Chapter 5 Wyatt
I had back-to-back interviews on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings. I saw a total of twelve candidates, and I wasn’t happy with any of them. Emma walked into my office just as I got up from behind my desk.
“Wyatt, you’re not leaving, are you?” she asked.
“Heading downstairs.”
“Oh, that’s right. Your brainstorming session with your brothers got moved.” Emma knew my schedule better than I did most times.
“Exactly.”
Typically, we’d meet on Monday mornings, but sometimes we had to push it later in the week. I personally loved meeting on Mondays because we bounced our thoughts off one another, and it got my engine running for the rest of the week. I always felt full of energy and ideas afterward.
“Are you coming back after?”
“Not sure. Might take the rest of the day off.”
“All right.”
As I went down the flight of stairs, I kept thinking about Kinley.
She was hands down the best candidate. She had a vision, and she knew how to manage things operationally while also thinking strategically.
She was simply the full package. I’d hired enough people in my life to know the recruiters wouldn’t find someone else as qualified as her. Lightning didn’t strike twice.
When I stepped into the meeting room, Chase, Duncan, and Griffin were already there. Finn and Knox arrived just as I sat down.
“We’re very punctual today,” Finn said in a tone that implied he was seconds away from patting himself on the back. The rest of us just rolled our eyes at his shenanigans.
“So, what’s new?” Knox asked. He focused on me first. “How’s the hiring going?”
Everyone perked up, anxious for the scoop.
“It’s ongoing,” I offered.
“That doesn’t sound promising,” Chase replied.
I sighed, then honestly answered, “It isn’t. I’ve only had one great candidate. She’s absolutely fantastic.”
“So, what’s holding you back?” Duncan asked. “It’s not like you to pass on someone you think is a good fit.”
My brother knew me well.
“She was involved in the BuzzPage scandal.”
A collective “Ohhh” went around the room.
“Who is it?” Duncan asked.
“Kinley McGuire. Mark Donaldson’s girlfriend.”
Chase whistled. “All right. Now I understand why you’re reticent.”
“Damn,” Finn said in an incredulous tone. “She’s got guts to apply for a job in San Diego. I think I’d move to a different state, or country!”
I looked straight at my younger brother. “She’s innocent.”
He shrugged. “I haven’t followed the case closely. But just because there’s no proof doesn’t mean she’s innocent.”
His comment rubbed me the wrong way. A court of law found her not guilty. What more did he want?
“But she’s the best candidate?” Knox asked. “How come? She wasn’t even working in the same industry. BuzzPage is tech, right? Selling software and building up social media platforms is an entirely different type of business compared to wine and hotels.”
I nodded, drumming my fingers on the table. “I know, but her brain works exactly like mine. She has that natural instinct of how to run a business.”
Griffin nodded. “So she’s a genius too.”
I always liked to hear praise from my brothers. Our IQs were all over 150, but I had the highest at 170. We were truly blessed that way.
“Doesn’t really matter, though. Working with her would make things difficult.”
“I agree,” Duncan said. “Especially since we’ve already been involved in a scandal ourselves, and not too long ago.”
Chase looked straight at him. “That’s all sorted out and forgotten.”
A few years back, one of our employees tried to frame us for insider trading. It didn’t work, but I could see where Duncan was coming from. Hiring someone who’d been at the very center of such a huge scandal was not smart.
I sighed. “So, I’m back to square one. I’ll just have to keep looking for someone who’s a good fit.”
“We can help out with the interview process,” Finn offered. “We could weed out the bad candidates and only send those who make the cut to meet with you.”
“Or we can let Martha take the lead. There’s a reason she’s the head of HR,” Chase added.
“I like to hire my own people,” I reminded him before turning to Finn. “But thanks for the offer.”
“All right, then let’s move on to another topic,” Chase said. “As all of you probably noticed, it’s been a rough week in the stock market.”
He was right, but it was the way the world worked. Sometimes you were the hammer, sometimes you were the nail.
Usually, I focused fully on the matter at hand in our meetings, but today, I instantly checked out of the conversation. I couldn’t stop thinking about Kinley and how well she would fit with our business.
With me.
Damn, that was a weird thought.
“Earth to Wyatt,” Knox said. “What’s going on?”
“Yeah. You just spaced out,” Finn added. “Still thinking about that candidate?”
I nodded. “I just know I won’t find anyone better.”
“Well, there is another solution,” Knox began, but Duncan interrupted him.
“No, there isn’t. We can’t afford another scandal in such a short time.”
“It’s been a few years, Duncan,” Chase said, then turned in his chair, scrutinizing Knox. “What’s your solution?”
My oldest brother had mellowed a bit ever since he went behind his wife Hannah’s back in order to help her keep her inn.
“We could put a detective on the case and see what he comes up with,” Knox said in a blasé tone. “I know just the guy.”
“You think a detective would find things that the police and lawyers didn’t?” Chase argued.
“It’s worth a try,” Knox replied.
“It is. Why didn’t I think of that? You’re a genius,” I exclaimed.
Knox grinned. “Why, thank you, brother.”
“How fast can your detective do it?” I asked.
He grabbed his phone. “I’ll text him right now. He’s got a turnaround of twenty-four to forty-eight hours.”
Duncan scoffed. “How much work can he do in that time?”
“Dude, how about giving me some credit?”
“How about you stop playing devil’s advocate just for the sake of it?”
Knox typed furiously on his phone, then put it down and focused on Duncan. “That’s what you think I’m doing?”
“I’m not sure what you’re doing, but we’d agreed that it’s best if he doesn’t hire her.”
“Clearly Wyatt is still considering Kinley,” Knox replied.
“I am,” I found myself saying. Turning to Griffin, I asked, “What do you think?”
He was much more rational than me. I was known for being a hothead.
He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. “Gut instinct hasn’t steered you wrong before.”
“Might I remind you, it steered us all wrong before. We trusted Cyrus implicitly,” Duncan said.
“Will you move on from that?” Knox told him, but by Duncan’s expression, he clearly didn’t want to.
I looked at Knox. “Tell your detective I’ll pay whatever it takes for a very quick turnaround.”
“That’s on me, brother. Don’t worry. I’ve got him on my payroll.”
My eyes bulged. Griffin just stared at him, and Chase and Duncan had comically shocked expressions. Finn smiled appreciatively.
“You’ve got a detective on your payroll?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he answered as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
“Why?”
“Why not?” he countered.
“Then why didn’t you put him on Cyrus’s case when it happened?” Chase inquired.
Knox rolled his eyes. “I hired him after that, obviously. Just to run background checks on employees from time to time. Nothing serious,” he said in an eerie tone that made me think he was actually very serious.
His phone pinged, and he read the message.
“I’ve got a reply. He already has a lot of material on the case. He was fascinated by it, so he started looking into it himself.”
“Fantastic,” I said. “I can’t wait.”
* * *
Knox’s detective came around even faster than I thought possible. On Friday morning, I had his file on Kinley in my email. Even though I had more than enough to do at the office, I decided to read it first.
The report was thirty fucking pages long. Talk about going into detail. I appreciated that it only focused on her involvement in the scandal, as I didn’t want to know personal details about her. It was none of my business.
He’d provided a step-by-step chronological overview of what happened from the time the CEO realized money was missing to when Mark Donaldson was sentenced. He was serving ten years in a white-collar prison. Who the fuck decided to give the guy only ten years? But that wasn’t my business either.
I ended up reading the report three times because I didn’t want to miss anything.
Mark was good, I’d give him that. He’d framed Kinley perfectly.
He’d even made accounts in her name. But in the end, he’d given himself away, because the island he bought was in his name alone—and they’d been able to trace a lot of his other extravagant purchases to him as well even though he’d put Kinley’s name on the accounts.
I closed the report and slumped back in my chair. Fuck, I need a cigar. I took one from my desk and went onto the balcony attached to my office. Access to the outdoors was the reason I wanted this room.
So, Kinley McGuire was completely innocent. Of course, I hadn’t seriously suspected her. I trusted the justice system. Plus, she didn’t strike me as the type to be a con woman. Then again, that’s what usually made cons so successful—they were very good at hiding their intentions.
But her name was still as attached to this scandal as Mark’s was. I could only imagine the reaction of potential business partners when they put two and two together.
But what the hell? She was the best person for this job. I wanted her on my team. She was smart as a whip, and she’d be able to take the reins of the operations much faster than anyone else.
Taking out my phone, I brought up her number. I wanted to let her know right away—and subsequently cancel our date. I didn’t mix business with pleasure. And I was willing to bet my entire net worth that after the fiasco with Mark, neither did she. Pity, because I truly liked Kinley.
But business came first. Always.