Chapter 5
Murphy’s Law in dealing with Corporate Superiors
“If you think you're right, you're wrong.
If you think you're wrong, you're right.”
At eight on a Friday night, Toni’s laughter echoed down the empty hallway. She laid the last file in the outbox on her desk and cradling the phone on her shoulder, began clearing her desk.
“No, Steve,” she chuckled, “I’m not going salsa dancing with you tonight, dressed up downtown, or undressed in your apartment.” She hadn’t slept with him yet and found she didn’t want to, but he kept pushing, of course. Unfortunately, he thought his long game was succeeding.
Steve sighed over the phone. “Chicken. This is the last night that Tima Azul will be playing at the Alibi Room.”
“I guess I’m left to grieve over lost opportunities. I simply have too much work to do.”
Initially clever and funny, Steve had started sounding clingy, a whine creeping into their conversations that was unsexy and becoming predictable, especially with his primary goal behind all their activities: Sex. With two exceptions, when men started pushing for the dirty, that was when she ended the affairs, such as they were. It appeared to be time to say adios to Steve. Like others, he might accuse her of being a tease, a kissing bandit. She would not go to bed with him simply to avoid those labels.
She exhaled. The month and a half since the Starling mess had been grueling. She’d barely survived his sabbatical-or-quit deal but she had completed the Hampton merger and won the patent infringement lawsuit. Steve had been a much-needed diversion. Talking to Steve made Toni think of Starling for the thousandth time, wondering how he spent his time off, the dweeb, if he was enjoying his personal research. He was probably hidden away in a homemade lab, no doubt wearing the same stained lab coat.
Steve cleared his throat over the phone, cutting into her silent musings.
“Sorry. I’m dead tired.”
“That’s getting to be an old refrain, Toni. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were avoiding . . . dancing.” She chuckled, but he injected, “Well, I’m persistent. “Tomorrow? Paint ball?” Toni gave a grunted negative. “No? Then how about a round of golf? The weather’s supposed to be good, the greens dry. No liquid sunshine.”
“No, I can’t this weekend. As I said, W-O-R-K.” She was looking forward to doing nothing this weekend without any male pressure, business, sex, or otherwise.
“Why is it New Yorkers know all the four-letter words?”
“Careful, babe. Don’t go disparaging my home ground or I’ll introduce you to serious New York words.”
“That’s wicked, woman,” he said in that smooth tenor of his, “but you know what they say: All work and no play makes Jill a bitchy girl, and we can’t have that happen to such a sweet New Yorker.”
Toni laughed again and shook her head. “I gotta go, you. And don’t give me that crap about me being sweet. We both know better.”
“We do?”
“I’ll see you at the gym Monday morning. Good night!”
She hung up on his laughter and set the phone down. Her smile faded. She didn’t trust his witty repartee. She felt a headache coming on. After clearing off her desk, she collected an after-game cocktail, a combo from her bruising basketball days, Excedrin and Ibuprofen, and headed for the water cooler.
She’d had finished the cup of water when she heard a voice down the hall. “Is that you, Crenshaw?” She flinched in surprise, but she called out to Rich, “Yeah, I’m just leaving.” She could see his lights were still on. Toni didn’t want to get drawn into a long bull session, not tonight.
“Not yet. We need to talk.”
She closed her eyes for a moment and headed for his office. Entering, she halted in the doorway. To her surprise, the chairman of the Rayaneta board, Dr. Wayne Bateman, stood by Rich’s desk, a frown wrinkling an otherwise impressive, tanned forehead under thick white hair. In contrast, Rich looked like a well-dressed marshmallow. Red Alert. Bateman always commanded through minions, never in person.
“Dr. Bateman, this is a pleasant surprise.” Not.
He harrumphed and nodded. “Crenshaw.”
She stepped into the room but stopped short of holding out her hand. She’d only met Bateman twice before at Christmas parties, but he wasn’t the handshaking sort when it came to women. He had a propensity for either ignoring the gesture or thumb wrestling.
“If you came about the Hampton merger, I sent the last of it to the CEO’s office this morning. The legal aspects of the employee benefits and Hampton’s policies now aligned with Rayaneta’s.”
Bateman didn’t say anything, so she continued. “I won the Aspen Breeze patent suit. Koylandis Perfumes settled out of court this week. The Board should have the documents on Monday. Very advantageous terms.”
Bateman impatiently waved off her report with a gruff “yes, yes.” Then with a roll of his shoulders said, “That’s not why I’m here.”
The headache began pounding in her temples. Toni wished she could rub them in front of the chairman, waiting for him to elaborate.
“Did you know that Dr. Starling has leased his condo and moved out?”
Taken aback, Toni shook her head.
Bateman barked, “He left no forwarding address. We don’t know where he went.”
Toni frowned at this, but said, “Well, it’s only been a couple of months since he left. There are a lot of reasons why he wouldn’t have a physical address. For instance, he may be on the road. He’s on sabbatical after all.” She raised her eyebrows at Bateman’s scowl. “I don’t know. Does the good doctor know how to drive?”
Bateman slapped Rich’s desk, making him jump. “Don’t waste my time!” The chairman fell into a chair. “We need to know what he’s up to.” He stabbed a finger at her. “You’re responsible for this. You and that shitty sabbatical he talked you into. Find out where he went!”
Toni glanced at Rich who frantically shook his head, but she ignored his silent plea. “You know that’s not true, Mr. Chairman. I’m not the responsible party in this. The Board worked to deceive Starling, lied to me, and now you’re paying the price. It was all I could do to keep him from resigning.” She watched Bateman’s face turn progressively deeper shades of red and then added, “Want to see his resignation letter again?” Toni shrugged. “That’s my professional opinion, you understand.” She leaned a shoulder against the wall near the office door, arms crossed.
Bateman exploded out of his chair and stormed across the room, stopping close to her. “Now you listen here, you” —She stood away from the wall, her face coming inches from his, glaring back at him— “young woman, you have no business talking to me that way.” He waved a hand in dismissal. “If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen. The Board holds you responsible and I’m telling you to find him. Now .”
She eyed him without moving. “Or?”
“You’ll never work in this town again.”
“Oooh, choices.” She thoughtfully tapped her chin with one finger. “Well, as much as I hate clichés, Option B still sounds good.” As a gasp from Rich faded away, Toni strode out the door.
Bateman yelled, “You come back here!”
Toni waited out in the hall. After a few moments, Bateman stalked out of the office and almost ran into her, hands gripping his hips. “I’m not playing around. If you quit, you’ll be done as a corporate lawyer no matter where you go.”
“I’m not playing either.” She crossed her arms. “I am not going to be bullied by you or blamed for the pile of crap the board created all by themselves. After the last two months of working miracles for Rayaneta,” she said over her shoulder as she turned to leave, “either you start playing straight with me or you can go to hell.”
She strode down the hall, sweating her bluff with each step. Starling wasn’t the only one who was willing to risk everything. She knew how to cook. What was Bateman willing to hazard?
“Crenshaw!”
Toni stopped and turned, facing Bateman, his bulk blocking the light from Rich’s office. She waited three long beats before answering. “Yes?”
“Come back. We need to talk.”
“No more threats, no more blaming me for your problems.”
She heard a growl, but he said, “Fine.” With that, he disappeared into Rich’s office, muttering. Toni heaved a shaky sigh and returned to the office, legs like Jell-O. She pulled up a chair close to Rich and the chairman. Toni would have preferred to stand, but she still felt boneless. Rich’s eyes were round and white. Employees simply didn’t talk that way to the chairman of a two-billion-dollar corporation.
After several moments, Bateman snarled, “I, Pendergast, and several board members have tried to see Starling, but this Sam Banks always claims he’s busy.” He thumped the arm of the chair with his fist, “That is when the two were at Starling’s condo at all.”
Bateman shifted his weight, making his chair creak. Judging from his pinched expression, whatever he needed to disclose he didn’t want to. “Shortly before he moved out, Starling phoned Human Resources, who’d been told to transfer any call from him to my office.” A nasty expression settled on his face. “Starling said he didn’t want to be bothered with a lot of calls and would only talk to you. And then the bastard hung up on me— on me.”
“What?” Toni regarded Bateman for a moment. “So that’s why you need me.” She dryly chuckled. What would Starling do if she was fired?
Bateman glowered at her. “He said you knew his agreement and you’d represented the board before.” He didn’t elaborate. He rubbed his thigh but then gave her a smarmy smile. “I bet he has a thing for you.”
“Seriously? That’s what you think?” When he raised an eyebrow, she made a rude noise. “Then you don’t know me or him very well.”
Bateman curled a lip in frustration. “It doesn’t matter.” He slapped his thigh. “We don’t know where he’s gone. I’ve contacted a detective agency to find him, Murda Security.”
“Murda Security?” Toni laughed. “I suppose they have killer references.”
“Crenshaw.” Bateman growled, squinting at Toni, manslaughter in his eyes. She eighty-sixed the grin and waved him to continue.
With one last scowl, he said, “I’ve used them before. Mr. Murda and his associates are thorough and professional. They said the search might require months if Starling doesn’t want to be found.”
“Or if it means Mr. Murda can charge more.” She gave the Chairman a half-lidded look of impatience, picked up Rich’s phone and dialed. After a moment, she said, “Hi, Janie, Toni. Got the night shift again, I see.” She chuckled at a remark made at the other end. “Yeah, you and me both, girl. Sorry to bother you, but I need Dr. Baynard J. Starling’s new address and phone number for our records. Yeah, he moved recently and didn’t tell us.” In a moment, she grabbed a pen and a notepad on Rich’s desk and wrote out the information. “Thanks, Janie. You’re a peach. You take care and enjoy your weekend.” She ripped off the page and handed it to Bateman.
He sputtered, “But how?”
Toni reached across Rich’s desk and began typing on his computer keyboard, looking up the address and property sales. “He wanted to keep his medical insurance. He had to give our carrier his new address.”
Bateman frowned at the note. “East Lake Sammamish Place SE? He’s in Sammamish?”
Toni whistled, staring at the computer screen. She turned it around so the men could see it. “ Four months ago, he paid over three and a half million for the lakefront property—cash.”
“ Before he asked for a sabbatical?” Bateman sat up. “Impossible! He was making what, a hundred-twenty thousand a year?” When no one answered his question, he said, “How?”
Toni, still looking over the photos of the impressive property, pursed her mouth. “I haven’t a clue. You’re right. In the last five years, he’s couldn’t have cleared more than four hundred and fifty thousand after deductions.”
“He’s being paid to leak his work to our competitors.” Bateman pounded out the last words with his fist on Rich’s desk. “It’s the only explanation.”
Toni waved away the accusation. “Not possible. What ideas? Who has reproduced his patents, or anything like them? We monitor such things.”
“If you’ve let someone copy our—”
“Nope.” Toni wiggled a hand at Bateman. “No one has filed patents remotely resembling ours.” She stood and crossed her arms. “I’ve made sure of that, and you know it. No one would dare poach after we’ve won the last three infringement suits, particularly with the size of the Aspen Breeze settlement.”
Bateman’s expression became so pinched that his face appeared to be caving in around his Romanesque nose. “That explains nothing .”
Shrugging, Toni considered the pictures of the huge house and the beautiful views of the lake. “He might be selling other ideas he’s developed in the lab, ones he’s kept secret from Rayaneta, though I’m not sure how he could with the security and the number of people working around him in the lab. Maybe at night? Or he chose a sabbatical as a way to make more money on his own.” She raised an eyebrow at Bateman. “Certainly, far more than he’s been making here.”
Bateman’s eye-contact skittered away, but he snapped, “We’ll sue him for every dime, including that house. He can’t sell discoveries found in our laboratories in our pay.” He snapped his fingers. “That’s how he got his formulas out. He’s teamed up with that security guard, what’s his name?”
“Sam Banks, but I doubt it.” Toni ran her hand over her jade green skirt, which after twelve hours in the office was wrinkled like a patch of rough seas. “In any case, I’ll see what’s going on.” She rubbed her forehead, trying to dispel the dancing ache behind her eyes, now amplified by premonitions of serious complications and Bateman’s loud demands. Starling’s unexpected actions did feel hinky. “So, you want me to meet with him, and soon.”
Bateman slapped his padded chair arm. “Damn right I do.”
“Fine.” She stood and snagged the paper with Starling’s new address and phone number out of Bateman’s hand. “I’ll see him tomorrow, if he’s in.”
“You do that, Crenshaw, and report immediately back to me.” He scrawled his phone number on the same notepad and stalked out without another word.
Toni looked down at Rich, who now sported a damp sheen across his forehead. “What a charming man.”
Rich sat up, his mouth twisted with disapproval. “Toni, provoking Bateman was a stupid-ass stunt.” She cocked her head, waiting. “He won’t forget or forgive you for making him eat crow—or me for seeing it.”
“Tough. I’m not sure I’ll forget or forgive his bull crap,” she said, giving Rich a hard look, “in front of you either.” Rich shook his head, but Toni pointed a finger at him. “Don’t give me that. I’ve worked damned hard protecting this company, fixing their screwups with Starling and Hampton, and what do I get? Blame, threats, and bullying.”
Rich shook his head. “There will be blowback, Toni, you can bet on it.”
She sighed. “Probably. The words ‘fair’ and ‘reasonable’ aren’t in Bateman’s business lexicon.”
Rich straightened papers and then grabbed his coat. As they left his office, he said, “If you wanted fair and reasonable, Crenshaw, you shouldn’t have become a lawyer.”
Toni eyed his wry expression and burst out laughing.
~ ~ ~
It was still and dark all around. Toni somehow knew she was dreaming, maybe because the dream was so familiar. She was in bed, naked with the sheets pulled back, and not just because it was a sultry New York night. The Mystery Male was there again, always a vague shape in the shadows. She knew he’d draw near, softly whispering sensual things, promising ecstasy. Though she knew she shouldn’t believe the words, she reveled in them all the same. They were exciting and exotic. She had no fear of this man. Her body hummed in anticipation, making her tremble and languid all at once. Music intruded, the accompanying singing reminding her of what she knew. As always, the man wasn’t real. He was a lie. He would manipulate, try to use her. A face came into view.
Toni leaped out of her bed and landed butt-first on the floor. She rubbed her eyes and then her sore tailbone, trying to wake up from the nightmare. She staggered upright and looked at the clock. Five-thirty in the morning? Ah, shit. On a Saturday?
Toni’s cell phone chimed again, the subsequent cellular strains of “Danny Boy” heralding her Da’s call. She stared at the ceiling for a moment, deciding whether to answer. Her dream was still reverberating in her head, leaving disturbing dents in her emotions. With a groan, she fell across the bed, grabbed the phone off the nightstand, and answered with a grunt.
“Antonietta, are you awake?”
She took a breath to calm herself. “No, Da, I’m asleep.”
“It must be seven o’clock fo’ ya. What are you adoin’ still in bed?”
“It’s not yet six here and I worked late.”
“On a Friday night?”
“No, Da. Thursday night. It was such a long night, it lasted through Friday.”
“You don’t have ta be contrary, girl. I’m only asking.”
“Yes, Da.”
There was a pause. “Mario and Jane are having another baby.”
Toni sat up. “That’s wonderful. How far along is she? Do they know if it’s a boy or girl?”
Her Da made a growling, disapproving sound deep in the back of his throat as he always did when delivering judgment on one of his children. “They’re going to a Doctor Monday to find out. As though it’ll make any difference. Young people, wanting everything now!” He huffed, making a whooshing sound over the phone. “Waiting is the natural way of things, not this instant gratification crap.”
“Tell Mario and Jane congratulations. When is she due?”
“In December. You will be out for Christmas. You can be attendin’ the christening this time . You missed the last one.”
“Gosh, did I? It’s so good of you, Mario, Patrick, and Vic to constantly remind me.
“Don’t hand me that malarkey, girl. They have good reason.”
Toni made a rude noise, annoying herself because she sounded like her Da. She seemed to have only two options dealing with her father or brothers, submission, or sarcasm. “Nonetheless, I can’t promise that. It all depends on work.”
“Work, work, work. We’ve not seen ya this past year. Mario’s boys are growing tall without knowin’ their Aunt Antonietta. Patrick and Victor are always asking after ya.”
Toni bit her tongue. Against her wishes, her father insisted Mario’s sons call her Auntie Antonietta. That mouthful made her think of black lace dresses and liver spots. And if Patrick and Victor wanted news, they called her. They never asked their father. She sighed, knowing her Da would breach her patience sooner or later.
“You never call.”
Sooner. “ Never ? I called all of you last weekend. No one was home and who returned my calls? Nobody. I got a text from Patrick saying you were all at a Crenshaw picnic.”
“Yes, and we had to make our excuses to the family for you not being there.”
She clamped her jaw shut. She left home for college 11 years ago, but still, with every conversation, her Da layered on unreasonable guilt with more guilt, painfully deep even for a Catholic. She tried to be reasonable, keep in touch and give as much as she could, but she knew it would never be enough. She’d had to leave, hating the old patterns. “I’ll come out when I can.” She’d give Jane a call before she left this morning, surprised that Jane hadn’t told her about the pregnancy.
“Well, Antonietta, is it a crime to want to see ya? You are part of this family.”
“Yes, Da, I do seem to recall that fact. I also remember the last time I visited. My dear brothers set me up with a date or hauled me off to a dinner or party with ‘eligible friends’ every night. You all tried matchmaking. As a result, I was mostly out when you all were home, and I ended up seeing everyone BUT my family. I visited Mario’s boys once . And then there was your work schedule.” Her father was a small contractor for high rises. She could hear her Brooklyn accent creeping in again. “Not a lot of family time, that’s for sure.”
There was a sigh at the other end, a hiss that vibrated the phone. “We’re concerned, darlin’, that’s all. You’ll soon be twenty-nine. You’re not married. Ya should move back here and settle down. The Five Boroughs are pure full of work for a lawyer. If that is what ya really want to do, you can—”
“ IF ?! I’ve interned for a Fortune Five Hundred law firm, for Christ’s sake. I’m—”
“That’s enough taking the Lord’s name, child. If you don’t mind being considered a gammy shyster, by all means, be a damned lawyer. Me and the boys will continue to bear the embarrassment we endure gatherin’ with the Crenshaw family and friends. But at least be a lawyer here . Then, then , your Da can see ya. Then your brothers can see ya. Then your aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, and nieces can see ya.”
Damn . Da was getting into repetitive sentences already. “What I really want to do is be a corporate lawyer here . And besides, Patrick and Vic aren’t married yet and they’re older.”
“Don’t you go comparing yourself to them. They have respectable jobs. They’re men after all.”
“Yes, after all.” There was a lead weight in her stomach around which burned a bitterness over what the men in the family had done to her, continued to do in the blind, heavy-handed way that they believed was caring. “If you want to see me, Da, you can come out here for a visit. You never saw Stanford or any of my games, and you haven’t seen where I live now.” She was the first in her family to go to college, and her father and brothers continually failed to understand or value it.
“Ah, girl, I saw the videos and you know I don’t fly.”
“Take a train. It’s relaxing.”
“It takes too long. I have my work and can hardly bear to leave the city. You know what I say . . .” Toni braced herself for her father’s often-repeated adage, one he’d read ages ago written by some dead Irishman, “New York is my Lourdes, where I go for spiritual refreshment, a place where you’re least likely to be bitten by a wild goat.” And every time he’d laugh as though it was the first he’d shared it.
“Then your return from visiting here will be that much more refreshing. We can avoid any wild goats that might be wandering downtown Seattle.”
“I’ve heard what’s wandering downtown Seattle. I worry about you.”
Having heard his diatribes about the homeless, Toni gave him a warning, “Da . . .”
With a snort, he said, “When I retire, I will come.”
Toni sighed. “Yes, Da.” He’d made that retirement pronouncement dozens of times. He’d be on his deathbed before he retires. “I have to go. I have a meeting this morning.”
“On a Saturday? At seven AM in the morning?”
“Well, here it’s barely six AM now . I have to drive some distance to get to it.”
Another growling vibration on the phone. “Ya were yet a wee babe when your mother cruelly left us. I swore then to your granny on her deathbed that I would not allow our family to—”
“I’ve gotta go. I’ll call later. Love you, Da. Bye.” Toni threw the phone down on the bed and yelled and punched her pillow one, two, three times. She yelled again and then stomped off to shower. She knew exactly why her mother left, and why Grandmother retired to her deathbed at the same time. What she didn’t understand is why her mother never wanted to see her children again.
She hoped Jane wasn’t being overwhelmed by the domineering Crenshaw men and that’s why she hadn’t called. It would be awful if she left too. Alternating the shower spray between cold and hot helped clear her mind for the next encounter with another irritating, and much-stranger man.