Hard Rules

“Help yourself,” I say, but she’s already headed for the pot, and aside from filling her own cup, she refills mine. “Do you actually have creamer?”

“Cabinet above the pot,” I say, my phone buzzing with a text where it lay next to my computer. I grab it and glance at the message from Seth. Your father leased room 751 for six months. Confirming, but I do believe the “other” woman is living there.

I set the phone down, precisely, slowly, reining in the anger burning through me, and not quite sure if it’s more directed at my mother or my father.

“Do you want your twenty or so messages now or never?” Jessica asks, appearing in front of me.

“If never is actually an option, then you can handle them.”

“I already did. I just wanted you to remember how efficient I am.” She sits down in front of me. “In case you leave and I need a reference.”

“I’m not going anywhere. Correction. I’m leaving this apartment. If you do your job. Get in touch with my Realtor and find me a house.”

She blanches. “You want me to find you a house?” She holds up her hands. “I mean that’s good. It’s job security for me, but Shane. A house is a big thing.”

“Narrow it to the top three.”

She looks like she wants to argue, but says, “Fine. Okay. Any specifics?”

“Close to here.”

“Apartment?”

I think of my apartment in New York. “House.” Then I think of convenience. “Apartment. Just not in the Four Seasons.”

“Price range?”

“Whatever it takes to be in something comparable to what I’m in now.”

“What about Cherry Creek? It’s ten minutes away and it has gyms, food, and shopping. There are new high-rises going up, but the house prices are on the rise too. In other words, if you buy now, you’re going to have great resale potential.”

“Cherry Creek works. Top three, Jessica.”

“All right then. Top three it is.”

“Soon.”

She gives me a curious look. “Of course.” She sips from her cup. “I should get back. I’m one of the only people who’ll stand up to your father.”

“Before you go.” I close the folder and hand it to her. “Inside you’ll find two executives and two scientists I’ve shortlisted for BP. None of them is local. I’ve put calls into each of them and flagged the one I spoke with. They’ll be e-mailing you official résumés, but I don’t want them run through human resources. Talk to their references and work with Seth, and his private security team, to look into their backgrounds.”

“Operation ‘keep your family from screwing up a good thing before it happens.’ Check.” She runs her fingers through her spiky blond hair again and randomly changes the topic, feeding me information she believes is of interest. “Your brother hasn’t been in today.”

“Good for everyone dealing with my father. Like you.”

“Message received. Go back to the office.” She stands and rounds the counter to set her cup in the sink before leaving without another word. I like that about her. She gets when to talk and when to just not.

I reach for the envelope holding the deal memo that caused so much hoopla, pulling it out. It takes me all of two minutes to know this isn’t about bending him over. It’s an investment in a nonsense business that has to be a bribe of some sort. Considering this new business is located in Boulder, where our trucking division is, it’s a good bet it’s related to that. I don’t even want to know what that means about what is going on there. I’ve had enough of this crap to last a lifetime. I text Jessica. Find out if there was, or is, a Nina Thompson working for the trucking division in Boulder.

I don’t wait for her reply, dialing Seth. “I need those files on the stockholders, yesterday.”

“I have them and more I need to talk to you about. Where will you be in an hour?”

Working in this apartment clearly isn’t a success. I stand up and start packing my briefcase. “I’ll see you at the office. Before we hang up, I need you to have your security people run the name Nina Thompson in Boulder. I’ll explain later.”

We end the call and I make my way to the hallway, pausing to put on my jacket before I head toward the elevator. Once I’m there, I start to push the lobby button and instead, punch the seventh level. My phone buzzes with a text from Jessica. Ex-employee who left abruptly a month ago. Confirmation that the deal memo is a front for a payoff. I pocket my phone again as the elevator jolts to a halt. I exit, quickly locating my father’s new rental and knock on the door. It opens almost instantly and I’m faced with a woman in her twenties with long dark hair wearing jeans and a tank top. She’s also a younger version of my mother with features way too damn similar, and my stomach rolls with the certainty my mother chose her for that reason. My mother, who is far more manipulative than I’ve given her credit for.

“Can I help you?” she asks.

“You’re fucking my father because my mother’s paying you to. So here’s what’s going to happen. I’ll double your money, but I want reports on everything you tell my mother and don’t tell her. Understood?”

She barely blinks. “Okay. How will this work. How do I reach you? How do I get paid?”

“Seth Cage, my right-hand man, will be your contact. He’ll be in touch. And if you make a deal with anyone else, and I find out, which I will, I’ll go to the med school, and give them proof of how you’re paying your tuition. “