“Hey,Ollie.”Thenwhen he spotsDaisy, he adds, “Oh!Hi.Doyou work here?”
Ifreeze.I’min the records room with someone who isn’t an employee.Whichis against the rules of our company, not to mention the rules of ethics.Butmuch worse than sneaking inDaisy,Iam doing clandestine acts with no proof thatI’msupposed to be doing it.Ihave taken contracts that are not from my client, that contain information about espionage and colluding with terrorists, andIam making copies of them without the permission of the document owners.Iam a ball of nerves.There’sno chanceIcan respond in a way that’s believable at all.
BeforeIhave to even worry about what to say, though,Daisyscoots beside me and holds out her hand to shakeCameron’s. “Idon’t work here.Hi,I’mDaisyMaxfield.OllieandIhave a date.Wehad decided to meet here, but he wasn’t quite finished with work yet—he still had to make copies and get them filed before we left.”Sheplaces a hand on my chest. “So,Idecided to join him while he finishes up.”
Iwas nervous whenCameroncame in for so many reasons.NowthatDaisy’shand is on my chest, though,Ican’t breathe.IthinkImight pass out.ButIdo completely forget to be nervous aboutCameronfinding out whatI’mdoing in here because all my nerves arefocused on the fact that the woman of my dreams is with me in my work space and she has her hand on my chest.
“That’swhatIwas about to do, too,”Cameronsays. “Howmuch more do you have?”
Imanage to say the words, “Justabout finished,” whichIget out as the last copy comes through.Igrab the originals and the copy and slide them both between my manila folders beforeCameroncan see them.Hopefully, he doesn’t notice that my hands are trembling a bit or thatI’mholding my breath.ThenIgrab my anything-but-subtle case, motion to the machine, and say, “It’sall yours.”
Assoon asDaisyandImake it back between the aisles, she takes the original contracts from me andIkeep the copies.Sincethe shelves are all wire,Ican see through the space above a row of boxes.OnceCameron’sback is to me and his eyes are on the copier’s screen to select options,Islip the contract copies into the colorful bag.Igo over to the boxes whereIactually need to file the documentsIbrought with me.
Iglance atDaisy.She’sholding the papers low at her side, which is good because they’re at the height that a row of boxes hides them fromCameron’sview.Icould never go deep enough down the aisle to get to the box we got the illicit papers from withoutCameronwondering whatIam doing.ButDaisycan.
She’skeeping an eye onCameronthrough the spacesbetween boxes.Ashe turns around to lean against the copy machine as it does its thing,Daisysays, “Ican’t believe how far back these go!”
Idon’t know how she’s going to put the originals back in the place whereTadhad left them without being seen until the copy machine jams andCameron’sattention goes back to the screen to see where the jam is.Daisyuses the distraction to remove the box’s lid, find the right file, slip the papers back in, and put the lid on.
Assoon as she’s no longer touching it, she says, “Thereare so many files here!” as she heads back toward me.
Shehas such a look of wonder on her face thatIanswer genuinely, “It’sa whole lot of years of files from a whole lot of employees helping a whole lot of clients.Theimpressive thing is that this room only contains files from the accountants on our floor.Everyfloor has its own records room.”
“Wow,”Daisybreathes as she reaches me. “Justthe thought of all these numbers in one place.”
“There’ssomething almost magical about it, right?”Isay, feeling like she gets me.
Cameronseems to have fixed the paper jam, and as he’s closing the front panel of the machine, he says, “Youtwo sound perfect for each other.Ihope you have a good date.”
Itell him thanks, andDaisyandIhead down the hallway.Theplace has mostly cleared out now—there’sonly a random employee here and there who remains.Assoon as we’re out of earshot of everyone,Daisysays, “Wedid so good!Weshould get some kind of spymaster award for that.”
Ican’t help but think that we did, too.Thenwe round the corner to the elevators and seeTad, who happens to be standing in the middle of the foyer, talking to a woman in a black suit thatIcan only guess is a client.
Aswe skirt around him to go to the elevator, he breaks away from his client and comes right up to us.HelooksDaisyup and down, notices she isn’t wearing an employee badge, and says to me in a way-too-accusing voice for him not being my boss, “Whydo you have a non-employee here on this floor?Whatare you guys doing?”
It’sbecauseDaisy’sno longer hovering her pen over an open manila folder.Shehas lost her “ladder.”Andjust as she’d guessed, without it, she looks suspicious.
CHAPTER 8
OPERATION: HIDE AND CHIC
DAISY
Theguy standing in the third-floor lobby in front of the elevators, looking subtly judgy and superior, is wearing an employee badge on a lanyard, soIcan see right away that it’sTadRiggins.Maybehe’s sketchy and he’s knowingly aiding sketchy people, and maybe he’s not.Butheisknowingly being judgmental ofOllie, andIget the impression that his being a pain toOllieisn’t new.Andthat alone makes me not like the guy.
Ireach out my hand and shakeTad’s. “Hi,I’mSadieBelleAshford.I’ma potential client of your firm.Ididn’t knowIwas fixin’ to be grilled whenIcame here to meet withMr.Baldwin.Andwho might y’all be?”Idid not mean for that to come out with aSouthernaccent!
“Oh,”Tadsays, seeming a teeny bit chagrined thathe was accusatory whenIam a potential client. “Iapologize.Iassumed that if you were here checking out our company, you’d be meeting withMs.Monroe.Myname isTad, andI’malso an accountant here.Awell-regarded one.”
“Olliecame mighty highly recommended,”Isay, “andIcan tell ya right now, just likeItoldMs.Monroe, thatI’mnot willin’ to sign on the dotted as a client to be handed over to any ol’ accountant.Ihad to meet withOlliefirst to see if whatI’vebeen hearin’ about him is true.Iam happy to report that he’s all that and then some, soI’llbe turnin’ myself from a potential client to a full-on client right quick.”
“YourequestedOllie?”Tadasks me before shootingOlliea glance.
Idon’t know what, exactly, has gone on betweenOllieandTad, but there is history there, and by the look onTad’sface,Iknow thatIsaid the right thing.
“Isure did,”Isay. “I’mglad thatIgot wind of all the glowing things about him because it makes me feel likeIfound a diamond in the rough by coming to your firm.Now, if you’ll excuse me,Ihave a company to run.Olliewas just showin’ me out.”
Assoon as we make it into the elevator and the doors close,Isay, “Idon’t even know where that accent came from!Well, okay,Ido know—it came fromWestVirginia.Apparently,SadieBelleis a creekside-and-crickets-at-sundown kind of girl.”
