Page 15 of Boss Me

One email had been sent since Cooper disappeared Tuesday night. The time stamp was late Wednesday, less than eight hours ago. I scanned it, hungry for details.

It was a message to Synergy’s compliance officer, confirming an email from his financial adviser. Cooper planned to sell some Class A shares.

What. The. Fuck.

I searched for a reply in Cooper’s inbox. There it was. The compliance officer sent a friendly response reminding Cooper we were currently in a blackout period, but he could sell as soon as it ended in a week.

Cooper was selling shares. Not just any shares. Class A, company-controlling shares.

What the fuck did that mean?

I knew what it had meant at my old company, but only in hindsight. The founders had dumped their shares a few weeks before it all went down. One said he was buying a place on the beach; the other was getting a divorce and needed the cash. There was no place on the beach. The divorce happened, though. And after they had their money, they called me into the conference room, their faces full of apology and a smidge of guilt, and laid me off.

With the small amount of severance they’d given me, I’d had to choose between paying rent and paying tuition.

When I’d asked my boyfriend, Trey, if I could stay with him for a month or two, just until I got my life back together, he’d gotten a terrified look on his face. Okay, maybe I had a smear of Häagen-Dazs Triple Chocolate Fudge Cookie ice cream on my T-shirt and I hadn’t shaved in a few days. But when he started making excuses, I knew we were done.

I deserved someone who supported me when I needed it. Who didn’t run at the first sign of trouble. Who was willing to work through life’s problems together. I moved in with Mimi the next day and stopped taking Trey’s late-night calls and texts.

And when I found a great job at Synergy that paid my tuition, I promised myself I wouldn’t get caught unaware again. I’d be ready next time, on the lookout for trouble.

Did Cooper know something about Synergy’s future? Was he getting out while he could? Sweat trickled down my back and stuck my shirt to my skin.

I opened a browser window and searched. It wasn’t all of his Class A shares. About a quarter of them. Not even close to a sell-off.

Still, what did it mean?

“Are you okay?”

I looked up from the screen, blinking. I hadn’t heard Marlee’s heels clicking across the old wood planks. A tiny frown line divided her eyebrows.

I minimized the browser window. “I’m good. What’s up?” I tried and failed to smile.

“You’re really pale. Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

Marlee had worked at Synergy a lot longer than I had. She knew Jackson and Cooper better than I did. And she was discreet about Jackson’s shenanigans. I could talk to her.

“Do you have a minute?” I nodded toward the empty conference room behind her.

“Sure.” She led the way into the room, which looked out over the busy street and the tall buildings surrounding the converted factory that now housed Synergy. I closed the door.

I knew something about stock from my finance class last year. The compliance officer’s job was to ensure that what Synergy did was kosher with government regulations. She’d probably already sent public notice of Cooper’s plan to sell his stock, so I wouldn’t be telling Marlee anything confidential.

Still, it wouldn’t hurt to be circumspect. “When was the last time Jackson sold Synergy shares?”

The little frown line was back. “You mean, exercised his stock options?”

“No, I mean actually sold stock.”

“I’ve worked for Jackson for four years, and I’ve never known him to sell shares. Not when he bought his house, not when he got married, and not when they had Valentine. He and Cooper are going to hold on to this company until they pry it out of their cold, dead hands. Why do you ask?”

I checked that the door was closed behind me. “Cooper’s selling some of his Class A shares. That seems weird, right?”

Marlee’s eyes widened. “Super-weird. The Class As are the ones that give them extra voting rights, aren’t they?”

“Exactly.”

She scrunched her nose. “I thought those got passed on to people’s heirs. Like the Fords. Can he even sell those?”

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