Page 7 of His Undercover Wolf

It was our routine to meet at 10 am every day to update each other on my schedule.

I bit into the buttery goodness of the bear claw and smothered a groan. Betty handed me a napkin and I wiped the powdered sugar from my mouth.

“I have no idea how I’m going to manage without you, Betty. Are you sure Harvey can’t move to Florida on his own?”

Betty laughed. “No, he cannot and if you don’t contact the employment agency, or give me permission to do so, you’re going to be left without a personal assistant. If you leave it much longer, he or she will not have the benefit of a handover and directions on what you like and dislike.”

I took another bite of the bear claw, set it on the plate, wiped my fingers clean, and sat back in the chair.

“Seven working days, Xavier. Our removalist and flights to Florida are booked and confirmed. I’m leaving and there will not be another extension. You have had more than enough time to hire someone to take my place.”

Betty was becoming a little irate and she had every right to be after the way I’d disrupted her plans. I’d already talked her into staying two weeks longer than planned which had resulted in having a very annoyed Harvey on the other end of the line. I’d given him my word that there would no further fuck ups to their plans.

“I know. I promise I’ll speak with the agency today and have them send over a few suitable candidates tomorrow for interview.”

“Thank you. Now…” Betty picked up her notepad and flipped through a couple of pages. “Detective Inspector Otsana Brooks called the company half an hour ago. Downstairs paged me and I spoke with her about meeting with you. It’s scheduled for 2 pm so I’ve postponed your two thirty with Marlo from the wire supplier to tomorrow afternoon.”

The mystery was solved…Otsana was female. I reminded my misogynistic self, her gender made no difference. All that mattered was she was up to the job because I was tired of the bullshit and wanted the issue solved once and for all.

I made a note on my own notepad. “Will you set up afternoon tea, please? Maybe grab some of those cherry macarons from the bakery. Has Cillian been informed, he’ll need to be present?”

“No, I haven’t had a chance to advise him. He’s been with Dominic from accounting all morning. When I finish here, I’ll ask Molly to let him know. She may need to rearrange his schedule also. I’ll send one of the staff from downstairs out to the bakery.”

“Thank you.” I picked up the pastry and took another large bite. It was every bit as good as the first. Betty waited patiently while I finished chewing and swallowed. “I’m moving back the announcement of Panda’s release but only Cillian, you, and I are aware of the change at this point in time. I’ll get you to schedule a meeting with Ralph in advertising so I can have him push everything back by two weeks. I want him to handle everything personally and not advise any staff until it’s absolutely necessary. The release will go ahead after two weeks regardless of the results of the investigation.”

“Do you have any idea at all who it might be?”

“Not a fucking…sorry…Not a clue, and Cillian and I made the decision this morning that from this point on, everyone…” I paused and stared into Betty’s eyes, so she knew what I was saying included her. “…everyonewill be investigated by the police corporate fraud squad. I’m sorry, Betty. There is no doubt in our minds that you aren’t involved, but we can’t continue to feed selective information to investigators.”

To her credit, Betty didn’t bat an eyelid and the look in her eyes showed only honesty and confidence.

“So Evan is no longer handling the case?”

“No, it’s been handed to the police who have more resources and fresh eyes.”

She reached across the desk and placed her wrinkled hand, dotted with age spots, over mine. “I’m happy to provide anything they need and answer as many questions as necessary. Hopefully, it may help them to find whoever is betraying you.”

“How did I get so lucky to have you? Neither Cillian nor I doubt your loyalty and integrity for even a millisecond, but over the past fifteen years, since this began before the release of Matilda, we feel we have been hobbling investigations by refusing to allow them full access to everyone. We felt by doing so we were protecting our longest serving and most loyal employees, but had we been honest, the insider most likely would have been exposed long before now. It just hurts to think it may be someone who has been around a for a long time and who we have trusted.”

“I understand, sweetheart. You didn’t want to point the finger at men and women who have supported you from the beginning, but yes, you have hampered those working the case. It’s time for a new start with this new team that’s coming on board.”

“I agree and so does Cillian.”

“Do you want me to take care of the mail outs for Panda? Are you sure it’s a good idea to delay the announcement of the release date and move the actual release back?”

“Cillian and I will task Pamela to call clients and advise them early orders have been postponed. And yes, we believe pushing it back is for the best at this time. Hopefully, the police will find who is involved before release and minimise the share price spikes.”

“Very well. Your day is clear, and apart from a couple of correspondence items, I’m free to help wherever you need.”

I nodded my thanks. Turning my hand over, I squeezed hers. She smiled, stood, and left me to the quiet of the office on my own.

The first thing I took care of after she closed the door was to place a call to the employment agency. It was something that should have been dealt with weeks earlier. I considered myself an astute CEO, but I’d been negligent in finding a replacement for Betty because I’d buried my head in the sand and was in deep denial about her imminent departure.

***

“I’ll ask my personalassistant to schedule appointment times for the five possible replacements we have discussed, and she will call you tomorrow. Thanks for returning my call from this morning and I look forward to meeting with those you have suggested.”

I disconnected the call at the same time Betty knocked and poked her head around the side of the door.

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