by Lynn Emery
Nicole didn’t flinch as she returned her father’s gaze. “I will.”
Stanton turned to Russell. “Don’t have too much fun gloating. If this company fails, a chunk of your income goes with it. You should have worked harder to help Nicole.”
“Me? You can’t possibly try to blame me.” Russell’s mouth flapped open.
“Yes, I can. And so will the family. Lionel and I will start forming a board right now.” Stanton looked at them. “We’ll use the conference room.”
Marcus cleared his throat. “We’ll get started, too. Come on, Nicole and Russell. Let’s meet in my office.”
“At least one of you sees the value of working together.” Uncle Lionel pulled the phone toward him and picked up the receiver. “Better not use the speaker for these calls,” he muttered.
“You didn’t see fit to let me in on things before now. Now you want me to share the blame. No way.” Russell started to leave.
“You will cooperate with them or I’ll make damn sure your behavior in this crisis is discussed at the board meeting.” Stanton’s voice cracked like a whip.
Russell’s café au lait skin went pale. “Yes, sir,” he mumbled.
“And Russell,” Stanton barked louder.
“Yes, Uncle Stanton?”
“I mean cooperate in the sense of offering constructive input. We don’t have time to deal with tantrums.” Stanton shot a warning glance at Nicole. “Are we all on the same page?”
“Yes.” Nicole clamped her lips together, turned, and strode through the side door to her office.
Marcus motioned for Russell to go ahead of him. Russell kept his expression blank as he followed Nicole.
After Marcus closed the door no one spoke for several minutes. Nicole stood with her back to them, gazing out the window. Russell sat down in a chair that put the most distance between him and Nicole’s desk. He crossed his arms. With a sigh, Marcus decided he had to break the impasse.
“We need to find a way to work together. Now is the perfect time,” Marcus said. Neither responded. “Well?”
“Jesse and I went over the records of several suspect employees. We have grounds for termination. Maybe Russell could pair up with him and have those exit interviews,” Nicole said finally.
“I should never have been cut out of the process,” Russell complained.
“Let me remind you why,” Nicole snapped as she spun around.
“Nikki, don’t,” Marcus said low.
Russell glanced from him to Nicole. “Yes, Nikki. We’re supposed to cooperate.”
“Nicole’s suggestion is a good one. She wants you to play a critical role. I thought that’s what you wanted.” Marcus glared at him.
“Could have happened sooner,” Russell mumbled. Then he squared his shoulders. “I’ll get with Jesse.”
“Why don’t you call him now? He’s in the process of rounding up those people.” Marcus gestured toward the phone on Nicole’s desk.
Russell seemed about to argue, then thought better of it. “Fine.”
“Nicole, let’s sit down,” Marcus said in a calm tone. He felt like a grade school assistant principal dealing with squabbling students.
“Yeah, right,” she replied.
Nicole marched over to the round table in a corner of her spacious office. She sat down hard in one of five leather chairs arranged around it. With a sigh he followed her.
“Listen, your father is right. This isn’t the time to fight each other,” Marcus said quietly.
Nicole tapped a fist on the arm of her chair for several seconds. Finally she nodded assent. “So, let’s start working on mission impossible. No way will we keep our customers from hearing rumors of some kind. My question is, do we confess everything and risk losing customers or do we try to filter information?”
“We can’t tell customers anything that might compromise the police investigation. Otherwise I say we should be as open as possible.”
“I don’t know.” Nicole shook her head. “Admitting we hired thieves to guard their valuables won’t inspire confidence.”
“Let’s ask Imani, since she’s the marketing expert,” Marcus said.
“Now we’re looking for ways to spin the bad news. Geez, what a mess.” Nicole squeezed her eyes shut.
“The truth is there is no good way to talk about a breakdown in our system. I’m suggesting we find the least bad way to present it.” He waved to get Russell’s attention. “Call Imani and ask her to come in.”
“I’d thought of getting her input,” Russell said in an aside as he continued talking to Jesse.
“Wonderful,” she muttered and massaged her temples, but she stopped when she saw Russell glance at her.
Marcus felt a flush of pride in her grace under fire. He gazed at Nicole as she sat straighter and lifted her chin. The cobalt blue jacket and matching skirt made her honey skin look even more delectable. Even taking care of business she stirred a fire in him. Suddenly Marcus wanted to take Nicole into his arms and comfort her. Russell’s voice reminded him that he could not.
“Of course I know that, Jesse,” Russell said, biting off the syllables in irritation. He hung up and punched the keypad. Moments later he was talking to Imani in an officious tone.
“The Russell Summers art of alienating people. That’s what I have to put up with.” Nicole looked at her cousin with a sour expression.
“I feel the same pain. Remember I’ve been here with him longer than you.” Marcus leaned closer to her as he spoke.
Nicole’s taut frown eased somewhat when she looked at Marcus. “Reason enough for you to earn a high salary,” she deadpanned.
Russell came toward them with a purposeful stride. “Jesse says the first employee will be here in an hour.”
Marcus nodded. “Good. Might as well get it over with. We were just discussing how to inform our customers.”
“Inform them? That’s suicide. I say we keep quiet except to answer questions if they call,” Russell said.
“If we let rumors run wild and keep silent, they’ll think we have something to hide. Trust me, speculation can be even more damaging than telling them as much as possible,” Nicole replied.
Marcus silently gave her points for her composed response. “Nicole is right. Keeping secrets will only make them trust us even less. We’ve got to take the initiative.”
Imani came in. “I caught the tail end of your comment, but you’re absolutely correct. We can’t let them hear it from our competitors.”
“Or worse, hear it on the evening news,” Nicole added.
“Maybe Imani has a point,” Russell admitted grudgingly. “I took communications classes in college. I could write out a script for Nicole. She’ll need to be coached on handling the media.”
“Having a speech that sounds like a script is exactly what we don’t want,” Imani said quickly. She sat down at the table and turned on her PDA. “Marcus and Nicole, you’re seen as leaders of this company. Be yourselves and be truthful, up to a point.”
“Marcus. It’s always him,” Russell muttered under his breath.
“Yes, Marcus,” Imani cut in before Nicole could speak. “Like it or not, Russell, Marcus has tremendous credibility. Nicole is still considered inexperienced.”
“They’re wondering if I can handle the company, let alone this disaster.” Nicole nervously tapped the arm of her chair with one fist again.
“Since you said it, yes.” Imani nodded. “Now is the time to show them you can. Let’s show them how we respond to a breach in our own system.”
“Tell them we’ve tightened our internal security, that precautions in today’s world must evolve, and we’re prepared to be ahead of trends,” Nicole said.
Imani grinned in approval. “Good. Criminals stay up late thinking of ways around security systems. We’re staying up even later.”
“Sounds like an ad campaign,” Marcus said.
“I agree. Let’s develop print ads and develop a television thirty-second spot.” Nic
ole leaned toward Imani.
“Damn, boss, that’s a great idea. You’re a quick study.” Imani attached a keyboard to her PDA and entered notes.
“When should we start calling our clients, Marcus?” Nicole looked at him.
Jacinta stuck her head in the door. “Heads up, people. A pal of mine that works at the newspaper says the LaSalle robbery will be in the Chronicle tomorrow. He also says the manager has taken a turn for the worse.”
Marcus looked at Nicole. “Tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” she said and rubbed her temples again.
“Gotta run.” Jacinta disappeared.
“Me, too. I’ll work on these ads.” Imani detached the keyboard and stood.
“Keep the costs down.” Russell frowned at her. “I mean, we could be losing business. I think we need to economize.”
“Russell—” Nicole’s eyes narrowed to slits.
“He’s got a good point to a degree,” Marcus jumped in to head off another battle. “No need to give the board more to complain about.”
“I can do the graphics and write the copy. That will save us money. Andre can help me do a simple video ad using our digital equipment and computer.” Imani looked at Nicole.
“Print space and television airtime are both expensive,” Russell put in.
“I can still save money depending on which channels we choose and the time of day the commercials are shown,” Imani said to him.
“Do a budget and we’ll look at it.” Nicole turned to Russell. “How’s that?”
“Those ads could bring us more business. Something we’ll need if customers dump us,” Marcus put in.
“I’m willing to listen after we look at the figures,” Russell replied.
“Thanks.” Nicole pursed her lips as though restraining more words.
“I can have the total in one hour.” Imani left.
“I’d better get with Jesse to make sure he’s prepared. Leave a message with my secretary if you need me again.” Russell strode out with a determined expression.
“You did very well,” Marcus murmured to Nicole. He put a hand on her arm and kneaded her rigid muscles.
“Remind me again why I want this job.” Nicole squeezed her eyes shut.
“To show the world you can handle a challenge, which you’re doing,” he added firmly.
“I’m in over my head. I know it, my family knows it, and pretty soon the world will know it.” Nicole’s bottom lip trembled.
“We’re going to get through this together. Even Russell is trying to be helpful.” When Nicole let out a snort, Marcus grinned at her. “In his own unique way.”
Nicole tried to smile and failed. Her eyes glittered with unshed tears. “I love you for trying, but it’s no good. I’m not CEO material. My family was right.”
Marcus felt a rush of heat. “Say that again.”
“My family never thought I could take on such a big job and they were right. I—”
“No, the first thing you said about love.” Marcus put his arms around her.
She rested her head on his shoulder. “You’re the only person who believes in me. I love you for it,” she whispered.
“And for other reasons, I hope.” Marcus kissed her forehead.
“Lots of them.” Nicole relaxed in his embrace.
“Same here,” he replied.
Marcus kissed her nose, then her mouth. Nicole moaned softly as her lips parted. For one intense moment they took comfort in each other. More than physical, the emotional connection hit him with such force that he felt dazed by the blow. Seconds later they pulled away from each other with effort. Nicole stroked his cheek once, then tugged at her jacket and glanced around.
“Last thing I need is for Daddy or Uncle Lionel to catch me kissing you during business hours.” Nicole went to her desk. She took a cosmetic mirror from her desk drawer and stared critically at her lipstick.
“Have they said anything about us?” Marcus grabbed a tissue from a nearby dispenser and dabbed at his own mouth.
Nicole went into her private rest room. When she came out her lipstick was perfect again. She brushed off her jacket and skirt before sitting at her desk.
“The usual, office romances are a bad thing, I’m not giving the company my full attention blah, blah, blah.” Nicole fluttered a hand as though brushing away their criticisms.
“I’m sure they mentioned how different we are, our backgrounds I mean.” Marcus studied her.
“To tell you the truth I stopped listening two seconds into their spiel. I let them know that my personal life is my own. End of story.” Nicole smoothed her hair in place.
“Not hardly, Nicole.” Marcus was about to say more when Nicole’s father and uncle came in from the conference room.
“We’ll have our first meeting next Thursday. Couldn’t get everybody together any sooner.” Uncle Lionel looked less than pleased.
“Just as well. Maybe we’ll have some positive developments by then,” Marcus replied. The two men looked from Marcus to Nicole with stern expressions.
Marcus walked over and stood beside Nicole. “I’m sure we will,” he said in a definite tone.
“Humph!” Uncle Lionel said as he left.
“I hope so,” Stanton said and followed Uncle Lionel out.
Nicole looked up at Marcus. “Have you lost your mind? No way will we have ‘positive developments’ a week from now.”
Marcus wondered just what had gotten into him. Still, he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Be optimistic. Dayna could crack the case by then. We could keep the fallout with our customers to a minimum and bounce right back.”
“Uh-huh. All that will happen by next week, along with a snowstorm in hell.” Nicole shook her head.
Marcus touched her cheek. “I happen to think anything is possible these days,” he said softly.
Nicole grasped his hand tightly, then let go. “Okay, you’ve got me convinced. Now clear out of my office so I can concentrate on something other than your fine body.”
“Yes, ma’am. We’ve got a long day ahead of us. I’d feel a lot better knowing you’re at the end of it.”
She gazed at him with a sigh. “Oh, yes. Your apartment?”
“It’s a date.”
He planted a quick kiss on the top of her head, then went to his office. Staff scurried around like mice on special missions. The phones rang nonstop. Marcus calmed two agitated secretaries, smoothed out a dispute between two employees, and checked in with Dayna on the way. Even as turmoil swirled around him, Marcus felt joy deep down. Nicole loved him.
eighteen
“Loose ends drive me nuts.” Dayna twisted an ink pen as she frowned.
“Like we get all the loose ends tied up even when we solve a case,” Detective Bates replied with a shake of his head.
“I know. I should be used to it by now, but I’m not, damn it. I want to know who done it and why.” Dayna shuffled papers on the desk before her.
“Which makes you a good cop,” Marcus put in.
“Hmm.” Dayna seemed to have tuned out everything.
He’d sat quietly waiting for the two detectives to explain why they’d called him in. Even though it was seven o’clock at night, the office still buzzed with activity. Marcus hadn’t spoken to Nicole since leaving her office five hours ago. Yet he burned with the anticipation of having her in his arms soon. If only he could give Nicole some good news.
“Learn anything useful yet?” Marcus tried to read upside down and failed.
“Can’t tell you. Everyone is a suspect.” Dayna looked up at him, her dark brows drawn together. “Including Ms. In-Charge.”
“Nicole is the least likely suspect. She doesn’t need to steal because her daddy’s got big money. Her mama comes from money.”
“My grandmother used to sing a favorite old blues song called ‘God Bless the Child That’s Got It’s Own.’” Dayna sat back with a guarded cop expression.
“Come on,” Marcus said with a grunt.
�
�Maybe Daddy wouldn’t come across with the cash for some reason. Say they think she hooked up with Mr. Wrong.” Dayna lifted a shoulder.
“Okay, now you’re in my business. Is this the cop talking?” Marcus squinted at her.
Irritation flashed across her face. “I’m trained to examine human motivations.”
“Yeah.” Marcus continued to stare at her.
Dayna blinked first by looking away. “All right, smart-mouthed rich girls tick me off in a special way. Guess I’m just pissed. I missed the signs when I got the Phoung case.”
Marcus switched gears to get information. “Signs?”
“I shouldn’t have been so quick to dismiss this place as being the connection. Now Robbery is gonna get the glory.” She tossed a sheaf of papers aside in a gesture of self-disgust.
“You’re going to be a big part of the investigation. Maybe you’ll move over to Robbery on your way to that big promotion you deserve.” Marcus hunched forward, ready to move into his own set of questions.
“Real smooth, but don’t get your hopes up. I can’t give you any information,” Dayna said before he could speak.
“I need to know if any of our employees look dirty, Dayna. Our company is on the line.”
“You’ve heard the phrase innocent until proven guilty, I’m sure. We’re following up on all leads,” she intoned as though speaking at a press conference.
“Which tells me nothing,” Marcus said with a frown.
“Now you get it,” Dayna wisecracked.
“So funny,” Marcus grumbled and sat against the back of the chair. “I’m about to lose six years of hard work, and you give me Comedy Central.”
“Okay, you help me and I’ll help you.” Dayna crossed her arms.
“How?”
“Tell me more about Nicole. I hear she’s a spoiled party girl who is only serious about the next shopping trip. How does she end up running a successful business? Who were her pals before she started working here?”
“Nicole is intelligent and her late Uncle Hosea saw skills her own parents didn’t see. As for her friends, from what I gather they’re all pretty much like her. You know the profile, old money and old family names.” Marcus shook his head. “Not fertile ground for the America’s Most Wanted list.”