Chapter Twenty-Four
“They’re waiting for you,” his mother’s assistant said. “Go on in.”
I hope this doesn’t take long. He was eager to get back to Savannah. Unable to touch her all day, he planned to make up for it tonight.
It irked him his mother insisted on a face-to-face meeting. The report Savannah had prepared on the department’s projects in progress should have sufficed. But as CEO, she called the shots.
Stepping into the conference room, he halted. “What’s going on?” He’d expected to see his mother and maybe the VPs of Production and Marketing, but instead, Corona, members of the board, and two men he didn’t recognize were seated around the table.
“So glad you could finally join us. Have a seat,” his mother said.
“This can’t be about an update on prototypes,” he said. Why were members of the board of directors here? And who were the two men?
“No, it’s not,” his mother said.
“What is this about, then?”
“Two more knockoffs were released on the black market right before rollout.”
“Flekkery.” He squeezed his hand into a fist. Five products had been stolen—that they knew about.
“If this continues, it will bleed us dry. We’re shouldering the cost of development and testing, and the Prellims release the products and reap the profits,” said a board member sympathetic to Corona.
“I’m aware of that,” Stratos said. “We’ve tightened security, and our investigators are working round the clock.”
“Are we certain the Prellims are behind this?” asked one of his supporters on the board.
“Yes, the cartel is orchestrating the theft with inside help,” said one of the strangers.
“Excuse me. Who are you?” Stratos asked.
“Rogan of Rogan Cyber Investigations. This is my colleague, Urlyc,” he introduced the other man.
“When our internal auditors were unable to identify the source of the leak, I called in outside help. RCI is the premiere investigation firm in the galaxy,” Frysta said.
“RCI has been monitoring employee communication,” Corona said smugly like she’d been in-the-know. No doubt she had been. Frysta would give her an edge every time.
“Why am I only hearing about this now?”
“You would have heard it yesterday, if you’d come in. We rescheduled for today, just for you,” his mother said.
“If I’d known the real reason for the meeting, it would have been my top priority.” He tried to keep the irritation out of his voice. Board members were watching, their heads turning from him to his mother and back.
“Prudence required secrecy.”
“She acted under my advice.” Rogan glanced at Frysta before focusing on Stratos again. “We have isolated the source of the leak—it’s coming from your department.”
“What? I don’t believe it.” He shook his head. “What proof do you have?”
His supporters looked as shocked as he was.
But his sister had a hard smile, and the board members on her side didn’t so much as blink.
While this was his first time hearing about a suspected leak in his department, it obviously wasn’t the first time it had been discussed.
This meeting had been called not to consult with him but to inform him.
“As Corona mentioned, through surveillance of communication and personnel, we’ve isolated the theft to employees in Research and Development. The evidence against them is circumstantial, but we believe with high probability we have identified the right suspects,” Rogan said confidently.
He felt like he’d been punched in the gut. “No. That can’t be.” He shook his head. “No one in my department would do such a thing.” He’d never had any reason to doubt their loyalty or dedication to the company.
“Evidence doesn’t lie,” Corona said.
“The evidence, by your admission,”—he looked at the so-called investigators—“is circumstantial.” The guilt was inferred from a series of coincidences.
“But substantial,” Rogan said.
“What exactly is the evidence?”
Rogan glanced at his partner. “We can’t share that until the investigation concludes.”
“Who do you suspect?” Don’t say Kyra. Please don’t say Kyra. She’d been with the company from the beginning. She’d worked for his father! Nor Elara. She’s one of my most creative scientists.
“We can’t share that either.”
Conscious of the board’s scrutiny, his mother’s disapproval, and his sister’s triumph, he forced himself to contain his frustration, although he wanted to pound on the conference table.
Besides damaging the company, the thievery hurt him personally by violating his trust and delivering a black mark against him at a vulnerable time.
If he couldn’t run his own department, how could he run the entire company?
“How do you know it’s not someone in Production or Quality Assurance or Marketing? ” My people are loyal. Dedicated!
“Initially, we cast a wide net. No one was above suspicion,” Urlyc said. “But the evidence trail narrowed and led straight to your department.”
“You’ve narrowed down the suspects?”
“Yes,” Rogan said.
“How many?”
“I can’t say.”
“Is it two, three, or has my entire department been infiltrated by Prellim spies?”
“I can’t divulge that at this time.”
“What the flek can you say?”
Rogan glanced at Frysta and then replied, “They’re Oberian.”
“Oh, that’s a big help!” That described 99 percent of the company workforce. He fervently had hoped the suspects were alien. He hated that their own people who had been with the company for years would sell them out. “Why haven’t you arrested them?”
“We must build an ironclad case with direct evidence, not just circumstantial. We intend to catch them handing over designs to their Prellim contact, and then we’ll arrest them.”
“When will that be?”
“It depends on our suspects’ next move, but it should be soon.”
“We know you want more information. That’s understandable,” Urlyc said. “But we can’t risk you inadvertently tipping off the culprits.”
“That’s why we waited until now to bring you in,” Rogan added.
Logically, he couldn’t fault their reasoning; if he’d been in charge, he might have handled the investigation the same way.
However, it stung that he’d been kept in the dark.
His mother couldn’t have suspected his department when she hired the firm, yet she hadn’t deemed it necessary to inform him she’d hired an outside investigations company.
But Corona had known, and she gloated like she’d scored a big platter of oophish.
Stratos rubbed his eyes. Flek! “You have my full cooperation.” He still couldn’t believe anyone in his employ would do this, but if so, he wanted them caught, arrested, and prosecuted. “What do you need me to do?”
“Maintain confidentiality. You cannot tell anyone about this,” Rogan said. “Not in the company, not outside of the company.”
“Of course.”
“Other than that, go about your business. It’s important to act normally to avoid alerting the suspects. We should be able to wrap this up very soon,” Rogan said.
* * * *
As his vehicle zoomed away from OberTech, his mind whirled in a loop of dismay, going round and round over everything he’d learned—how little he’d learned.
This was a disaster—for the company, his father’s legacy, and for him personally.
For his mother to call in the members of the board to drop her bombshell amounted to a targeted strike against him to undermine his suitability as future CEO.
As the head of R&D, he was responsible for everything coming out of his department, good and bad.
Indirectly, he’d be blamed for the thefts.
Releasing a heavy sigh, he rubbed his eyes.
Gods! What a flekking catastrophe! He wasn’t convinced someone in R&D was the culprit, nor that the investigations firm would be impartial.
He didn’t think RCI would frame him, but they might only see what they were expected to see.
They reported to Frysta. With the situation so dire, he couldn’t wait for the chips to fall.
They couldn’t keep losing products to the Prellims. He would do some discreet investigating on his own.
However, morning would be soon enough to begin.
Bone weary, he just wanted to get with Savannah and forget for a night.
Slipping his hand into his pocket, he fingered her panties and smiled with remembered enjoyment.
He hadn’t intended to keep them, but seeing how his teasing refusal had vexed and aroused her in equal msure, turned him on too much to return them.
It would have been better if his mother hadn’t caught them, but he didn’t regret what happened in his office. It would forever be a pleasurable, satisfying memory.
Fierce and independent, Savannah touched him, aroused him, amused him. He loved that she had enjoyed being naked for him. Loved how she tried not to show it.
He could make his tart, starched assistant desire him, but could he make her love him? Could anyone love him? Would she ever care for him as much as he cherished her? Facing a crisis, he sought her out for comfort and solace.
He wished he could share the allegations with her, but he was under a strict gag order, and although he trusted her implicitly, she could be so open and expressive, her tone or expression could alert the culprits. He knew he would have trouble behaving normally around his employees.
Right now, he yearned to gaze upon her expressive face, listen to the lull of her voice, laugh at her snark, hold her, and bury himself so deep in her pussy, he would forget everything that happened this afternoon.
As his vehicle neared the alley where she’d encountered the dorian, a figure on the ground caught his attention.
Flekkery! What a stubborn, obstinate, willful—“Vehicle—land now!” He couldn’t believe it. They’d had an agreement!
As soon as he touched down, he popped the hatch and leaped out. “Get in the flekking vehicle!”
The wind had whipped up, catching Savannah’s dress, flashing her bare skin, and she made no attempt to cover herself.
Why didn’t she take the company transport? The rejection of his assistance hit like a rejection of him.