Page 17 of Saving Penny
“Yes, he’s around. We’ll have to talk later. I just can’t believe that you’re quitting. Such a shame. I’ll let Mario know you need to speak to him.” Lydia walked away, muttering under her breath.
Penny sighed with relief. Drake had gone over their cover story with her multiple times, so she was pretty sure she had it memorized.
She went ahead and got herself ready for the day, where she would have countless meetings. She typed in her password for her desktop and waited for her computer to come to life.
“Okay, let’s get to work,” she mumbled to herself as she sat forward.
She became engrossed in her work, sending emails to certain clients personally to let them know that she would be leaving the company. Many of them were trying to inquire to where she would be going. She smirked, knowing that if she were to go to another company, they would probably try to follow her. She had worked hard at these relationships, and it was good to know that her hard work had paid off to have such loyal clients.
But now, she would never have to work for anyone else again. She had planned to travel around the world while she decided on what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. Of course, she would take Tori with her. Tori’s family was her second family, and she would ensure that Tori’s parents would be able to retire too.
Her email dinged, noting a newly received email. She clicked on it and froze.
‘You can’t leave me,’the email read. The four simple words caused her heart to slam against her chest. She looked around her office, as if to make sure she was still alone. She looked at the sender’s name, but it was unfamiliar to her. Her hand shook slightly as she brushed her hair from her face, trying to stay calm as she thought of Drake and his instructions. She quickly forwarded the email to him. Per his instructions, any suspicious emails should be forwarded to him. He told her if she got anything, to not respond.
“Knock, knock.” Mario’s voice greeted her from the doorway, causing her to jump slightly.
“Hey.” She smiled as she waved him in. She swallowed hard and pushed back her fears. Nothing could happen to her while she just sat in her office.
She glanced at the time on her computer and couldn’t believe almost two hours had passed since she’d sat down. Between phone calls and emails, she had accomplished a lot.
“How’s it going, kid,” he asked as he sat down across from her.
“Ugh. I ran into Nolan when I ran out to get coffee. You would think with me leaving, he would be a little nicer to me,” she complained. She had taken a quick break and walked down to her favorite cafe to grab a coffee. Within two seconds of being at the coffee shop, Nolan was making snide remarks that she had probably slept her way into some rich man’s bed, and that was the reason for her quitting her job.
“Don’t let him get to you. He’s just an ass. I don’t think anything could make that man happy.” Mario shook his head. She chuckled as she blew out a deep breath. She would miss Mario. He always knew what to say to calm her down when Nolan got her going. “So, how’s the transition going?”
“It’s going great.” She grabbed a few files from the corner of her desk. “I had a few files I wanted to discuss with you in person. I thought it might be best, so that you could ask any questions while I’m still here.”
“Are you sure you want to quit? What’s going on?” he asked, sitting back in his chair, frustration lining his face.
“I’m sure. I had an opportunity presented to me that I couldn’t resist.” She smiled softly at her mentor. It would be hard to leave Mario behind, and that’s why she would be gifting him a nice present once she was gone. She wanted to show her appreciation for everything he had done for her.
“Well, I wish you would share. Maybe some of us want to move on with you.” He laughed.
“I wish.” She laughed with him. “Just because I no longer work here, doesn’t mean that we can’t keep in touch. Life doesn’t end when you leave Med-Well Corporation.”
“What? There’s life beyond Med-Well?”
“Apparently there is. I just found that out,” she snorted. They may have joked about not knowing of life outside of work, but it was the truth. This job demanded almost all of her time. There were many days that she didn’t know if she was coming or going when she was on the road. But now, her travel would all be for pleasure.
“Okay. I guess one day you’ll let us in on the secret.”
“Let’s go over this first case. This account is for the surgery centers in Atlanta,” she began, getting down to transitions. She pushed the creepy email to the back of her mind. It was now time to talk business.
Drake hungup the call as he pulled into the parking lot of Penny’s office building. His man, Royd Tate, had just left the building. Royd had been employed by Imperial Knights for about ten years. He was a black panther shifter who had served in the Army. His wild counterparts were known as the ghosts of the forest, making him the best person for undercover operations. He was an expert at blending into his surroundings.
Royd went into Med-Well Corporation as a Fed-Ex employee, delivering packages around the building. This allowed him to pretty much have access to all the departments.
According to Royd, he’d picked up on chatter of Penny’s departure, but most of the talk was of shock that she was leaving. He also picked up a few conversations that suggested one person was happy she was leaving so they wouldn’t have to compete with her.
Based on his investigation, there would be a lot of people benefiting from her departure. His mate had made a name for herself in the company, and would probably have went far in her career had it not been for her luck with the lottery.
He pulled into a parking spot near the entrance and quickly exited the vehicle. He wanted to get a look at her coworkers himself. If one of them was the culprit, then the situation could escalate. They could feel that their position with Penny was threatened.
He’d welcome the challenge.
There was no way that they were going to come near his Penny.
