The Family Business #2

by Mac Flynn

  Alex sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine, whatever. Just don't get yourself killed and don't touch anything."

  "And do that in the opposite order. It'll help avoid the death part," I spoke up.

  "I'll be careful not to upset anything," she laughed. She waved her fingers at us and strolled around the corner.

  Alex leaned against the nearest stack of boxes and groaned. "Why did Father have to send her? Charlie would be easier."

  "Because she's up to something," I replied.

  He frowned and glanced at me with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure of that?" he asked me.

  I stuffed my hand deep into my pocket and fingered the envelope. "I might have something." I pulled out the note and held it out to him. "I know I saw her uptown following me last night, and then I found this love letter under my door last night."

  He took the envelope, opened the note, and read the contents. His hands tightened their grip on the edges of the note and his face twisted into a mask of rage. "What time was this dropped off?" he asked me.

  I shrugged. "I got back from dinner at a little before ten. Right before you got to my apartment," I told him.

  "And you saw her when?" he questioned.

  "About fifteen minutes before that. Why the third degree?" I wondered.

  "Then it was her," he mumbled. "The handwriting, seeing you downtown. She watched you and left this note as a warning from both my father and her," he explained to me. He twisted the letter until it nearly fell out of his hands in shredded pieces.

  I grasped his hand and felt him quivering. "Woah there, Alex. They didn't threaten to kill me or put a horse's head in my bed. They just told me to get out or else something something. They weren't really specific with that part," I pointed out.

  "I don't care," he growled. He shoved the note into his pocket and marched down the aisle in the direction Caroline had gone.

  "What are you going to do?" I yelled at him.

  "To have a talk with my sister," he called over his shoulder.

  I rushed after him to advert a homicide.

  Chapter 8

  Alex walked so fast with such long legs that I didn't catch up to him until he was halfway down the next aisle around the corner. "You know it won't look good on your resume if you murder your own sister," I commented.

  "I don't care about resumes, jobs or the family business. She went too far in giving you that letter, and I'm going to make sure she doesn't do it again," he growled.

  I grabbed hold of his arm and planted my heels in the ground, but ended up only coasting along the smooth floor being dragged along by his muscles. "She isn't worth jail time!" I protested.

  "But you are," he argued.

  I had to think fast. At the rate he was walking we'd cover the back room in a matter of minutes. "If you go to jail then I'm not marrying you!" I threatened. That got his attention.

  He stopped and turned to me with a raised eyebrow. "Does that mean you will if I stay out?" he wondered.

  I cringed. "How about if I agree to that date I promised you yesterday when you took me home?" I suggested.

  His face brightened and he wrapped me in a tight hug. His lips pressed against mine and he set the world spinning with the lust behind that mouth. I pushed him away and he looked disappointed until I gasped, "air."

  He smiled gently at me. "You're one hell of a girl, George. No one else but you could have stopped me from ripping my sister a new one."

  I smirked. "That's what you tell all the girls you want to marry," I quipped.

  "I'm serious. You're the-hmph." I stopped his mouth with my hand and glanced over his shoulder. Then I realized I was too short for that and glanced around his side. I heard voices down the hall, and another noise. The clickety-clack of heels. I grabbed Alex's arm and pulled him into a side aisle so I was closest to the opening. "What's the-hmph," he tried to ask. My hand lay over his mouth again.

  "Quiet," I hissed. I glanced around the corner and saw two Caroline and Snitchie walking together. They were so close I wondered if they were Siamese twins. Their voices were hushed, but we were in a large warehouse so I caught a few snips of their conversation.

  "Perhaps this isn't the best place to discuss such matters. When can I meet with Mr. Mullen myself?" Caroline asked Snitchie.

  "Whenever you want. He'd be pretty eager to hear what you had in mind," Snitchie replied.

  Caroline smiled and looped her arm through Snitchie's own. She turned them around toward the door leading to the offices. "Then what about now? I hate to waste time."

  "Um, sure thing," Snitchie agreed. They disappeared around a corner and I breathed a sigh of relief. That is, until I glanced over at Alex.

  His jaw was clenched and his hands were balled into fists at his side. He stared straight ahead and if it would have been something other than steel shelving he would have bore a hole into it.

  "You okay?" I whispered.

  "No. This is very serious," he growled.

  "This means war?" I guessed.

  He turned his head toward me and the look on his hardened face softened. "I really shouldn't be dragging you into this mess between me and some of my family. I wouldn't blame you if you turned around and walked away right now."

  I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest. "What kind of a girl do you think I am?"

  "A lovely one."

  "Besides that."

  "A stubborn one?"

  "That, and I don't leave anyone behind in a war zone, so you're stuck with me."

  Alex smiled. "I can't think of anyone I'd rather be stuck with."

  I tried to roll my eyes, but that was a smooth compliment. An oldie, but still smooth. "Now that we're stuck together, you have any plans on how to deal with these guys?" I asked him.

  Alex furrowed his brow and ran his hand through his deliciously soft hair. I wanted to give him a hand, but he was a lot taller than me. "I've got a few. One of them is to get some sources on the inside and see what they know."

  "Sources on what inside?" I wondered.

  He smiled and pointed upward. "Up there in the echelons of management. I'm going to infiltrate the people who know the most and find out what my dear sister and your snitch are up to."

  My eyes lit up when I understood him. "You mean you're going to pump the secretaries?" I guessed, and he nodded.

  "Yep. I have some experience in dealing with them."

  I rolled my eyes. "Just keep it to a professional level. There's some company policies about dating the higher ups, not that they're followed all that much."

  He smirked. "And speaking of dating, I think you owe me a date," he reminded me. "What do you say to tonight at seven?"

  My shoulders slumped and I sighed. "I'd say no, but a promise is a promise. Mind going some place where we won't be noticed breaking the rules?"

  "Not a problem."

  "And how fancy a dinner are we talking?"

  Alex walked around me and gave me an inspection so close an x-ray machine would be jealous. "How about that red dress I saw you in last night? It looks becoming on you."

  "I've been wearing it so much it's becoming me, but I guess I can do that," I replied.

  "I'd be disappointed to hear that. You look much lovelier without clothes," he commented.

  "Did your mother teach you how to woo a woman?"

  "Actually, yes."

  "I must really get to know this woman better. She must have a hell of a sense of humor."

  "After the wedding you'll have plenty of time, but for tonight I'll pick you up at five and we'll go to this nice little restaurant my family owns. It's very private so you won't have to worry about being seen with a hideous man like myself," he teased.

  I snorted. "I'll be sure to have a paper bag at the ready for your head in case we meet somebody I know."

  "Just don't make it too tight."

  "There you two are!" Jamie strode down the hall toward us with a grin on her face. "You two always find the best hiding spots."
r />   "We're practicing a two-man magic performance, but is something up?" I asked her.

  "I just thought you two would like to know there's this woman wandering around-"

  "Caroline Brenton. We've met. Twice," I told her.

  "And she's with-"

  "Snitchie Fraser. We saw that," Alex interrupted.

  We laughed when Jamie's face fell. "You two aren't any fun," she grumbled.

  I rubbed my chin in my hand. "There is one thing we don't know. Do you happen to know what they're up to?" I wondered.

  She shook her head. "Not a clue, but I could get the Ladies to help me out."

  "The Ladies?" Alex repeated.

  "Yeah, the girls upstairs. The secretaries. They know everything that goes on up there, even when the managers don't know it," Jamie told us.

  I grinned and glanced up at Alex. "Looks like you can put away your male charms. We already have ourselves a mole."

  Alex smiled. "So it seems," he agreed.

  Jamie turned her head from one of us to the other. "Mole? What about a mole?"

  I set my hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes. "We need you to go on a dangerous mission for us. You may not survive it."

  Her face lit up and she clapped her hands. "Oh goody! When do I start?"

  I rolled my eyes. "You'd be cheerful at a funeral," I muttered.

  "Not if it was my own," she pointed out.

  "But anyway, this mission, if you choose to accept it, would be for you to go to the Ladies and find out what they know about Caroline Brenton and Snitchie. We heard them talking about Caroline meeting with Mullen, so that would be a good place to start." I grasped her hands and turned her so we faced each other. "Can you do this for us?"

  She eagerly nodded her head. "Yep."

  I snorted and dropped my hands from her shoulders. "You didn't even hesitate," I scolded her.

  Jamie sheepishly shrugged. "Sorry."

  Alex laughed and set his hand on my shoulder. "I think we've had enough fun for now. It's time to get back to work," he reminded us.

  I glanced over my shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "Have you been replaced by a robot?" He swooped down and caught my lips in one of his hot, brazen kisses. I separated us and frowned, but couldn't hide the blush on my cheeks. "A simple 'no' would have sufficed."

  "I'm a complicated guy," he argued.

  "Uh-huh, well, let's just take your complicated self to the shoe department and start memorizing where each box goes."

  His face paled. "Is it that complicated?"

  "No, but we need to go there to see about that shorthand writing from Alan," I reminded him. I turned him around to march him back the way we'd come, and looked to Jamie. "When can you get us that info?"

  She shrugged. "Maybe by the end of today, but it really depends on what's going on and how much of that they can hear through Mullen's office door."

  "Report back to me here tomorrow at the same time. That enough time?" I asked her.

  "Probably."

  "Good. Oh, and start warning people to watch what they saw around that Brenton. She's not here to help any of us," I instructed her.

  Jamie clacked the heels of her boots together and saluted. "Will do, captain!" She spun on her heels and marched away.

  I forlornly shook my head. "Sometimes I wonder about that girl," I murmured.

  "Sometimes?" Alex argued.

  "Less talk and more walk. We've got a lot of ground to cover and less time to do it in," I ordered him as I pushed him down the aisle to our work.

  Chapter 9

  I won't bore you with the-well, boring details of the rest of that work day. We went through the unfinished departments and Alex showed promising signs of improvement. Alex had a quick mind when he knew how to apply it, and that just took my know-how around the back-end of the back room. He could fill out a form and ship it off really quick. I just had to make sure he got the right item to ship to the right place. There was that one time I had to grab the back of Alex's shirt and pull him away from a row of parked forklifts. My hip still hurt like heck and I knew I wouldn't be as spry as before if something went wrong.

  By the time five o'clock rolled around I was ready to roll into my car and roll home. I dragged myself to the break room with Alex behind me and grabbed my stuff from my locker. "Not too shabby a day," I commented to him.

  He smiled. "No, but the night promises to be better. I'll pick you up at-"

  I noticed a shadow in the doorway of the break room and wrapped my hand around his mouth. The shadow flitted away into the back room, and I hobbled after it. I peeked my head out, but wasn't in time to see who they were or where they went. They hadn't made a clacking noise of high heels, though.

  "What's wrong?" Alex asked behind me.

  "I thought I saw someone. Maybe we should call this thing off for now," I suggested.

  "You're not getting out of it that easily," he teased.

  "I'm serious. There was a shadow there," I insisted.

  Alex looked at my seriously serious face wrinkled and frowned. He strode through the door and looked around the area. It was empty. The clock had struck five two minutes ago and everyone had evacuated the building like it was on fire. Alex turned back to me and held out his hand. "Come on, let's go before the shadows follow us."

  I reluctantly took his hand and he pulled me quickly through the maze of aisles, corridors, halls, and forgotten back alley storage compartments. It showed how much he'd learned about the back room by the fact that he only got us lost once. I only hoped it was enough to lose the shadow.

  In a few dizzying minutes we were at the parking garage and Alex let me go. My car sat in the nosebleed section of the parking lot. His was right by the stairs leading to it in a spot wide enough to fit a wide load with room for an elephant. It also had his name on a plate that hung on the wall. Management perks.

  "Remember. Six o'clock I'll pick you up," he reminded me.

  I snorted. "I think the knock on the door will remind me," I pointed out.

  He smiled and swooped down to peck a chaste kiss on my cheek. "And don't forget that dress," he whispered into my ear.

  I pushed him away and playfully scowled at him. "I think you'd like me better without it."

  "I would, but I'm a jealous man. I don't want anyone else to have a look at you," he teased.

  "So the paper bag I'm bringing tonight is for who?" I countered.

  "Make it big enough for two and it'll work just fine," he returned.

  I rolled my eyes and pushed him towards his fancy parking spot and even fancier sports car. "Go on, Mr. Manager. You've got a date to get dressed for."

  He jumped in his car and drove off. I sighed and stomped my way to my old beat up thing. On the way I met a few other stragglers from the back room, namely Alan and Phil. I already said Phil resembled Alex a little, but Alan was about forty with thinning hair and a pot belly he set on his knees when he drove his forklift. The pair of them were talking around a pillar when I strode by. I didn't see them and jumped a foot in the air when Alan spoke up.

  "You really think that guy's better than Stouten?" Alan asked me.

  I slowed my heart and shrugged. "He's pretty good. He just needs time."

  Alan nodded to Phil. "Phil told me he's a nice guy, but he doesn't know a thing about driving forklifts." My aching hip agreed. "So what's he want to work here for?"

  "To learn about the company," I told him. "You know, learn the ropes and run it better than the management does now."

  "At least the management knows how to order," Alan quipped. "I saw that bee truck a few days ago. Stupid stuff like that's gonna get somebody hurt." Again, my aching hip agreed.

  I put my hands on my hips, remembered my bruise, and crossed my arms instead. "You think he's bad you should've seen the other option we had for saving the company. Most of us would've been fired and the back room would've been emptied and stored in a big shared warehouse downtown."

  The mens' eyes widened and they glanced
at each other. "Seriously?" Phil asked me.

  "Seriously," I seriously replied.

  Alan frowned. "I think we would've heard something about that," he argued.

  "It's not something they wanted to broadcast. How good would it have looked for the merger if they told everyone half the employs were going to be laid off?" I countered.

  "Not good?" Phil guessed.

  "Not good," I agreed. I glanced down at my watch, remembered I needed to get one of those damn things one day, and looked at the guys. "Anybody know the time?"

  Alan checked his watch. "Ten past five," he told me.

  "Eep!" I yelped.

  I ran to my car and stomped on it. It took me a few minutes to get home, then a few more to change, trip over the cat, get some lipstick on, trip over the cat, find my shoes, trip over the cat, and finally feed my homicidal feline. When the knock on the door came I was as composed as a half-finished song and Mr. Smith was giving me his thank-you purrs in another effort to trip me. You'd think this time would be easier for me than the last since I wasn't going to be meeting prospective in-laws, but dates, even second ones, were never easy.

  I jumped from the couch, rushed to the door, and swung it open. Alex stood there in all his glory, and I would have swooned if it was in my nature. Instead I leaned against the door frame and smiled at him. "You're late."

  He frowned and looked at his wristwatch. "Your clocks are off," he argued.

  I sighed. "That's what I get for going by my internal clock."

  "What about your phone?" he asked me.

  I snorted. "Do I look like I like phones?" I countered.

  Alex glanced down at my tight red dress. "You look like you're ready for a good time, so shall we?" He offered his arm to me.

  I smiled. "Do you trust me to give back your arm?" I teased.

  "I can always buy a new one," he countered.

  I sighed and took his arm. "There's just no having a normal, plebeian conversation with you."

  He shook his head. "I'm afraid not, but you know you love me."

  "Maybe it's your money I love," I argued. Alex stopped us and his face froze. The smile slipped off his face and he tensed. "I didn't mean it. Really."

  Alex sighed, closed his eyes and shook his head. "I guess it's just my sister getting at me. She came to my apartment and tried to talk me out of the management position and-well, you."

  I snorted. "With family like that, who needs enemies? And speaking of the devil, she doesn't know about this little get-to-together, does she?"