Chapter 2 #2
Sure, for all of thirty seconds. Who the hell did things like that? And why was I looking a gift horse in the mouth? He was offering me a job, and it was something I needed desperately.
“What would I be doing?”
“Well, that’s up to you. The choice is yours. If you’d like, you can tell me about your strengths, and I can make some recommendations.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. The question was so ludicrous. “I’m great at sweeping up the messes that I make. Well, except for when I make them worse.” It sounded pathetic, and I was aware of that, but it was the truth. “I don’t have any,” I admitted.
“Nonsense. Everyone has strengths. One of the best things about our company is we help people to bring theirs to the surface. That is, if you want it.”
I glanced at the card in my hand. This man was offering me something I’d never really had. A chance to make myself better. The problem? I knew who I was. “I’m clumsy. And that’s putting it mildly.”
“So don’t put you somewhere working with crystal. Got it.”
It was said without any inflection at all, so I couldn’t tell if he was trying to be funny or not. I handed the card back to him. “I don’t think I’m the right fit for you.”
He shook his head. “Why not let me decide that? I don’t make this offer lightly, you know.
I’m not going to say it’ll be easy, or that you’ll love the work.
We don’t take those who can’t or won’t fit in with our.
.. eclectic group. If you choose to do this, you’d have to work twice as hard to show you can fit in with everyone else.
” He reached out and closed my fingers around the card. “Keep it, and think it over.”
“Where would I have to go?” I asked, doing my best to find a reason why this wasn’t going to work. I didn’t want to get my hopes up.
“Our headquarters is in Bear Mountain, Oregon. I’d like you to come there for an initial meeting, but trust me, it’s only a formality.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
He nodded as Uncle Dom delivered the coffee.
He glanced at me, then scurried away. “Not a lot of people have.
Small town charm, but close enough to a few mid-sized cities, like Joseph, that you can drive to in under an hour.
The largest city near us is Boise, Idaho, which is about a hundred thirty miles away.
“Why so remote?” I asked. “Doesn’t it get... I don’t know. Lonely?”
He shrugged. “We work hard, but there are plenty of opportunities to get out and enjoy nature. It’s not for everyone.
If you’re a party type, then you’d definitely want somewhere more energetic.
It works out though, because we have other divisions around the country, so finding a spot you’d like shouldn’t be hard.
We have offices in New York, Los Angeles, Houston.
If that’s not your style, you can go to Hong Kong China, Yokohama, Japan, Jakarta, Indonesia, Delhi, India, or many other places.
Of course, not all of them will have something you’d like or feel like doing.
I know this is weird, but think about it, okay? ”
I nodded, but the question nagged at me. “Why would you do this?”
brENT
The breath was knocked from my lungs when I slammed into the wall. Peter Small—who was way bigger than his name suggested—stood over me, not even having broken a sweat.
“Get up.”
I shook my head. I wasn’t stupid. I knew that if I did, he’d just knock me down again. “I give.”
That usually worked, but not today. He drew back his leg, and kicked me hard in the ribs, which sent me skittering across the floor. “You’re fucking pathetic! You’ll always be weak. You know what you should do? Kill yourself, and save everyone else from having to deal with you.”
My eyes burned, and the tears streamed down my cheeks.
Peter and his friends strode away, crowing about having beaten the wimp.
Meanwhile, I sat in the locker room wondering how I was going to explain to my father about the torn clothes and bloody nose this time.
The door opened, and I shrank back into the corner, fearful that Peter and his buddies had returned for round two already.
Instead of Peter, though, it was Chaim Flynn, the son of one of the most respected families in the sleuth.
Chaim was bigger than Peter, smarter than him too.
In fact, Chaim was one of the brightest people I knew.
He and Benjy Matthews were each incredible, but together they redefined amazing.
I curled in the corner, doing my best to stay hidden. Of course, Chaim heard me. He turned, dropped the books he had in his hands onto the wooden bench, and strode over to me. When he got to where I lay, he knelt down and cupped my chin.
“You okay?” he rumbled.
I nodded.
“Don’t lie to me. Are you okay?”
This time I paused, then shook my head. “Hurts,” I managed to get out.
“Where?”
I pointed to my ribs. “He kicked me.”
Cautiously, Chaim lifted me from the floor and held me to him. “Let me get you to the nurse.”
I thrashed in his arms. “No, I’m okay.”
Kill yourself.
“No, you’re not. Stop struggling.”
But I didn’t, and the pain shot through me. Chaim put me down, but held onto my shoulders.
“What’s going on, man?”
“He said... He said...” I refused to cry. I would not let Chaim see the tears fall.
Chaim wiped a finger under my eye, letting me know I had failed. “Hey, it’s okay. We’re buddies. Talk to me.”
And that did me in. I threw myself into his arms and sobbed. “He said I should kill myself.”
“He said what?”
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?”