Page 94 of Boss from Hell

Max

Iknew it was four in the morning where Chris was honeymooning, but I couldn’t wait. I knew he’d want to know as soon as possible.

“What’s up?” he asked sleepily.

“I know who it is,” I said.

“Who?” he asked, all sleep gone from his voice.

“Elizabeth Bates.”

“Who the fuck is she?”

“She’s the daughter of Warren Bates. Ring any bells?”

“Warren Bates? Yeah, brilliant strategist and businessman. He came in with a few projects with us in the beginning. Didn’t he just retire though?”

“Yup. And his daughter took over.”

“But he was no enemy of ours, why would she target us?”

“He wasn’t, but she apparently is.”

“How did you figure it out?”

I gave a short laugh. “Lillian helped me. Elizabeth brought cookies to my office when she knew we all would be at the Stew Peters meeting. That was when she planted the bugs.”

“Cookies? Why would she bring you cookies?”

I sighed. “We had a one-night stand. She thought it was going to be more, but for me, it was just a stupid mistake. Never should have mixed business and pleasure. It happened more than two years ago, but obviously she never forgave me. This could be her way of taking revenge, or maybe she thinks this is a good way to run a business.”

“But I went through the visitor book for myself. She was never slotted in to see you.”

“Yeah, I’ve looked. She popped into my office after an appointment with Ted Nugent, from Mergers and Acquisitions. So you would not have seen her name on my list of visitors.”

“I see. Does this mean Lillian is off the hook?”

“Yes. Yes, she is.” I felt so ecstatic I wanted to shout with joy.

“Oh, man. I’m so happy for you. But to be honest, I never thought it was her.”

“I had a strong hunch it was not her too, but I had to be sure. I couldn’t throw away a whole lifetime of work on a hunch no matter how strong it was.”

“Yeah, I’d have done the same. What happens now?”

“I pay a visit to Elizabeth and make her an offer she can’t refuse.”

“Do you want me to get the guys in to remove the bugs?”

“I’ve already ripped the damn things out. They were driving me crazy. I hated knowing some creep was listening in.”

He laughed. “This is great news, Max.”

I heard Jennifer’s voice in the background asking if everything was okay.

“Go back to bed, everything is perfectly fine, honey,” Chris replied.

“I better let you go back to bed too. Speak to me when you get up.”

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