A Shadow of Doubt

by Dakota Black

  Dani grinned and shook her head. Who was this man really? She’d read a few articles before her arrival, but in truth, she’d been so intent on getting the hell out of town, she hadn’t cared who was offering an ungodly sum of money. She was just grateful they had. What she did know was that a merger had created the large conglomerate, all but annihilating their competition. Bet that didn’t bode well for the other Texan or Alaskan men.

  “Thank you and settle down. Just a few items regarding our latest contracts and I’ll let you get back to your desks,” Mr. Rush continued. “Marisha. Join me. I know you have a few announcements regarding our summer barbecue.”

  The noise began to die down.

  Marisha touched her arm before walking through and around the various employees, heading for the stage.

  Nudged by an exuberant employee, Dani rolled her eyes and moved out of the line of fire. Suddenly claustrophobic, she knew she had to get out of the room, or at least in enough space she could breathe. An accidental push, a hard shove and she was smack in the middle of the still vacant aisle. “Shit!” The exclamation left her mouth, floating upward in the now silent space. She slapped her hand over her mouth. Every single pair of eyes was looking in her direction, including Mr. Rush’s. She clenched her eyes shut then rose to her full height. A grand, albeit misguided, entrance she was damn good at.

  “I see our new employee has started today. Marisha, why don’t you introduce our latest engineer? I understand she comes highly recommended.”

  No. No! Don’t do this. Do not do this! She was going to pass out. The last thing she needed was to be paraded around in front of a bunch of men who no doubt had their way of doing everything.

  “Danielle, come forward,” Marisha said through the microphone. “Come on. If any of them bite, I’ll get out my big guns.”

  Hearing chuckling as well as words of encouragement, Dani opened her eyes. Immediately she noticed the CEO had retreated to the shadows. While unable to make out his facial features, the man’s body was a tasty treat. Broad shoulders, a slender waist, long legs filling cowboy boots. Whew. She fanned her face, heat gripping every cell.

  “Everyone, this is Danielle Montgomery, Dani for short. She’s one of the best engineers in the country. Dani just moved here from Baltimore and boys, be nice to her or you know what happens.”

  Several men jeered, others oohed and aahed. Dani took several steps forward just as Mr. Ross took a long stride out of the shadows. As she moved toward the stage, she was blinded by a light.

  “Come on, girl. Get up here and say hello,” Marisha continued.

  Dani could just make out the stairs. She shifted until the light was out of her eyes. The moment she stepped up onto the first riser, she looked up. Oh. My. Fucking. God. Mitchell.

  Mr. Rush’s eyes opened wide, his expression full of recognition.

  From where Dani stood, she could see the slight and momentarily quiver in the corner of his mouth. Then he smiled, the look knowing. Wanting. The man couldn’t disguise he was very hungry.

  For Dani, she knew she had no choice but to find a large, black hole and drop inside, never to see the light of day again. She’d be missed by a few people, but the move would save the utter embarrassment. When she’d collected what was left of her mind, she did the next best thing.

  She fled the room.

  Maxum Rush, Mitchell to his friends, walked back to his office, his steps heavy with purpose. How had he been so stupid? To flirt with a sexy woman was one thing. To flirt, dirty dance and grope like a teenager with a future employee, a brand spanking new employee, was without question one of the most ridiculous moves he’d ever made. Granted, he hadn’t interviewed the girl in person, or even on a Skype call. He’d left the hiring up to his Director of Management. “Fuck.”

  Unable to suppress a laugh, he closed the door and headed straight for the computer, ready to hunt down her employee records. After sitting down at his desk, he eased back in the leather chair, swiveling back and forth as he closed his eyes. He allowed his mind to wander, remembering Saturday night. The girl was feisty, unpredictable and as sexy as any filly in Texas. He grinned, half laughing at his reprehensible actions. He wanted the woman. He craved tasting her, kissing her full lips, caressing her porcelain skin. He longed to dance close, breathing in her intoxicating perfume.

  “Get a grip. Ain’t gonna happen,” he said out loud and groaned. The look on her face had said what words never would. She was mortified. Welcome to the company, the place where the CEO will be the one to introduce you to his personal needs. A comedian he wasn’t. He was going to have to corner her and explain. Maybe asking her out to dinner was the answer. Grinning, he envisioned another sexy dress, a candlelit room, her breathless whispers.

  Another hard slap.

  A light rapping on his door brought him out of the intense visions. “Yes?”

  “Hey. Sorry to bother you while you’re gloating, but we have an issue.”

  “Gloating?” Mitchell gave the grinning man a playful glare. Camden Dane was his Vice President and other best friend. After growing up together and attending college, they’d combined their meager savings, purchasing several hundred acres on a hunch. Mitchell’s father, albeit a wealthy man when he was alive, believed his son’s ambitions were akin to chasing the Devil. Even Zach had believed a curse had been placed on their luck, or lack thereof. The man remained superstitious and had Mitchell on edge every time his buddy brought up the old Indian ways. Thank God, after two and a half years they’d struck oil or they would have lost everything. Then Daddy was jealous. After being at odds alongside three or four other firms, his father had finally asked, no begged, for the merger. The moment had been sweet in ways of retribution no one could understand, not even his best friends. His father’s untimely demise had been the icing on the cake.

  “I know you. You love all the pomp and circumstance,” Camden said as he closed the door.

  “What’s the news?”

  “You ain’t gonna like this.”

  Mitchell rubbed his eyes and sat up on the edge of his seat. “Spill it.”

  “Don’t shoot the messenger, but we have a contamination issue.”

  “What?” His thoughts drifted to Zach’s warning. Thank God, he’d yet to sign the contract. No, this was an obstacle that could be contained. He’d been around enough oil fields to know tests and initial reports could be very wrong.

  Camden nodded. “The new fields we just purchased from Steele and Sons? A good portion of the parcel is unusable so three of the rigs are shut down to enable additional testing. They’re small producers, but the fear is that we have a major issue. I had the guys re-open another one of the drill areas, but I’m fearful we’re going to run into the same crap, literally.”

  “What the fuck? We ran every test. Twice. What the hell are you saying? The place came certified from Mr. Steele himself. That was part of the deal.”

  “I know.”

  Mitchell rubbed his eyes. He hadn’t overseen every detail of the purchase. Steele had been a staunch adversary, only retirement softening his cut-throat methods. “Give me the details.”

  “I’m saying that we’ll have about one million gallons of sludge, unless we can figure out what the hell is going on. That’s according to the team in El Paso. They’re still working, but production is shit. Only the rigs on the outskirts are clean. Not enough to keep us in operation.”

  Exhaling, Mitchell jerked to his feet, pacing the floor. He’d yet to make a visit since the purchase had been made final. Even then, he’d allowed Camden and Zach to handle the various details. “You know what this means, don’t you?” He clenched his fist, furious he hadn’t overseen the purchase himself. Every time he allowed anyone else to handle the risky endeavors, the company was slammed with an issue or two.

  “I know. I know exactly what this means. We have at least three companies willing to try and force the Board of Directors to sell. Given you don’t have a lot of friends on the Board, they might
be inclined to wash their hands of this mess.”

  “Yeah, I know a few of the old codgers believe I’m the Devil reincarnate. God love my father, the biggest asshole in the west.” He’d influenced the remaining old Board to think like him.

  “Seems I remember telling you that we shouldn’t go into business with your father.” Camden folded his arms, his look one of discord.

  Mitchell hissed. “Let’s not go down that road again. All right? The business deal was a good one. Good ol’ daddy is dead and we have a viable company.”

  “Viable. For now.”

  Calming his nerves, he gave Camden a hard look. Camden had been all for the purchase of the Steele site, encouraging during every late-night discussion. “Let’s stick to the issue at hand.”

  “Yeah, I get it. We need to figure out what’s happening fast and before anyone gets wind of the situation.”

  “Yeah, I know that. Keep this under wraps, tight. If anyone asks, just tell them we’re doing additional tests. Set up an emergency meeting with the engineers. We have to come up with an answer.” What in God’s name was he going to do with this? The Board had been placated given the money made during the past quarter. If anything held up their progress, they could be yesterday’s news within weeks. He could then kiss his position goodbye for good.

  “Will do. I hope the new engineer is worth her salt.”

  Mitchell grimaced. New engineer. None other than Danielle Montgomery. This couldn’t be a worse situation. “Shit.”

  “I don’t want to know.”

  “No, you don’t.” Mitchell glanced at his watch. “Set up the meeting just after lunch tomorrow. I’m going out to El Paso to see for myself.”

  “I’ll go,” Camden offered. “I can handle this. You have your hands full.”

  “No, I need to see this one myself. Face it head on. Besides, the new employees should get to know their boss. Right?” He watched as Camden’s face fell. The man hated staying in the office, preferring to get his hands dirty.

  “Okay. Good idea. We can’t waste any time.”

  “Have Ms. Montgomery meet me at the plane in one hour. Let her know she’s spending the night. We have to get a handle on this.” Mitchell thought through a plan.

  Camden narrowed his eyes. “You want a brand-new employee to go with you? Why not one of the others, Jim or Sam? They’re much more experienced.”

  “That may be true, but she’s supposed to be the best. That’s why we hired her. Both Jim and Sam have been working on solutions for this very situation for months. What have they produced besides hundreds of hours of overtime?”

  “You’re going to do what you want to do anyway. Why ask me?” Camden huffed.

  “Have a little faith. Will ya? Besides, there’s no time like the present to get her feet wet. This is a damn good test.” Mitchell wasn’t certain what he was doing was a good idea, but business came first. She could either push aside their sexual tryst and work side by side or find other employment. He had no choices. He refused to lose.

  “Okay. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

  “You and me both.” He grabbed his phone. “I’m calling the pilot. Go talk with Ms. Montgomery and if she asks, let her know I’ll buy anything she needs once we get there.”

  Camden raised his eyebrows, hesitating.

  “Is there something else?”

  “No. I’ll go talk with her.”

  “Oh, and don’t tell her that I’m accompanying her.”

  Camden tilted his head, his expression one of concern. “You didn’t touch the new employee already, did you? Did you?”

  “You’ve been talking with Zach.”

  “He may have mentioned a girl at the bar the other night. Same one?”

  “Let’s just say we’ve been introduced.” Mitchell allowed his mind to wander to the fabulous night.

  “Jesus Christ. Not that you can’t date anyone you want, but you were the one who said loud and clear that employee dating isn’t good for business.”

  Mitchell gave him a heated look. “I’m not dating her. We just had a moment.”

  “You fucked her.”

  “None of your goddamn business.”

  Camden held up his arms. “By the way you’re acting, I’d say you like this girl. That’s definitely not good for business.” Before Mitchell had a chance to retort, he left the room, closing the door with a hard thud.

  Mitchell exhaled as a sense of dread rushed into his system. No, getting involved with anyone right now wasn’t in his or the company’s best interest. He’d explain to her that he had no idea who she was then move on. His thoughts drifted to what was supposed to be a slam dunk deal, creating hundreds of new jobs.

  They’d won the bid to purchase the property fair and square, but there were certain business associates who didn’t believe it, even going as far as insinuating dirty dealings in the local papers. He didn’t need any bad press given the other purchase on the table. Could one of the other firms vying to be top dog sabotage the fields? Anything was possible.

  As he dialed his personal pilot, he rubbed his forehead. He was certainly accustomed to adversarial situations, but given that everything he owned was riding on this, including his entire wealth, he had to find a savior. He’d stop at nothing to eliminate his enemies, no matter what he had to do. Material things he didn’t give a shit about. Keeping the company to spite his father? You bet he did.

  He sat down behind his desk and unlocked a drawer, easing a single folder from the small space. After glancing at the photographs one by one, he sat back and sighed. This was perhaps the best decision of his life or the one that would destroy him. Either way, he might be able to find solace. One day.

  “I beg your pardon? Who are you again?” Dani narrowed her eyes and studied the man standing in front of her desk. The unknown employee had barged into her office, saying in no uncertain terms she was leaving on a plane in thirty minutes. This had to be a joke.

  “Camden Dane, the Vice President of this rather oversized boy’s club.” His eyes flashing, he held out his hand. “I see you got the dog office. We’ll have to do something about that.”

  She kept her stance as she shook his hand. The man was unassuming, sexy in a soft sell kind of way. Dancing lavender eyes, tall with long legs, and a firm handshake suited the obvious cowboy. Vice President. She would have assumed a more studious appearance then faded blue jeans and a white, collarless shirt. “Interesting analogy and the office is just dandy.”

  “I’m never wrong,” Camden stated as he looked around her office. “Sparse. We need to do something about that. At least we can certainly find some art around here somewhere.”

  “Thanks, but I can take care of my own art. I have very peculiar styles.” She folded her arms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t quite catch what you were saying to me earlier.”

  “I apologize. I shouldn’t have been so abrupt but time is of the essence, Ms. Montgomery.” Camden closed the door.

  “Call me Dani, please. Time. Okay. What do you need me to do?”

  He moved closer to her desk. “Your expertise is sorely needed for a situation that has arisen in some newly purchased oil fields just outside of El Paso. We need you to visit the site, check through the tests and determine if there is any truth and if so, what can be done to repair the problem.”

  Everything was vague, his words clipped. “Mr. Dane, I may have studied oil and its various components, but I’m not certain I’m the best person for this job given I’ve never seen an oil field.”

  “You won’t be alone, I assure you.”

  “You must have an entire department of engineers that are much more familiar with this type of problem.” Dani could tell he was holding back information.

  Camden kept his smile as he inched even closer. “May I be frank with you?”

  “Please do.”

  “These particular fields were purchased recently, leveraged with our investors based on the multitude of tests taken prior to the purchas
e. They are supposed to be some of the top producing fields in the state. That would place Rush Enterprises on top, crushing our competition. If—”

  “If you were sold a false bill of goods, the entire company could lose millions, let alone be fresh bait for your competition?” Dani asked, interrupting.

  Camden’s eyes glimmered. “Hiring you was an excellent decision. I can tell you understand the dire situation. I’ve called a driver to take you to the private airstrip, which isn’t far from here. From there you’ll catch a plane and you can purchase whatever you need on the company card while you’re there.”

  “Wait,” Dani said as she walked around the desk. “How long am I going to be there?”

  “Just overnight but there’s no time to pack anything so we’re happy to accommodate.”

  If she had to admit the truth, she was excited about the possibilities. First day on the job and she’s called on to see if she can help with an issue? “What exactly is wrong with the oil?”

  “You’ll be given the remaining details once you’re on the plane.”

  “In other words, this is top secret.”

  Camden nodded. “Yep. You’re good. The car will be here in five minutes.” He turned and headed for her door.

  “Hold on. Who am I going with?”

  As he opened her door, he gave her a sideways glance. “Just another engineer, but he’s well versed in the work. You’ll learn a lot.”

  “Okay. Thanks.” Dani jumped when the door was closed and she wasn’t entirely certain why. She wrung her hands and walked toward the floor to ceiling window. This could actually make or break her career. El Paso? That was hours away. So, the company owned their own plane. She bit her lower lip to keep from squealing with glee. This was amazing.

  She grabbed her purse and was standing in wait until Mrs. Fletcher whisked into her office to let her know the car had arrived. Dani practically floated on her way to the elevator, whistling as she walked outside.

  “Ms. Montgomery? My name is Mark. I’m here to take you to the airport. Just make yourself comfortable. We’ll be there in less than ten minutes.”