Page 3 of Protected By Him

"Miss Anderson, you will do well to meet your deadline next time."

I nodded as I remained in front of my supervisor, who casually waved me away. I breathed out a sigh of relief as I returned to my cubicle where I picked up my purse.

"Going for a lunch break?" Emily asked.

"A much needed one," I muttered. Thoughts of how I could begin my research without being suspicious bothered me. There was no way I could risk using my work computer to investigate Mr. Harvey.

"I wish I could come with," Emily sighed, her gaze on her own computer screen.

"What's going to keep you?"

"Work and more work," Emily said and managed a louder sigh. “I'm running behind and need this ready for printing before six p.m.” She rubbed at her head, and I looked at her with pity. I could tell Emily was still a little hungover from the night before. She'd drank the hardest.

"Well, there are always choices to be made, one thing to choose and another to let go,” I commiserated.

"We can never have it all, can we?"

"I'm afraid not," I replied.

“At least I'm not having it as bad as Mr. Harvey,” Emily said, her eyes shining in the way they usually did when she had a juicy story to tell.

"What happened?" I asked, instantly curious.

"Don't you have a date with a sandwich?" she asked.

"Food can wait," I told a grinning Emily as I took my seat once more, pushing the rolling chair a little closer to my friend, "But hot gossip certainly cannot."

Emily giggled and covered her mouth with her hands to stifle the sound.

"Mr. Harvey’s wife is asking for a divorce,” she told me in a stage whisper.

"What?” I asked with wide eyes.

Emily chuckled. "Nobody knows why though, but I'm dying to."

I wondered if the divorce had anything to do with the conversation I had overheard.

“How do you know?” I asked Emily, who, like me, could multi-task and was doing a fine job of running expert fingers over her keyboard while still holding steady conversation.

“Jon,” Emily answered smoothly. “He said something about overhearing them on the phone yelling about her asking for more money. I think his wife has got something on him. I've always had my suspicions about him.”

James Harvey's career was riddled with terrible rumors. But somehow, he had always managed to come out unscathed. I could not help but recall that the man had once been accused of assault and another time, someone said he was having an affair with his secretary. But as with every other accusation, these claims had been swept under the rug. There had also been rumors that he and his wife both had a problem with overspending. Which could be why his wife was asking for a divorce.

Wait…Mr. Harvey, overspending. As Emily trailed off talking about Harvey and his wife, I couldn't help but start connecting dots. Could this be why Mr. Harvey owed money to someone? Was he in debt?

I felt a little miffed that I had never really paid that much attention to the man until now. I needed to talk to Jon. Maybe the young man who worked in the accounting department had overheard something else.

I had a feeling that whatever Mr. Harvey was up to, was illicit and dangerous. When my journalistic instincts kicked in like this, I was rarely wrong.

I picked up my notebook, grabbed a pen, and turned to make my way towards the far corner of the big office.

“Where are you going?” Emily asked again, eyeing the paper and pen in my hands.

“Lunch,” I lied and turned away from the woman who had narrowed her eyes slightly at me. I knew Emily could tell that I was lying, but that wasn't the most important thing right now.

I needed to find out what Jon knew.

I found him in the break room, biting into a large donut.

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