Page 37 of Catching a Con Man

I gestured to my office, and the three of us walked in. Cam closed the door, locked it, and then flicked on the privacy glass. “Can’t be too careful,” he muttered. “Sit down. Please. I have things to go through, and I don’t think you’re going to want to be standing for this.”

“Do you want me to grab the 9am whisky?” I pointed at the very expensive bottle I kept in a glass case markedBreak in Case of Emergency. It had seemed like a funny joke at the time, but the amount of times I’d come close to drinking it made it feel less like a joke and more like a constant temptation.

Cam hesitated for a second, then sat down on one of the chairs I kept reserved for clients. Tyler and I sat down on the sofa opposite, and Tyler rubbed comforting circles into the back of my hand with his thumb. I wasn’t sure if he even realised he was doing it.

Cam opened his laptop and turned to face it. On the screen were lines of plain text, dates and times. Three lines in the middle had been highlighted in yellow.

17:15.XG: I won’t be supporting the proposal onFC. Not for AC to know.

17:16: GF: Proposals not in favour?

17:17. XG: Neutral, all checked over2wksago. I just think AC losing track of profit goals. Business first, charity second.

“What am I looking at?” I asked Cam.

He took a deep breath. “I know you told me not to go snooping through employee private files. But last night, Xavier said something to one of the other directors about sorting the family car problem. As far as I knew, he’d not submitted the profitability reports to you yet. So I had no idea why he was sharing details with another director before going to you. I thought I’d do a little digging…”

He seemed to be dithering, and I motioned for him to carry on. “So I did a little check on Xavier’s conversations with the other directors and found this little nugget between him and Gary Faroe, one of those voting against the proposal to cut the launch price of the Family Car. It seems Xavier had the report in hand two weeks ago.”

“And he didn’t tell me he had it?” I asked. I leaned forward to read over the lines again. “Wait. So he’s planning on voting against the proposal, even though he’s seen it won’t make a difference to the bottom line?”

“That is what I can make out.” Cam twiddled his thumbs as he scrolled and clicked on something else. “I remotely accessed Xavier’s files, and there’s the report. I’ll send it to your inbox now, but it shows that reducing the cost of the Family Car to make it more affordable will probably increase sales, much as Tyler predicted. You should see a net neutral effect from the price reduction overall, or perhaps a one to two percent downturn. But small enough that it’s statistically insignificant.”

“Fuck. I thought Xavier was on my side,” I said. “I gave him his shares out of my own because he’d been here since day one.”

“My guess,” started Tyler, and I jumped. Despite his hand in mine, I’d almost forgotten him. “Is that he feels bound to the company. And feels that he has a duty to stop you making a decision which isn’t directly to its benefit.”

“You’re right,” I said. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“Do you have the votes?” asked Cam.

“I thought I did. But with my one certain ally gone, I can’t be sure who else might vote against me. Can you find out how many others have been talking with Xavier about the same thing?”

“I’ll take a look,” said Cam. “As administrator, I have access to everyone’s chat logs using company software. It’s part of all contracts that we can do this, just as far as I’m aware we never have.”

“I don’t enjoy doing this. I’ve always tried not to intrude,” I muttered. I stood up, letting go of Tyler’s hand as I did. “Is Xavier in? I need to talk to him.”

“Don’t do that.” Tyler’s voice was firm. “You don’t want to raise suspicion, and you don’t want him to cover his tracks. Just act like everything is normal. Let Cam do his thing.” He looked to Cam. “Can you see, like…everything? Files, reports, search history?”

“Yup,” said Cam. “I could check which directors have already accessed the file, as well as to see if anyone has been making moves to move stock based on the announcement and vote…”

“Nice one. Though full disclosure, if you’re checking everyone’s records, I did search for some…less safe for work items on my lunch break the other day.” Tyler blushed. “Looking forward to spending my first pay cheque.”

My own cheeks heated at the thought after everything that had gone on between us. “I’ll be checking that out.”

“No you bloody well won’t, not if you like surprises.” Tyler stood up and headed toward the door. “So, that’s our plan of action? Check into the directors who might be predisposed to vote against the proposal, and decide what to do from there? I’m sure we know some professional assassins, right?” he looked between Cam and me as we both failed to crack a smile. “Kidding. I know billionaires are like,totally evil, but you’re not that evil. Not quite. OK. Still not getting the wholefunnyvibe from you two, so I’ll just fuck off now.”

Tyler closed the door after him, and Cam’s face broke out into a smile. “Look at you, all smitten. You two really are something, then.”

“Yes,” I muttered.

“Oooh, it’sreal. The billionaire and the con man, I can just picture Dad’s face now.” Cam held up his hands and made a square with his fingers and thumbs. “I’ll make sure to record the moment he finds all this out.”

“I liked you better when you were shy and reserved,” I grumbled. “I blame video games.”

“I blame you. I’m much more comfortable here than I ever was working for Dad. How you gonna tell him?”

“Tell him what?”

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