Page 27 of Just a Plot Twist
He was so pleased when I accepted the job as CTO that he helped me find a townhome in Platt Park, a nice neighborhood near his home in Belcaro—the area where he and Celine have lived for over thirty years. Both neighborhoods are close to the office. “There aren’t any issues with the job or with living here. I really like it. I’ll be sure to say something if that changes.”
Thomas eyes me carefully. “Good. Thanks.”
I hesitate. I hate doing this, but the longer we go on without talking about it, the worse this problem with Peter could get. “I did find something, though, that I needed to tell you about. At first, I thought it was an error, but it looks like there’s been some unusual activity on Peter’s account. Running through the firewalls, I found some things that…well…I don’t think Peter realized that when he was using his phone, he was actually on the company’s server, so…”
“What do you mean?” Thomas’s eyes narrow.
I squirm in my seat. I don’t want to say anything out of line. Beyond their friendship, Peter has been working here for a long time.
Peter Schiller is the heir apparent to the Foundations throne and has been acting president since Gabriel’s incident in Amsterdam. Gabriel’s out-of-character gambling stint started a chain of events that removed him from the business for a while. And when Gabriel officially cut ties to start his own philanthropy consulting business, Peter was all Thomas had.
“I hesitate to say anything.” I clear my throat and my voice lowers. “Has Peter said anything to you about possible plans for a…possible…”
“A possible what?” His face is laced with impatience, his upper lip hardening.
“I have reason to believe he’s purchased some property in Longdale under a business name. That business name matches a newly created website for a finance company. The website has hardly anything on it, but still. It doesn’t feel right.” I hesitate. “Maybe it’s nothing.”
“And you know all this, how?”
“The firewall is sophisticated. We get hits on things all day, every day, and most of it is nothing. Innocuous errors.” I pinch between my eyebrows. “The nature of the filters is they’re going to get things wrong most ofthe time. It’s an overabundance of caution kind of thing. But when I kept getting hits on things involving Peter, I looked into it further. The company server picked up emails from his private email account to and from a land developer in Longdale. And a business license has been filed with Marshall County. Not in his name, but he’s related to a Lora Schiller, right?”
Thomas scowls. “Lora is his daughter. She’s been working for Prudential for a few years.”
“Has Peter ever mentioned his daughter wanting to start her own business? Or that he wanted to branch out and do his own thing?”
“When she graduated a few years back, he asked me to hire her.” Thomas chews on his bottom lip. “I told him no. We already had a robust investment broker department, so we didn’t have any openings. But I said once she had some experience, I’d see what I could do. I—” He sighs and massages his forehead. “I should have just hired her. Except, I’d had a series of bad hires when I brought someone on as a favor, and it turned out badly. I swore I’d never do that again. That if people wanted to come onboard, they needed to do it the old-fashioned way. No more favors.” His bottom jaw slides from one side to another. “But I should have done it for Peter.”
“Did he react poorly to you not hiring his daughter?” I don’t like where this is heading, and I can’t get the image of Thomas’s relaxed, almosthappystate earlier. I hate ruining that.
“Not outright, but I could tell he was bothered. I should have explained my reasoning better. I thought he understood.”
“But he’s never mentioned wanting to start his own company?”
He shakes his head. “No. Never. And if he did, it would be a breach of contract. There’s a non-compete clause. I made you sign it, too.” Hegrunts. “Could this just be his daughter branching out on her own? Maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with Peter?”
“That would be best case. But why would the land deal be in Peter’s name?” I don’t want to believe that Peter was doing anything underhanded, but there are too many signs to ignore.
And frankly, it makes me mad. If Peter is doing this, it’s a betrayal of my father and the trust he’s put in him all these years.
“Worse case would be he’s using his daughter’s name and they’re starting a company together. I mean, why hasn’t he told me?” He tenses his jaw. “His daughter starting her own finance company is a big deal. He’d be proud of her, unless he’s going into business with her.” Thomas’s voice is starting to grate. “Then he’d want to keep it quiet.”
In the beginning, when Thomas and I first met, things were tense. I’d just gotten the divorce papers from Danica. Both my parents were gone. My birth mother, Ellen, was gone. It was rough. I didn’t have anyone, so I showed up like a scared and angry kid.
I’m embarrassed about it, being so emotional and so hurt when Thomas questioned the paternity and my motives for finding him. I wasn’t in a good place back then.
We’ve both apologized for our actions—no hard feelings anymore. But now, Thomas’s face is hard, and it reminds me of the old days when I first introduced myself as his long-lost, unknown son.
Ghosts from the past—that’s what this is. And I don’t like it.
“Something’s been off with Peter for months.” Thomas hesitates, shooting a glance out his office window to a view of the Central Business District. “But I kept chalking it up to my need to control.” He stands from his chair and undoes the top button of his oxford shirt. “I kept telling myselfit was just because it’s hard to relinquish the company to others. It’s hard to retire.”
When Thomas doesn’t say more, I nod so he’ll continue.
“We have to operate from a place of this being true, that Peter really is striking out on his own behind my back.” Thomas searches my eyes and then blinks. “Show me what you found.”
With a pit in my stomach, I pull up the evidence on my laptop. Thomas glances over it with a grim face.
“Is there anything you’d like me to do with this right now from an IT standpoint? Do you want me to close his access to certain things? Or should we wait?”
