Page 8 of The Grizzly Situation
And that did me in. I threw myself into his arms and sobbed. “He said I should kill myself.”
“He saidwhat?”
Chaim’s voice was like ice, cold and brittle. I told him what had happened, and his face went from that smile I always saw to anger I’d never witnessed before.
“You listen to me, okay. You’re eight years old. He’s sixteen. Are you weak? Hell, no. Compared to him, right now, maybe. That’s hardly your fault, though. You’re a cub, and he’s an asshole.”
I’d snickered at his language, and that made him smile again.
“Tell you what. If you want to get strong, how about you come work out with me and Benjy? We can give you some lessons after school and on the weekends. You’ll get strong enough where you can be the bully.”
The thought horrified me. After dealing with the pain, the uncertainty, I sure as hell never wanted to be the one to make someone else feel like I did. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
He smiled and carded his fingers through my hair. I leaned into the comforting touch. I felt something for Chaim. It was like love—well, not romantic love—because he was like an older brother, someone strong and protective of me. “Of course you don’t. Because you’re a good person, who would use his strength to protect others, not terrorize them. That’s what the sleuth needs, someone strong, but kind. Someone who will always remember what it was like to be the little guy who needed help. Will you promise me that’ll be you?”
“Sir?”
I was jolted from my memories and found Uly peering anxiously at me. “Sorry, I was thinking about someone.”
“From the smile on your face, I’d say it was a good thought.”
“It was. He’d been a good friend when I needed one.”
“Been? I’m sorry.”
I realized what Uly must have thought. “What? Oh, no. He’s still alive, we just lost contact a few years ago. I might have to look him up again, though.”
“If he puts a smile like that on your face, I’d say so.”
I tucked the memory of Chaim away, and returned my focus to Uly. “So, what do you think? I’d say you could stay here, but I’m not sure if our Milwaukee branch will be remaining open.”
He cocked his head. “Why?” Then his cheeks flushed. “Sorry, never mind. I didn’t mean to be nosy.”
That made me chuckle. Uly was, without a doubt, one of the most guileless people I’d ever met. “It’s okay. The branch is losing money and bleeding red ink. If I can’t figure out a way to stanch that, there’s going to be problems.”
“Oh, okay.”
I couldn’t be certain why, but I turned over the folder to him. “This is what I’m struggling with.”
He opened it and his gaze darted across the first page, then he flipped to the second and kept reading.
“I can’t make heads or tails out of this,” he admitted. “But it seems to me their products look good, at least on paper, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t sell.”
And that was what I’d thought. “That’s a valid question. They’d always been a solid performer, but suddenly they aren’t.”
He flicked his gaze to my face, his expression somber and earnest. “You sure no one is skimming from the top?”
His question startled me, because I’d never once considered that as a remote possibility. “What?”
He pushed the folder back across the table. “Well, it seems that if they’re losing a lot of money, and they have some really great products, then maybe someone else is helping themselves to the—” His eyes widened and his cheeks flamed as he tossed the business card on top of the pile. “Sorry! I’m sorry. That was stupid. I.... I gotta go.”
He jumped up and fled out the door, leaving me to stare at his retreating figure. As soon as he left, the men I’d come in with returned to the table and took their seats. I continued to stare at the papers in front of me, playing Uly’s words over in my head, then turned my attention to the executives.
“Okay, let me ask this. Who’s been stealing from the company?”
Chapter Three
ULY
