Page 5 of Dirty Deals

CHAPTER4

Jules entered the boardroom and found her three best friends in the world waiting for her. The women around the table represented a cross section of Harbourview, bringing a wide range of skills and abilities to the planning of this event.

Meg Wallis was the general manager at Harbourview, and some considered her a bit unconventional for the role, with her short, spiky black hair and full sleeves of tattoos. But her outgoing personality and intelligence made her excellent at her job, and Harbourview was lucky to have her. Les Carpenter was completely different from both Jules and Meg. Compared to Jules’s tiny stature, Les stood close to six feet tall and had long red hair. While Meg was an extrovert, Les was generally quiet, spending her time as head of surveillance using her computer skills to improve the security and surveillance at all of Coastal’s casinos. Jules, Meg, and Les had all risen through the ranks together at Harbourview, forming strong friendships along the way.

The third woman at the table was a recent addition to their friend group. Sam Bennett was an athletic brunette who had been hired as director of communications for all Coastal Casino properties slightly over a year earlier. Her mission had been to lead the messaging on an anticipated expansion into Ontario. That hadn’t happened because of a money laundering scandal, and the previous executives had made her a scapegoat and fired her. Sam had moved on to bigger and better things, launching her own communications business. She had come back temporarily to help Jules and the team promote the upcoming charity event. Her assistance was invaluable, and Jules was grateful Sam held no hard feelings towards the company, considering how poorly she had been treated.

The Dream Date Charity Auction had been Meg’s idea, an attempt to repair Harbourview’s reputation and bring in a wide cross section of the Vancouver business community, all while raising money for the local women’s shelter. In less than five months, they had taken the spark of an idea and turned it into a sold-out event, with a ticket wait list like none of them had ever seen before. Jules was incredibly proud of what her team had achieved, and grateful too. Their ideas had drastically improved Coastal’s financial situation. Now they just needed to execute the event flawlessly. Failure would be a disaster.

Jules noticed that Sam had loaded a slide onto the screen at the front of the room. It was the auction checklist blown up large, and Jules saw that most of the items had been marked as complete. With the auction only one day away, things looked to be on track. Jules let out a silent sigh of relief. She had complete faith in her team, but it was still good to see confirmation.

Jules took a seat at the table and cleared her throat. “Before we start talking about the auction, I have some news you all need to be aware of.” All three women looked at Jules when she spoke.

She’d been rehearsing how to explain Nik to her friends ever since she’d left him at security. This was the worst part of her new job—there were things she had to keep from her friends. The real reason for Nik’s presence was one of them. Jules could trust them to keep the information confidential, but if no one knew who Nik was, there was no risk of word spreading through the team and creating fear about job security. That was the last thing Harbourview needed.

The darker cloud hanging over her was who Nik really was. None of her friends knew that Ava was the result of a one-night stand. Right after she left her husband, Jules had confided in Meg that she was looking into artificial insemination. When Jules had found out she was pregnant, Meg had assumed Jules had gone through with her plan, and Jules had never told her the truth. How could she tell her friends she’d been lying to them for years? Would they forgive her? The thought of losing them over this left her nauseated. They had been through so much together. No. Telling them about Nik would wait. They had to get through the auction first.

Jules shoved her chaotic thoughts aside and delivered her explanation for Nik’s presence. “The board has brought in a management consultant who will be working in and around the property for the next few weeks. His name is Nik Costas, and I need you all to cooperate with him fully. He has a background in finance, so he’ll mostly be working with me, but he may need to ask you questions about how we operate here. I’m having security give him all needed access, but I wanted you to know first. If any of your team sees him and asks about him, let them know he’s here to assist with improving the company.”

“When did the board decide to do this? It seems like short notice,” Meg said, suspicion clear in every word. The board had been a source of frustration for Meg and Jules for months, and Meg was the most likely of all of them to voice her concerns.

“I found out last night. I had no idea they were looking at bringing someone in from the outside, but if it will make us better, I’m not going to argue. Fresh eyes might see something we’ve missed.” Everything she was saying would be true, if Nik were really a consultant. As it was, he might still have a few ideas about how to restore Coastal to where it used to be, but he probably wouldn’t share those ideas until WYCK had taken them over completely.

“I doubt I’ll see much of him, but I’ll do whatever you need,” Les said. Her role in surveillance kept her away from most of the activity in the casino, but she also worked closely with the IT department, which might overlap with Nik’s investigation.

Sam and Meg echoed Les, and Jules turned her attention back to the purpose for the meeting. “I see from the list there are only a few items we need to take care of. It looks like everything is ready?”

Les grimaced. “There’s been a small hiccup. I checked in with everyone this morning to confirm, and one of our bachelorettes has to drop out. She’s had a family emergency and will be out of town for an indefinite period. I’m trying to find a replacement, but with only one day left, so far I’ve had no luck. I’m trying to get a woman, because we were evenly balanced. She was offering a marketing and social media package valued at over five thousand dollars too. Sam’s been reaching out to her connections, but she has struck out as well. Do you or Meg have any ideas?” The worry in Les’s voice was unmistakable.

Jules winced inwardly. Losing one of their volunteers would hurt. Each package was expected to bring in at least $10,000, with several predicted to be bid up to close to $20,000. Skipping even one meant a lot less money raised for the shelter. “Let me think about it. Remind me what other services the volunteers are offering.”

“Sure. Our four bachelors are offering financial services, legal services, image consulting, and the best one? The pilot who owns the fly-in fishing lodge. Our four bachelorettes were offering a real estate consultation, private cooking and baking lessons, contracting services, and the marketing and social media package. Everything was different enough to attract a wide range of bidding. I’m trying to make sure we don’t have duplicates, but at this point, anyone who is willing to volunteer is great.”

“Which date package was she paired with?” Jules had arranged most of the Dream Date packages herself, reaching out to friends and colleagues and calling in every favour she was owed to bring together impressive experiences.

“The Sports Fan Spectacular,” Les said.

Meg groaned. “That’s one of the best packages. Premium tickets for NHL hockey, MLB baseball, and NFL football? Plus all-expenses-paid travel, five-star hotels, all the best restaurants in Vancouver and Seattle? Daniel’s going to bid on that one just because of the Seahawks tickets. I still don’t know how you managed to pull that package together.”

“I worked with the Vancouver Orcas back in my public practice days. I keep in touch with their management team and called in a few favours. We’ll make sure the package gets sold, one way or another. Daniel will still be able to try to whisk you away to Seattle,” Jules teased.

Meg was a huge football fan, and her boyfriend, Daniel, would do anything to make her happy. The fact he was also a fan made his plan to bid on the package perfectly logical. Meg was right: this was one of the best packages she had assembled, thanks in no small part to her relationship with the local NHL team, the Orcas. It might be possible to auction the package without a bachelor, but it might not have the same impact. Harbourview needed to find someone to step up and participate in the auction.

Jules pushed the problem aside mentally and continued down the list. “Let’s keep going. We can brainstorm solutions after everything else is locked down. What’s next?”

“I’ll go,” Meg said. “Everything venue related is under control. The menu testing happened last week, and the chef has outdone herself. We have our best banquet staff working tomorrow night, so service should be seamless. I’ve been working closely with the florist on decor. Red roses, black feathers, red-and-black heart-shaped balloons to go with the Valentine’s theme. It sounds tacky and over the top, but I swear it will be elegant by the time she’s finished. She’s a wizard with this type of event. We have a pianist booked for the first half of the evening, to provide background music, and a band for dancing after the auction ends. Staff are preparing the ballroom as we speak.”

When Meg had pitched the idea of holding the auction the day before Valentine’s Day, Jules had worried about the timing. In the end, it had been the perfect choice.

“We all know tickets sold out weeks ago, so in an effort to allow more people to participate, I’ve been working with the team to run a simultaneous livestream of the evening. Anyone who wants to bid on the auction packages will be able to do so online, and the auctioneer will check the online bids before he declares a winner. Our celebrity auctioneer is confirmed, and local media outlets will be sending reporters and cameras that night. We will get a lot of free media out of this event, and it should all be positive.” Sam wore a wide grin, and her eyes sparkled with excitement.

Sam had organized a livestream of the gala? The privacy laws in BC were notoriously strict. A violation could cause more bad press, which Harbourview and Coastal did not need. “Are there any privacy concerns around the livestream?”

“There are, but we will be posting signs at every entrance announcing that there will be filming, and each camera location will be clearly marked, so patrons can avoid them. The main one will be directed at the stage during the auction itself. I spoke to every volunteer, and the auctioneer. They all think it’s a great idea and have signed waivers. Our volunteer lawyer had his firm look at the plan, and they have approved it. We’re covered,” Sam concluded.

Jules relaxed, chiding herself for worrying. Sam was a pro, so of course she would make sure everything complied with the law. “It’s a great idea. It sounds like the last thing we need is a fill-in volunteer. Is there anyone else in our extended circles we can ask?”

The women all looked at each other; then when Meg gave a subtle nod, they turned to Jules and grinned. The look in her friends’ eyes had a ball of dread forming in her stomach. “Oh no. No way. You can’t be serious!”

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