Girlie leaned forward as the waiter disappeared. Her shift of position gave him a better view of her phenomenal tits.
“I like that,” Girlie said softly.
“What?” Mankowski asked, knowing he had just scored big.
“The way you took charge and ordered exactly what I wanted. Most guys I meet are in awe of me. I like meeting a man who’s…” she paused in search of the right word. “Fearless.”
“It’s the gun and the badge,” he joked.
She leaned over the table and gave him a blazingly intense look that made him shiver inside. “I don’t care what it is. I like it.”
He tried to hold her gaze, but after a few seconds he had to look away. He’d had sex last week with one of the assistants in the crime lab and he wasn’t even this turned on when he came.
“Tell me something about yourself.” Mankowski was desperate to change the subject. “Are you the only lawyer in your family?”
Girlie’s smile fell away. “Not really.”
Not really? It was a yes-or-no question.
Had Girlie’s response come from a suspect, Mankowski would have pressed for more. But he didn’t care. He was willing to talk about whatever she chose to share.
“Where’d you grow up?”
Girlie softly inhaled and looked away.
Strike two.
“Cerritos,” she finally said. She took a sip of water and averted her eyes.
Okay, so family stuff was off-limits. He got it. Maybe she’d had a tough childhood. He didn’t really care how or where she’d grown up. He was just trying to make conversation.
Girlie leaned in again. “What about you? What led you to law enforcement?”
“I like protecting people.” That was a line he’d just made up, but there was a great deal of truth to it.
“I’d like you to protect me,” Girlie said. She reached across the table again and squeezed his hand.
“And just what do you need protecting from?”
She shrugged. “Nothing at the moment, but you never know. Having my own personal detective to call on any time of the day or night could be quite an asset. So can I call on you?”
Mankowski knew he had her and tried not to smile.
“Please do.”
CHAPTER 33
By the end of the day shift, the news of Olivia’s confrontation with the new store manager was swirling around the store like a swarm of pissed-off bumblebees. Associates were emailing and tweeting each other and gossiping about it on Facebook. In one version, Olivia had spat in Helen’s face. In another, she’d been fired and escorted out by security.
Although most of Olivia’s co-workers were afraid to be seen talking to her, many secretly envied her for having the guts to stand up for herself. After her suspension, they were ready to back her up.
“I think we should do something,” Robyn Gant had told a handful of sales associates only minutes after Olivia marched out of the store. “It wasn’t right what they did to Olivia. I saw the whole thing. She didn’t threaten Helen.”
“We can’t do anything?” another worker griped. “They’re probably going to fire her. And if we complain they’ll fire us too.”
“They can’t fire all of us,” Robyn insisted. She was an outgoing woman who pranced around the store in three-inch heels all day, then pretended that her feet didn’t hurt after eight hours. “I don’t know about y’all,” she said, “but I’m going to do something.”
So rather than tending to the Shoe department where she worked, Robyn had spent the rest of her shift secretly talking to other sales associates about her plan. Robyn enlisted five other workers to help get the word out to employees on the other shifts. She also contacted her cousin, who worked the assignment desk at KABC-TV.
The next morning, more than a third of the sales associates, including Robyn, had called in sick. Such a high absenteeism would’ve been a problem on any day, but it was definitely a near-catastrophe the day before the Fourth of July. The store was packed with shoppers making last-minute purchases in preparation for the holiday.
The store manager traipsed up and down the aisles like a confused puppy trying to catch its tail.
“I need you to cover register six,” Helen barked at a worker who’d been assigned to Housewares in Olivia’s absence.
“I haven’t worked the register in over a year,” the woman said, shrinking away. “I’m not sure I even remember how.”
“Just go over there,” Helen shouted at her. “It’ll come back to you.”
“But I don’t have an access number anymore,” the woman complained.
Helen threw up her hands and walked off.
Near the front of the store, only three of the ten registers were open. Each line of waiting customers was thirty-deep.
“Why don’t you open up some more registers,” a man called out as Helen hurried by.
“Yeah,” another customer yelled after her. “This is ridiculous.”
Ida Lopez walked up behind Helen. “I think you need to contact the corporate office,” she whispered. “This is getting out of hand.”
Helen ran a hand through her frizzy hair. “I have everything under control.”
“No, you don’t. Do you even realize what’s going on?” Ida asked.
“What do you mean?”
“The sales associates organized a sick-in. That’s why so many people called in sick.” She pointed toward the registers. “And the employees who did show up are staging a work slowdown. That’s why it’s taking customers a half hour to get through the line.”
“Why are they doing this?”
“Because of what happened to Olivia.”
“That woman threatened me!” Helen pouted.
Ida held her tongue. “I really think you need to call corporate.”
“I can’t do that. They’ll think I can’t handle things. This is my chance to show I can run a big store.”
“I think your problems just got worse.” Ida pointed toward the sliding glass doors that led out of the store. “Look who’s here.”
A KABC-TV news van was illegally parked just outside the entrance. A reporter was stopping customers for an interview as they exited the store.
Helen rushed outside just as the reporter turned away to commence a live shot.
“If you still have some last-minute shopping to do for your Fourth of July celebration, you may want to avoid the Big Buy store in Carson unless you have a lot of extra time on your hands. More than a third of the store’s sales associates called in sick today, and the ones who did show up are staging a work slowdown.
“The employees have banned together to protest what they believe was the unfair and retaliatory suspension of a fellow worker. I just spoke to one customer, who says she had to wait in line for thirty minutes to pay for a barbecue grill…”
Rather than react, Helen started to hyperventilate.
“Like I told you,” Ida said, “you need to call the corporate office. Now.”
CHAPTER 34
The employee protest at Big Buy led every local newscast in the city and resulted in tons of negative publicity about the store on Twitter and Facebook. The general counsel immediately called Girlie, who dropped everything and rushed over to the company’s Anaheim headquarters.
Girlie sat across an ocean-size conference table, facing the interim store manager. Helen Sheridan kept ringing her hands and apologizing. She was flanked on either side by Evelyn Kimble, the general counsel and Rita Richards-Kimble, the CEO. There was no need for Rita to be present, but it was clear that she didn’t trust her general counsel to properly manage this situation.
“I have no idea how everything got so out of control,” Helen whined.
“Just tell us what happened with Ms. Jackson,” Girlie urged.
“I approached Olivia Jackson because she was late getting to the floor. She got all loud and started demanding that I change her schedule. Then she raised her hand as if she was going to hit me and said somethin
g about getting a weapon and prospering.”
“What?” Evelyn and Rita said in unison. “Getting a weapon and prospering? What does that mean?”
“I didn’t understand it myself,” Helen said. “But when I heard her say weapon, that’s when I got scared. And then she called me a heathen.”
Girlie frowned. “Ms. Jackson’s attorney claims her client was simply quoting a Bible verse.”
“Well, if she was, I’d never heard of it.”
“Tell me, to the best of your memory, exactly what Ms. Jackson said to you.”
Helen looked skyward. “No weapon…can…prosper over me. Yeah, I think that’s what she said. I know for sure that she said weapon and I’m pretty sure she said prosper.”
Girlie didn’t know much about the Bible, having only been to church for funerals and weddings. She picked up her smartphone and Googled the words Bible verse, weapon and prosper.” The search instantly pulled up Isaiah 54:17.
Girlie read the verse out loud. “No weapon formed against thee shall prosper. Is that what she said?”
“Yeah, that’s it!” Helen said, snapping her fingers. Her excitement dulled a second later, once she realized that Olivia’s words were not a threat. “But, like I said, she did say it with a lot of hostility.”
Girlie set her smartphone back on the table. “Weren’t you advised about Ms. Jackson’s lawsuit when you came to the store?”
“Yes, she was,” Rita said. “Which is why I have no idea why she would do something stupid like changing that woman’s schedule without clearing it with anybody.”
Helen slid down a few inches in her seat. “I didn’t think it would be a problem.”
“Exactly why did you alter her schedule?” Evelyn asked.
“I just think it’s a good idea to change employees’ shifts from time to time. If you don’t, they start thinking they’re entitled to a particular shift. Then, when you need to move them for some reason, they start complaining. I switched about a dozen associates. Nobody else made a big deal about it.”
“Do you know how much your actions have damaged this company’s reputation?” Rita yelled. “You made it look as if we retaliated against Ms. Jackson because of her lawsuit.”
“But I didn’t,” Helen protested.
“That’s it for now,” Girlie said, as exasperated with Rita as she was with Helen. “Please send Ida Lopez in and wait outside.”
Seconds later, Ida entered the room with her eyes cast downward, her right pinkie finger wrapped around the strap of her purse.
Girlie introduced everyone and explained that she was investigating the incident involving Olivia Jackson.
“I understand that you were in the area when it happened,” Girlie said. “Were you close enough to hear their conversation?”
Ida nodded, but didn’t speak.
“Tell us what you saw?”
Ida began recounting a story that was completely different from what Helen had just reported. “Olivia explained to Helen that she couldn’t work on Wednesday night because she teaches Bible study.”
“Did Ms. Jackson raise her voice?” Girlie asked.
Ida glanced over at Rita, who was tapping her fingers on the desk. “No.”
“Was her tone hostile?”
“No.”
“Did it appear to you that she was going to hit Helen?”
“No.”
“Did you hear Ms. Jackson say, No weapon formed against thee shall prosper?”
“Yes.”
“Did you view that as a threat?”
Ida laughed softly. “No. Olivia is always praying and quoting the Bible.”
“So you recognized what she said as a Bible verse?”
“Of course,” Ida said, giving Girlie a look that said she should have too.
“What’s the atmosphere like among the employees at the store?”
Ida hunched her shoulders. “I don’t know.”
“We really need you to be candid with us,” Evelyn said.
When Girlie had urged the general counsel to promote Ida, Evelyn had initially resisted, thinking that any employee who sued the company couldn’t be trusted. But Ida was a struggling single mother. Girlie figured the promotion would make her loyal to the company and, more important, create a wedge between her and Olivia. Girlie just hoped this incident didn’t send Ida running back to the other side.
Girlie gave Ida as much time as she needed to answer the question. “Nobody really likes Helen,” she finally admitted. “She acts like a drill sergeant, always trying to find something you’re doing wrong. Our old store manager wasn’t like that. He just let us do our jobs. So when she suspended Olivia, everybody took Olivia’s side. They didn’t think it was right.”
“Did you think it was right?” Rita challenged.
Again, Ida took her time answering the question. “No,” she said, her gaze on Girlie, not Rita. “It wasn’t right.”
They dismissed Ida after a few more questions.
“Well,” Girlie said, “it looks like we have a problem. I think we need to reverse that suspension and concentrate on restoring order at the store.”
“I guess we have to,” the general counsel agreed. “We can’t take another day of negative publicity like the one we just had. We need to get these employees calmed down. I don’t want them calling up Vernetta Henderson too.”
“I just hate that the sales associates are basically dictating how we discipline our employees,” Rita said grudgingly.
“I’ll call Ms. Henderson right after this meeting,” Girlie said.
They called Helen back into the room.
“We’ve made the decision to bring Ms. Jackson back to work,” the general counsel announced.
Helen sulked back in her chair. “But she—”
“Ms. Jackson is involved in ligation against this company,” the CEO said sternly. “How you manage this situation going forward will have a direct bearing on whether we keep you on as the permanent store manager. From now on, don’t make a move involving Ms. Jackson without clearing it with me personally.”
Evelyn maintained her usual fake smile, but Girlie could see something bubbling beneath the surface. She was the general counsel and this was a matter within her chain of command. But Rita had stepped in and rendered her meaningless.
“I understand,” Helen said with a stiff smile.
Girlie shook her head. Helen was a nightmare and had no business in charge of other workers. When they’d made the decision to bring in a female store manager, there were very few employees to pick from. Fortunately for Girlie, more workplace strife meant more billable hours for her.
“Tomorrow morning,” Evelyn said, reasserting herself, “I want you to call a staff meeting and announce that there was a misunderstanding and that Olivia Jackson is returning to work.”
CHAPTER 35
Jefferson pointed up at the theater marquee like an excited five-year-old. “We have plenty of time. The previews haven’t even started yet.”
We were standing in line at the Howard Hughes Promenade about to purchase movie tickets. When we left home twenty minutes ago, we’d agreed to see the new Julia Roberts movie. Jefferson was now welching on the deal and trying to convince me to see some action flick.
“I heard the reviews weren’t that good,” I said.
“I don’t care about reviews. The last four movies we saw were chick flicks. You owe me.”
A Thursday night movie was rare for us, but after getting Olivia back to work, I felt like celebrating. My overworked psyche needed a sappy romantic comedy, not a bunch of car chases and explosions. Still, I gave in.
We purchased tickets and I ran off to the ladies’ room while Jefferson waited in line for popcorn.
Minutes later, he was walking toward me, carrying a jumbo tub of popcorn and two sodas, a frown stretched across his face.
“What’s the matter?”
“I think somebody’s following us.” He did a slow three-sixty turn, examining every inc
h of the theater lobby.
My eyes trailed his. “Following us? Who?”
“I don’t see the dude now. A short black guy in a beige shirt.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because I saw him at the red light right after we left the house. Then I saw him in the parking lot and I could swear I saw him just a second ago. I’m thinking this might have something to do with your Big Buy case and those documents.”
“Uh…did you consider the possibility that he might want to see a movie too?”
Ever since that beating Benjamin took, Jefferson had been overly concerned about my safety. I’d been trying to forget what happened to Benjamin, but Jefferson was making me paranoid.
We headed inside theater six. When I stopped in the area where we normally sat, Jefferson continued up the stairs.
“Let’s sit up here,” he said, taking the aisle seat on the very last row. “I wanna be able to see if homeboy comes in.”
I followed him without comment, knowing that protesting wouldn’t change anything.
Jefferson shifted in his seat every few minutes and kept gazing around the theatre. Not that there was anything to see in the dark.
I tried to watch the movie, but after about twenty minutes of non-stop explosions, I nodded off.
“Wake up.” Jefferson nudged my arm. “Do I fall asleep when you drag me to a chick flick?”
I opened my eyes to find him standing over me. “I was just resting my eyes. Is the movie over already?”
“Yeah, and you missed a good one.”
He extended his hand and helped me to my feet. We walked the short distance to Wild Thai for dinner.
“How’s the shopping-center project in Inglewood going?” I asked, after we’d placed our orders.
“Pretty messed up. The general contractor is having some problems and—”
Jefferson’s attention was suddenly focused on something over my shoulder. I turned around to see what he was looking at. The spacious walkway out front was empty.
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