“Shi s go.Ha er u?”
“I’m good.”
“Is ta e er ma en da bo?”
“He wanted to walk me to the boat, and Julie offered him a tour.What?”she asked when he just started laughing.
“Mackenzie Grant,” a male voice boomed.
It wasn’t often Mac heard her full name.Only her mother did that when she was in trouble.Or the higher ups in her company.Well, her mother wasn’t here, and it was male, so that left only one choice.And it couldn’t be good.
Mac ducked her head out of the door to see Alan Prince, the head director of her company, standing on the dock.He wasn’t a fieldman but an academic, so he looked out of place in a business suit standing in front of her boat.
“Mr.Prince, I wasn’t expecting you.”
“We need to talk,” he said in place of greeting.So not a social call to see how their research was going.
“Alright, well, come on aboard and we can sit down.”She waved him on.
Alan eyed the boat as if it were the Loch Ness monster about to devour him.The man didn’t like boats and always got sea sick when he was on it.“If you’ll come here, please.”
Mac came out of the quarterdeck and stopped at edge of the boat.“What is it?”She wasn’t getting off of her boat.
“I got a very upsetting phone call last evening.Want to take a guess from who?”
“Miles Banks,” Mac guessed, though it wasn’t a hard one.
“Yes, do you want to take a guess at what the conversation was about?”
“Why not just tell me, Alan?I have a team ready to go.I don’t have time for guessing games.”
Alan’s face turned red, indicating he was angry.She had just talked back to her boss.If he was angry enough at her, he could fire her.If he was going to do that, he would have already though.“He said you had an altercation.”
Mac snorted.“Hardly.We had a conversation.”
“In which you accused him—without evidence, I might add—” He pointed an accusatory finger at her.“That he is harming sharks.”
“It’s not a stretch since the sharks have been disappearing, and it started when he arrived.”
“Need I remind you, Mackenzie, your job is to research sharks, not accuse good-standing people of crimes without proof.”
Good-standing?That was a bit of a stretch for Miles, but snorting and arguing with the director was not a wise decision, so she stayed her tongue.“It’s hard to research sharks when they aren’t here,” she countered.Alan had access to all of her research.He could see with his own eyes their numbers had greatly depleted since last season.
“Then it is your job to find out why they are leaving and not by accusing people as the cause.There has to be a natural reason,” Alan said sternly.
“Since when does the company care that I accuse Miles Banks?”Mac asked, folding her arms over her chest and staring at her boss defiantly.The man may sign her paychecks, but never had the bigwigs cared what she did so long as it was within her job.Which this was.Research into the disappearance of sharks.
Alan stood up straighter.“Since he has become one of our number one benefactors.”
“Since when?”That couldn’t be right.
“Since last evening.”
Ah.“Right after he claimed to me, he is donating millions of dollars to aid in saving the sharks.”She unfolded her hands and air quoted, as if that could be believed.
“Mackenzie, what he said is true.He’s donating a lot of money to help us.”
“I don’t believe him.He’s all about making money.Why spend it on sharks?I don’t trust him.”And neither should he, not that she could say that to her boss.
