Claiming What's His (4 page)

This weekend was Comfort’s twenty-second annual fundraiser and it was always customary, for Krissy, to participate in the kissing booth.  She had been volunteering since she was sixteen when after three years of constant
begging, George finally caved her to participate.  Sam was pretty sure it was because she started to shed some tears and George hated tears from his girls.

Krissy had always been the hunk magnet and she wasn’t shy about using her assets for her benefits.

Some used their brains; she used her breasts.

“So, when is Krissy coming in?
” Sam asked as she stuffed her mouth with Hon’s perfectly seasoned grilled chicken.

“Who knows?  Knowing her, she’d probably show up ten minutes before the fundraiser starts and leave when it ends, and we’d never see her again until Christmas where she’ll stop by, eat dinner, pick up her Christmas gifts, and go back to Austin.  It seems as if she can’t stay away from Austin long enough to visit her family.  Ever since she’s gone to college, I only saw her twice last year at the fundraiser and Thanksgiving.  She managed to miss Christmas and she expected me to mail her gifts to her!
” Maggie shouted as she picked at her sticky rice.

Sam knew that Maggie missed her sister.  She never talked about it, but Sam knew her best friend.  Before Maggie left for college, the two sisters had been close, sometimes closer than Sam and Maggie ever were.  If Maggie wasn’t with Sam, then she was with Krissy.  But, the second she was college bound, she left (barely looking back). 

“It sounds as if you miss your sister, Maggie, Sam teased then continued, “What is she majoring in again?” 

“I don’t miss her!  I was just
sayin’.  It wouldn’t hurt for her to visit her uncle, cousins and sister more often.  And who knows what her major is.  She switched it twice already.  Knowing my sister, she’ll change it at least two or three more times before ‘finalizing’ it.”  Maggie snorted and rolled her eyes as she twitched her fingers in the air.

“You miss her.”

“No, I don’t!  Quit saying that!”  Maggie nearly shouted.

“Yeah, you do, even if you won’t admit it.  I can see it in your eyes.  They dilate when you’re lying.”

Maggie blinked as if trying to adjust her eyes and rolled them again as she got up, grabbed her phone and muttered in a pout, “Whatever.  I gotta go.  Uncle George needs to talk to me about something.”

Sam spent her time browsing through the website that Maggie had created for her (without her knowledge until the second she walked out the door).  She used the mouse to navigate through the webpage, reading each section and checking for accuracy (and other non-embarrassing information).  Her graduation picture was plastered on the home page with her holding her diploma and her eyes were droopy.  Sam suspected this was because the photographer snapped it when she was in mid-blink mode.  She hated the picture.  It made her look high.  But, Maggie was of a different idea and thought it looked hot, like she was teasing the camera.

Half an hour later Maggie walked in with two cups of coffee from Cozy’s.

“I’ll love you a little more than my car, if you hand me that cup of coffee now,” Sam pleaded as she sounded desperate, standing up and reaching out, wiggling her fingers as if she was trying to will the cup to fly into her hands.

Hey, it happened in cartoons, even on
Charmed
; demons and witches hovered and flew in the air all the time.  It could happen in real life too.

Couldn’t it? 

Heck, she was desperate, she didn’t care.  And if it really did fly to her, she would flip out later.

“You’re comparing me to that old piece of junk you call a car?  That’s insulting!  I have more class
and
I look better than that thing!  The sideview mirror is dangling, hanging on for the dear of its life, its entire appearance it just
sagging
and I, for one, do not have anything
sagging
.”  Maggie snapped teasingly (at least Sam thought she did) as she handed over the coffee cup.  She was referring to Sam’s 1976 Volkswagen Beetle.  Sam had bought her used from Nellie Waters, a fellow citizen of Comfort.  Mitch had offered to buy her a new car, but she refused, telling him that she wanted to buy it on her own.  She had began working part-time since the age of sixteen and hadn’t stop working since.

Sam gasped, jumping back in her seat, “Hey,
 don’t insult Betty!  We’ve been together five years, five
happy
years.  Dad insults her too many times as it is.” 

“That thing deserves to be insulted and you even named it!
 Whenever you come to your senses and get a new car, what will you name that one, Shelby or Sadie?” Maggie asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she sat down and sipped her coffee.

             
“Sadie?  Now, there’s a thought,” Sam muttered, loving that name even thought she was sure Maggie heard her.

             
It wasn’t a bad idea for a name
, Sam thought,
because that meant I would have to get rid of Betty.  Bad, Bad idea.

             
“I’d rather you compared me to Buttons or Cuddles, which by the way… aren’t here.”  Maggie stated, looking around the floor and out of Sam’s office.  “Where are they?”

             
“Still at Grandpa’s.  I’ll pick them up later.  So what’s new?  And what are you doing back so quickly?  I thought George had something to discuss with you.” Sam asked as she sipped her heaven of goodness.  Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she savored the sweet pleasure than ran down her throat.

             
“He did.  I’m here on official business.”  She sat back and sipped her coffee, taking her precious time and not caring about anything.

Sam’s eyes rolled back with her cup halfway up to her mouth when she stopped and her brows furrowed together.
 ”What official business?  Who’s official business?”

Maggie’s eyes were on Sam.  They were bright and happy and it seemed like they are ready to pop.

“I spoke to Uncle George and Nick and they told me about a problem at Conrad Financial.  They believe someone within the company is embezzling money.  I looked over some records with Roger and the numbers definitely didn’t add up.  There’s almost one hundred thousand dollars missing and they want to hire you to find out what happened to it.”

Sam sat there, coffee cup frozen mid-air, not believing what she was hearing.
 

They wanted to hire her.

Her.

Her first client.

Her first real,
paying
client. 

Her first
high profile
client.  

Sam never imagined that anyone would hire a rookie on an important case like this.  For a company like Conrad, they have the funds to hire anyone they wanted and, yet, they wanted her.  This was a huge step for her as a company, as a private investigator, as a business owner, and as a person. 

Conrad Financial wanted to hire her.  

Not anyone else. 

Her.

It didn’t matter that she thought it could be what others called ‘
favortism’.  Sam worked hard to finish school and start her own business.

And Conrad wanted her.

Her.  

Eep
!

Still not believing what she heard, and really wanting to play it off a little (mainly for show), she whispered, “What?”

“Uncle George told me to stop by this morning and ask if you might be interest–”

“Yes
! Holy cow, yes!  Yes, yes, yes!”  Sam interrupted before she finished, bouncing in her seat with enthusiasm.  She was too excited to play it off, even a little bit.  She couldn’t contain in her excitement any longer.  ”Oh my God, Mag… Wait.  Did you say, ‘we’?  What do you mean ‘we’?”

Maggie smiled.  “I thought you wouldn’t catch that with your excitement and all.  Yeah, I’ll be there.  Carol Green, Uncle George’s executive admin, will be on vacation and personal leave for a few weeks and he’s asked me to fill in while she’s gone.”

Sam’s heart pounded with excited and she was barely able to contain herself.  She girlie-shrieked, jumping up grasping Maggie’s arms as she joined in, dancing in circles.  Their first real jobs with a well-known company and they would officially be there together, even if they weren’t working the case together.

Sam stopped jumping but her smile never faded.  “This is great news,
Maggs.  My insides are dancing with glee.”

She smirked. 
“Thought you’d be happy.  Uncle George wanted me to tell you that you will get a deposit, plus you’ll get fifteen percent bonus of the missing money if you find out who the culprit.”

Wow.

Deposit up front.

Nearly fifteen thousand dollars just for bonus,
alone
.

Bliss.

Sam was so excited that she thought she might have just had a small orgasm.  No need to share that information with Maggie, even if she was her best friend.  She knew that with that small information, it would be best to keep it to herself.

“But, there are two conditions.
” Maggie stated, bring Sam out of her thoughts.

Sam focused back on her.  “Whatever it is… anything.”  Sam didn’t care what the conditions were.  She’d accept them all just as long as they paid.  But she was still too excited to care what they were.

“First, you have to disguise yourself as a new employee within the company.  For this, Uncle George said you will also get paid a salary rate for being an employee at Conrad.”

Holy cow.
  She couldn’t believe it.

Now she knew this either hand to be too good to be true, or a mean joke.

Sam placed her hands on her hips and clarified, “Let me get it straight.  I’m getting my rate, a bonus if I solve it, and a salary as an employee at Conrad.  Did I miss anything?”

“Nope, you got everything right.”

Triple pay.  She was getting paid three times, three different wages to what she would normally be getting paid.  Talk about being lucky.  Even when she went to Vegas for a friend’s birthday party weekend, she wasn’t that lucky (technically she wasn’t lucky at all since she lost three hundred dollars gambling).

Sam opened her mouth to answer, but quickly shut it when Maggie continued, “Second, you’ll have... a partner.”

Sam’s brows came together, her hands fell to her side.  Her excitement came to a brief halt.  “A partner?  Who?”

Maggie shook her head.  “I’m not sure who.
 I asked Uncle George, but he wouldn’t tell me who it is.  He said it’s someone he trusts.  All I know is that this person will be your boss.  He’s coming into the company as the new acting vice president.”

Wow.
 

And as the vice president.
 

I wonder who it is
, Sam thought.

But there was something that still didn’t make sense.

“That’s pretty impressive, but isn’t it a bit much just to find the thief?  I mean once this job is complete, wouldn’t he just leave?”

“You know, I wondered that same thing.
 Must be someone important.  Who knows?  All I know is that Uncle George wants the both of you to work together.”

Sam used that moment and took a mental step back from everything and thought for a second.  This was a big step.  It required a lot of thinking, breaking down all the information and really analyzing everything. 

This company, Conrad Financial, wanted to hire a newly owned company, Samantha Daniels Investigations, to go through their company confidential financial reports and find the perpetrator who allegedly stole one hundred thousand dollars.  She wanted to make the most logical decision she could as a private investigator and for her company. 

Oh hell, this would be the best deal ever!  She (or anyone) wouldn’t be dumb enough not to accept it.

“Okay, deal.  When do I start?”

Maggie chuckled.  “Well, he said that if you agreed, you can start today.
 Accounting will have your deposit check ready this afternoon and I know what your fees are so I’ll give them the details.  We have a company announcement later this today and he thought it might be good for you to familiarize yourself throughout the company, mingle with employees and get to know them a little better.  You know, sort out your guilty pool or whatever it’s called.”

“Today?
 Half the day is already gone.  Isn’t that a bit fast?  I don’t know if I can do today.  Well let’s see what I have to do.  Get coffee.  Check my email.  Stock up on office supplies.  Get coffee.  Check on my clients.”

“I got you coffee.
 You have two emails and I’m sure the only office supply you may need is toilet paper.  Bright side, if you start today, you get paid today.”

Damn.
 She nailed it all, except Sam didn’t have any emails.

And Sam would love to get that big check.

Sam rolled her eyes and sighed.  ”Fine, I can start today.  But I can’t stay all day.  There could be a moment’s notice that I would have to leave, if I get a case.”

Maggie sat back and smiled.
 ”That won’t be a problem.  Uncle George said that if you have any scheduling conflicts to just let your new boss know and you’re all set.”

*******

Conrad Financial sat in the heart of Downtown Comfort.  Located at the intersection of First Street and Main Street (across the street from the Brownstone twin buildings where Sam’s office and Cozy Inn & Café are at), it was a four-story brick building, the windows trimmed with the wood panels.  The front door was a tinted-glass pane that prevented anyone from outside to see inside.  The company even took the next step forward and installed a card-accessed entry where the only way you could enter would be if you had the key card or if the receptionist buzzed people in.  The lobby had a front desk, two plants by the elevators, and a lounge area for awaiting guests.

The first thing that Sam and Maggie had to do when
arrived  was go straight up to the Human Resource office.  Even though Maggie was the owner’s niece, apparently she was not an exception to the paperwork.  Immediately they met Sharon Carr who handed them a sheet of paper that said they needed to go do a urine test that was mandatory for all new employees.  They walked the two blocks to the clinic and made their deposits.

             
When they returned, Sharon handed them each a big stack of paper for them to fill out which they did in the conference room located on the fourth floor.  After what felt about three years of signing their lives away, Sam and Maggie finally finished and began meeting other employees and introduce themselves, although Maggie already knew most of them from being there so often during school.  There were approximately seventy-five employees within the company and about three-quarters had lots to say about themselves. 

*******

              The conference room was filled with all three floors of Conrad Financial employees.  The room was spacious, furnished with a large mahogany table that sat that at least thirty people, decorated with expensive Italian paintings imported from Europe, and surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows.

             
Sam stood in the back, arms folded across her chest, using a pen to tap against her left arm, her weight shifted to her left foot, gently tapping the right foot, waiting for the big company announcement (and scanning for the culprit, even though she was very sure who had done it).