ve been promoted twice before, I believe?”

  She only nodded this time.

  “Well, clearly someone’s dropped the ball in your case. When the directors and I discussed adding a new regional manager, I searched through the ranks and came across your personnel file, if you don’t mind my intrusion, and it seems you’ve been a very loyal and very valuable employee, Claire McKenna. Your reviews have been exceptional.” He sat on the edge of his desk now, only inches from her. “This was why I recommended you for the position and why I believe our working hand in hand on the Envirotech account is so crucial.”

  Claire had no idea where this one-sided conversation was heading, but it was quickly becoming very uncomfortable. She cleared the lump from her throat and shifted as far away from him as she could get without actually moving the chair. The man gets what he wants, Claire.

  Without warning, he rose from his perched position, slapped his thigh, and moved back around to his chair. “So, Frank and I have completed the territory splits and you will manage the Pac-Northwest territory, which of course, encompasses Envirotech, but also most of our major accounts. I think you’re more than capable of handling the region, don’t you?”

  This was a much broader area than originally discussed, meaning there would be more demands on her time. That, in addition to Winters “taking her under his wing,” suggested that there would be little time for much else except work. This would go over like a lead balloon at home. “Yes, sir, I most certainly can. Thank you very muc
h.”

  Evan Winters was a Harvard-educated man and his appearance was nothing short of flawless in his bespoke attire. A charm that flowed freely—whether it be in the presence of man or woman—he was, in fact, the most frighteningly intimidating and alluring man Claire had ever met. It would be all too easy to bend to his will, of which Charlie had already warned against.

  By the time his words had registered in Claire’s mind, she’d begun to relax in his presence. His eyes offered a comfort to her now. He wasn’t there to condemn her for consorting with the likes of one he believed had stolen from him. He was simply there to offer praise for the years of hard work for which she was finally being recognized.

  “Is there anything else you need from me?” She’d asked only to break the silence that seemed to rest between them.

  “As a matter of fact, there is. There’s a conference next week in Portland. I’d like you to attend. All the regionals will be there, including Frank and Charlie and, of course, me. It’s only two days, so it won’t take up much of your time. I know you’ll be busy getting settled into your new digs.” Evan diverted his attention to the laptop on his desk, as if this had signaled the end of their meeting.

  Claire was grateful to have been asked to attend the conference and somehow felt just a bit safer knowing Charlie would be there. “Thank you. I’m happy to go.”

  “Just get with Sheri; she’ll make the arrangements for you. Thank you for stopping by, Claire. It’s been a pleasure.” Evan stood up and reached across his desk to shake her hand.

  “Thank you.” Claire took her leave and mentioned the request to Sheri on her way out. It was set. She’d be heading to Portland next Wednesday.

  ***

  Claire arrived home, as per usual. The excitement of the news eclipsed her earlier concerns, if only for a while. When she walked in the house, full of confidence and pride, she noticed Colin sitting alone at the kitchen table, facing the bay window. “Hey, honey. What’s wrong?” She moved towards him. “Are you okay?” It was a question that need not have been asked.

  Turning his head towards her, a veneer of disbelief tarnished his face. “I got fired today.”

  Claire dropped her purse onto the kitchen counter and rushed towards the table. “What? Why?” She yanked one of the chairs out from below and quickly sat down.

  “Some bullshit about a malfunctioning gasket. One that I designed. QC ran it through their tests and it failed in almost every one.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. First of all, you didn’t design it; your team did.”

  “I’m the team leader, Claire.”

  “Okay, but seriously? They fired you just for that? Isn’t that what QC is for? Finding the flaws so they can be fixed before the part gets sold? This doesn’t make any sense. You’ve been there for years. How could they do this to you?” After all the praise and promotions Claire had received over the past two weeks, her heart was breaking that this was happening to him. It wasn’t fair. He was a good man and a great employee.

  “I obviously pissed someone off. Whoever it was wanted me gone and figured this was as good a reason as they were gonna get.” His eyes pleaded now. “Claire, we always run our own tests and that damn gasket held every time. There’s no way in hell it failed every one of theirs. It’s just not possible.”

  “Have you talked to your union rep? Surely there’s protocol here.”

  “I’ve already talked to him. We can file a complaint, but in the meantime, I’ve got no job.” Colin turned towards the window again. The breeze had picked up enough that even the bare branches swayed. “At least you just got a big fat raise. We’re going to really need it now.”

  A twinge of guilt fluttered in her stomach. Colin was already having difficulty adjusting to Claire’s new position, cavorting with the higher-ups and such, and she hadn’t mentioned the fact that her new territory would mean less time at home. A light step and kid gloves would be required for a while. The mention of anything else—the investigation, her new clients—would have to be sidelined. “I’m so sorry, honey. I’m sure this will all work out. They’ll see that whoever directed them to let you go was way off base.”

  “Even if they do and I get hired back, I’ll be the guy who whined and cried until they gave me my job again.”

  “That’s not true, and you know it. Your team will stand behind you on this. They have to; they’re in it too. You just happened to be the guy who took the fall.”

  Their home phone started ringing; the timing could not have been worse.

  “You’d better get that,” Colin said, still staring out the window.

  Claire retrieved the phone from the kitchen desk. Unknown. “I’ll take it in the den, give you some peace.” She’d assumed the caller was Sanchez.

  “Hello?” Claire walked past the kids in the family room, waving as she did, and headed into the den, closing the French doors behind her.

  “I hope you understand why I didn’t acknowledge you today in Winters’ office?” Agent Sanchez’ voice filtered through the line.

  “Of course. It would have jeopardized everything.” It seemed he underestimated her ability to understand the situation. “Why were you there?” She moved to the window, peering through wooden blinds at the darkened sky.

  “Winters is anxious to put this affair behind him and insists that we arrest Beth Graves. Says there’s plenty of evidence and is wondering why we haven’t done it yet.”

  “And what did you say? I assume he has no idea that Beth has gone into hiding.”

  “No. I mentioned that we were still going through her communications to determine if she acted alone. But that brings me to the reason why I called you, Claire.”

  “You found her? Where is she? Is she safe and can I call her?”

  “Just hold on.”

  She didn’t like his extended pause.

  “We were able to track her down. A speed camera caught her. She’s in Santa Fe.”

  “Oh my God. Have you talked to her yet?” Claire clutched the back of the chair, waiting for the piecemealed information to continue to trickle from him.

  “She’s scared, Claire. Over the weekend, she received threats. They said she’d be better off lying low until the situation passed. Take her kids someplace safe and leave for a while.”

  “Well, who did this? Who was threatening her?”

  “It took some convincing on my part, but I told her we could protect her, but we needed to know who had issued the threats. She said it was Chris Goyal.”

  “The IT guy? Her friend? Jesus! Are you going to arrest the son of a bitch?”

  “If we do, we jeopardize the case. Beth is safe now, but I can’t tell you where. Her kids are safe too. If we go after Goyal, we’ll lose any other connections he has that might be involved in this. We need him to think that Beth took heed of his warning.”

  “I just can’t believe this. Don’t you have enough on these guys to shut this thing down?”

  “We can bring Goyal and Abbott in for questioning, but we still don’t have anything concrete. Our team is still looking at the data. Claire, you and I both know this goes way beyond those two yahoos. Look, we’ve been going through the company’s corporate filings from the past six years. Their financial records, bank accounts, everything. That’s part of the reason I went to see Evan Winters today. We’ve had some less than cooperative staff giving us grief over access to the accounting systems and we needed him to make sure those people stepped aside while we continue the investigation. We still need your help, Claire. Now, we’ve talked about this before, but I think if you can just watch out for these guys.”

  “Just stop, please.” Claire finally sat down. “I’ve agreed to keep an eye out for anything unusual, but what you’re asking is for me to snoop on my co-workers. What if I get caught? What if someone comes to my house, like Chris Goyal, and threatens me or my family? I’m sorry, Agent Sanchez, but you’re asking too much of me.”

  “You’re right, I am.” He again t
ook pause. “Claire, there’s no guarantee that if we question Goyal and Abbott now, bring this investigation out into the public, that Winters Financial won’t clean house as a result, if for nothing else than to appease their clients. They’ll make sure those guys take the fall for everything, probably taking Beth down with them. And if you don’t think you’re expendable, then I’m afraid you will find yourself highly disillusioned. Winters will have no choice but to make a clean sweep if he wants to salvage his company’s reputation.”

  Anger was building in her now. “Well, maybe it’s you that has disillusioned me. I guess I don’t need someone coming to my house warning me to keep quiet; your thinly veiled threats are doing the job just fine.”

  “Just think about what we’re asking, Claire. It’s really nothing more than we discussed last Friday night. I’d just like to see you become a little more proactive, given the circumstances.”

  She scoffed at his audacity. “Proactive. Right. What you’re asking is for me to snoop on Evan Winters. You think he’s the ring leader and you want to take him down. Bring down the CEO of a major corporation. Boy, I bet that would look good on your resume.”

  “I have no cause to consider Evan Winters as being involved at this time.”

  “Not yet, but you can’t tell me it hasn’t crossed your mind.” This time, she gave a lengthy pause. “I’ll do what you ask, but only to help Beth. She doesn’t deserve this. Can I at least talk to her?”

  “That’s not a good idea, Claire. She’s much safer if no one has any contact with her, for now, anyway. And Claire...” Sanchez sighed loudly through the phone. “Thank you. I know how hard this will be for you.”

  “No, you don’t. I’ll be in touch if I have anything.” Claire hung up without waiting for a reply. She was grateful Beth was safe, but feared now for her own safety. Was she supposed to cozy up to Charlie and find out if he was involved? What about Frank Winslow? Was he a part of this too? How far up the food chain was she supposed to go? Winters? Why would he steal from his own clients? It made no sense.