Byron gritted his teeth. He should have known this would come back. He didn’t have any children, but thirteen years ago he’d agreed to help a friend out by keeping her secret and going along with a lie. The image of Zoe in his college apartment, her face bruised, and tears in her eyes as she’d clung to him, played like a bad movie in his mind.
Byron, please say the baby is yours. He’ll kill me if I stay with him. This is my only way out.
Even now the memory filled him with rage and helplessness. Zoe had been his best friend. His homegirl. He’d loved her with everything he had, but when he’d told her, she’d tossed his love back at him as if playing hot potato. She’d been in love with someone else. A guy Byron had never thought deserved her. A guy Byron discovered way too late that he’d been right about. So he’d kept her secret. Said the child was his and promised never to say anything.
“You’re coming to me with rumors,” Byron replied coldly. He wasn’t playing his hand without knowing exactly what Carlton knew and wanted.
Carlton shrugged. “Rumors can do a lot of damage. You see, I doubt you’re really the father. The person who originally sent me to find ol’ girl was pretty sure someone else was the father. Now, I took your money to lead them off her trail, but then I got to wondering why so many people were interested in this one woman and her kid. Did a little research and here we are,” he said, sounding pleased with himself.
“Get to the point,” Dominic said in a deadly voice.
“My point is regardless of who the baby daddy is, I think word getting out about everyone’s favorite candidate possibly being on the birth certificate won’t be good for your campaign. You know the early polls show a strong lead over this other guy. Be a damn shame to lose because people think you’re an absentee father.”
Byron didn’t have time for this. “What do you want?” he asked instead of going with the urge to shove Carlton into the wall.
“A million dollars,” Carlton said without missing a heartbeat. “I know you’re good for it. Your family is known for its wealth.”
“I don’t have a million dollars.” He did, but he’d be damned if this guy got any more of his money.
“Oh, I don’t want it tonight. I’ll give you say...two weeks to come up with the money.” Carlton spoke as if he were a debt collector who’d done a client a favor by extending the deadline. “Bask in this win. Let it sink in a little what you stand to lose.”
Byron was well aware of what he had to lose. He was also shrewd enough to realize that paying Carlton wasn’t going to make this problem go away. He needed to know how far this guy was willing to go.
“What if I say no?” Byron asked. He crossed his arms and sized up Carlton. “A DNA test will prove I’m not the father.”
Carlton sucked his teeth and shook his head. “But the scandal it’ll cause. That, and your playboy ways. Oh, I’m sure there are dozens of other women willing to come forward and claim you’re their kid’s dad.”
The greedy gleam in Carlton’s eyes made Byron’s stomach churn. He wouldn’t doubt Carlton already had managed to find women who’d say they’d slept with him. Even if he had a dozen paternity tests to prove his innocence, the stigma would follow him and cost him the campaign.
“I thought you’d see what I mean,” Carlton said. “Just think it over. But not for too long.” Carlton put two fingers to his brow in a mock salute and walked out.
Byron punched his fist into his opposite hand. “Fuck!”
Dominic frowned. “You can’t pay him again. Guys like Carlton never go away. I never should have taken his first deal.”
Byron paced back and forth. His mind raced with what to do next. He couldn’t dwell on previous decisions. They were already done and he couldn’t change them. He’d have to deal with the consequences of those decisions.
“Protecting Zoe is what matters,” he said. “Carlton just proved what I feared most. Her ex is about to get out of jail and he’s looking for her. There’s no way that man should be able to get close to her.”
“If you pay him for this, you’ll have a paper trail of past dealings with him. He’ll make things worse and won’t hesitate to out you as a guy leaving babies all over the Southeast.”
Byron stopped pacing and met Dominic’s concerned stare. “No, he won’t. I have no intentions of paying him.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
He was going to outplay Carlton. Growing up as a Robidoux taught him to recognize when he needed to make a big play in order to win. “I’m going to see Zoe. It’s time we figured out our next move in this game.”
CHAPTER TWO
ZOE PLACED THE last handout for her training class on the last row of tables. With a sigh she clasped her hands in front of her and surveyed the empty room. Five neat rows of six-foot tables and chairs with bowls of candy and an assorted pile of small toys to occupy any fidgeters in the group. The laptop and projector were powered up and ready to go while instrumental music played softly in the background to keep things from being too quiet as people filed in.
Everything was in order. She’d done training presentations once a month for the past six years. She was comfortable speaking to a crowd and knew all the material. Still, her stomach lurched as if she were on a runaway roller coaster. Today’s presentation wasn’t just any presentation. It was part of the selection process for the new director of the risk-management department. A position Zoe wanted. Not just because her daughter’s private school tuition wasn’t getting any cheaper and switching wasn’t an option because the school’s security was the only thing that kept Zoe from being sick with anxiety about Lilah during the day, but also because she just wanted it.
Five years had to pass before she’d felt comfortable acknowledging things she wanted. Another five before she’d learned to be okay with going after her goals. She wasn’t going to feel bad for wanting this even if deep, deep down she still didn’t believe anyone would trust her judgment.
She strolled to the front of the room to double-check the slides for her presentation. No death by PowerPoint today. Lots of pictures, bullet points to cue her ideas and several places for her to stop and encourage audience participation. She would ace this.
“Damn, you think you’ve got it cold enough in here?”
Zoe’s shoulders stiffened. She commanded her eyes not to roll before raising her head to give a tight smile to the man at the door. Short, with eyes so full of shade she was surprised the room didn’t darken, and a personality as greasy as the extra dosing of whatever gel he slicked his curly hair back with, John Bailey was the guy least likely to throw Zoe a cup of water if she happened to spontaneously combust. He was also vying for the director position.
“This room gets hot when the projector is running. The temperature will balance out once everyone enters and the presentation starts.” Zoe managed to keep her voice calm and professional even though she wanted to tell John to shut up.
“What is your presentation on?” John sauntered into the room and picked up one of her presentation packets. His nose scrunched up as he read the first page. “Steps to effectively manage risk? Seriously, Zoe, you went with a topic that’s so basic.”
His comment shot straight at her confidence and threatened to kill it before she even started. Zoe took a steadying breath. Calling John an asshole would give her great relief, but she was pretty sure he’d come back with something equally mean, and regardless of the outcome she wouldn’t come out looking good in the situation.
Zoe focused on the reason why she’d chosen that topic. “People often ignore the basics. Everyone is willing to comply with any new requirements, while the everyday items are ignored. I’m going to highlight the ways we’ve improved the lives of our employees and reduced accidents mostly by going back to the basics.”
Although she kept her voice even and confident, John’s quiet scoff as she spoke sent her stomach
on another roller-coaster ride. What if her topic was too basic? What if the administrators were into new and flashy ideas? Would they look at her as being too simplistic? Unable to step out of the box?
She believed in this topic. Seven years doing regulatory inspections for OSHA before coming here and seeing how many accidents could have been avoided if people followed basic safety principles proved her point. She knew what she was talking about. She wasn’t going to cower before John or put up with his hating.
John raised a skeptical, bushy brow and dropped her presentation packet. “If you say so.”
Before Zoe could respond the other department managers filed into the room. The director position wasn’t officially posted, but the current director had submitted his retirement plans. Valtec Incorporated was one of the largest suppliers of plastics to the automotive industry. Zoe had worked in the risk management department of their Greenville, South Carolina, location for almost eight years. On paper she was qualified for the position. In reality, being qualified for something didn’t always mean success.
The assistant administrator came into the room last. A tall woman with an open smile and poised demeanor, Miranda was the type of professional Zoe strived to be. Confident, assertive, unwilling to back down from assholes like John.
Miranda walked over and shook Zoe’s hand. “Zoe, I look forward to your presentation.”
“Thank you, Miranda. I appreciate the opportunity.”
Everyone got settled in their seats. Zoe took one deep, comforting breath. Don’t start off boring. Introduce yourself with an interesting anecdote and no matter what, remember you do belong up here.
After her internal pep talk, Zoe ignored the smug you’re-going-to-fail look from John and started her presentation. Two minutes in she was in her zone. The other managers were engaged, and she saw several head nods, even a few surprised widening of the eyes as she went over some of the improvements she’d made. Her jokes hit, her talking points weren’t confusing, and based on Miranda’s pleased expression, Zoe’s confidence soared.
The sour expression on John’s face as the other managers clapped when she finished only made her want to jump up and do a fist-pump, in-your-face dance. Too basic, my ass! She’d nailed this.
Miranda raised a hand. “Zoe, I do have one comment.”
“Yes, Miranda,” Zoe said. The rush of victory swooped through her veins and oozed out in her voice.
“I’ll agree that you’ve achieved a lot with your improvements and proven how mitigating potential risks with employees has reduced the number of accidents and mishaps, but you didn’t go into detail about the accidents that did occur after we implemented your program. I would have liked to see an examination of why those occurred and what plans you have to try to avoid similar mistakes.”
Zoe’s smile froze in place. Heat prickled across her neck and cheeks. “I chose to focus on the improvements we made to show how we’ve reduced the number of accidents.”
“Reducing accidents is one thing,” Miranda said, sounding like a teacher correcting a student’s answer. “Having no accidents is another. Employee safety is the number-one priority for the company. In the future don’t just pat yourself on the back for doing well. Look at your failures. They’re opportunities to improve and you may discover valuable lessons there.” Miranda raised one thinly arched brow. “Understand?”
Zoe had a quick flashback to the time her mom yelled at her in front of her entire class during open house for being “sassy” as she talked about her good grades and projects.
Quit acting like you better than everyone else. Any third grader can get an A on a simple project.
The same sick embarrassment that made her want to curl up into a ball and disappear seeped into her veins. Back then she’d cried in front of the entire class. Further driving her into the bin of embarrassment. She didn’t cry anymore, but she hadn’t discovered a cure for shame.
She forced the corners of her frozen smile up even more and shoved a big pile of brightness into her voice. “Of course. You’re absolutely right. I will look into that.”
Miranda nodded. “Good. Send me a report outlining what steps were taken after those accidents. I’ll need it by Monday.”
Zoe internally groaned. This weekend she’d promised to take her daughter to Atlanta to visit the Georgia Aquarium. She already had tickets. Today was Wednesday, which didn’t leave a lot of time on top of the safety audits she was overseeing to finish a report before leaving. If she pulled together the incident reports maybe she’d be able to get something together before leaving on Friday. Maybe.
“No problem at all. I’ll have it ready,” she said.
“Good.” Miranda checked her watch. “I’ve got to run to another meeting. Again, great job.”
Miranda stood and the rest of the managers and division heads followed her lead. John meandered by her desk, a smug smile on his face and a gleam in his eye that made him look like a coked-up great white shark. Miranda had drawn blood and he was ready to pounce. Thankfully, someone called his name and asked a question, which forced John to leave with them.
Zoe cursed herself for not going over the accidents in her presentation as she packed up her materials and made her way to the office. She could stay late tonight, start going through the reports and put something together. The good thing was they already had plans in place to prevent further problems; the bad thing was those plans weren’t written in a report format fit to go to the assistant administrator.
“Hey, Zoe, you got a second?”
Zoe turned to the female voice behind her. Rose Clarkson from the information technology department jogged the rest of the way down the hall to Zoe, her black ponytail swinging in tandem with the Valtec employee ID around her neck.
“I do.” Zoe glanced around the hall. They weren’t alone, but no one was close enough to overhear. “What’s up?”
“I checked out that email you sent me. All I can tell you is that it originated from Memphis, but that’s about it. I don’t have the software here to do much more digging. Where did you get it from?”
Zoe licked her lips. Memphis? That didn’t tell her anything. “I think it was spam or a phishing thing. I deleted it.”
“Did it come to your work email? I can send it to corporate.”
She shook her head. She’d gone past her comfort zone asking Rose for help. No way was she about to have corporate digging into her personal life. Not when she was up for this promotion. “No. It came to Lilah. She was worried about identity theft, so I thought I’d have it checked out. It’s no big deal.”
Rose shrugged then nodded. “Okay, if you’re sure. If you get any more let me know and I’ll send it to one of my friends. She’s better at tracing the source of emails than I am.”
“Sure thing. Thanks.” She turned away from Rose and hurried to her office.
Disappointment further dampened her mood. She hadn’t wanted Rose to confirm her worst fears, that her ex-boyfriend was behind the threatening emails, but she’d wanted something more concrete. Memphis might be a good thing. Kendell was not from Memphis. He wasn’t scheduled to get out of prison for another few months. That email could have come to her by mistake.
You’re a lying bitch.
That was all it said. Nothing else, but it was enough to make her uneasy. Enough to make her pull from her savings to cover the increase in tuition at Lilah’s private school to ensure her daughter’s safety. Enough to remind her that she had lied to Kendell, and if he found out she didn’t know what he’d do to her.
She rubbed her chin. The dull memory of the pain she’d felt whenever he’d gotten angry or frustrated and lashed out at her with a backslap reminding her just how vindictive Kendell could be. She did not need that secret to ever be revealed.
Her desk phone rang just as she walked to her small office. A quick glance at the caller ID showed it was the front
reception desk. Surprising, since they didn’t typically call her unless a state or federal regulator was there for an inspection. There were no inspections scheduled for today.
Lord, please don’t let this be a pop-up inspection!
She did not need that on top of the crap that was her day. She picked up the phone. “What’s up, Kelly?”
“There’s a man here to see you,” Kelly said, giving no clue as to who said man could be.
“Is he with OSHA?” Just because there were no audits scheduled didn’t mean the regulatory agency couldn’t just show up.
“No, he says it’s a personal visit.” Kelly sounded perturbed as she always did when people dropped by the facility for personal visits. “I told him we only allow employees back, so he’s waiting in the visiting room.”
Since Valtec created proprietary products for various companies, the security around the place was super tight. One of the reasons Zoe had chosen to work there. She wasn’t a fan of surprises. She’d spent enough time looking over her shoulder and being afraid someone was going to hurt her.
Her eyes shot to the calendar. Stop, Zoe, it’s not Kendell. He didn’t even know where she worked. She took a steadying breath and hoped her heart would slow its erratic beat.
“What’s his name? I don’t have any appointments today.”
“He says his name is Pretty Ricky, but I don’t believe him. You want me to send him away?”
Zoe’s jaw dropped then slowly closed as she smiled. Byron was here? Not only was he here, but he was also using the nickname she’d teased him with back in college. She’d suspected this was coming. After he’d sent two private investigators to find her the year before, she’d wondered if he’d ever seek her out himself. She was surprised by how pleased she was to hear his name. He’d been her friend. Her safe harbor. Her escape.
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