Page 94 of Holding On

An all-access card?!

I look at Wells, bewildered. “How did that even happen? I only have three of them myself and I own the damn building.”

“Two,” Sophia corrects me.

“What?”

She softly says, “You only have two.”

My stomach drops at that. “It was one of mine? How is that possible?”

“Yes. Those are set up so we know whose card it is, and they used one of your cards to access the building at the employee entrance, then used the secured staircase to walk to the loft residential floor, used the card to access that floor, then used that same card to take the elevator. They could’ve just used the stairs all the way up, but I’m guessing from what I’ve learned, Rick wanted the entrance to be dramatic. He probably has a small dick too, although from what I hear it’s also an injured one now so maybe it’s a little bigger than normal, like from swelling or whatever. I could see it. I don’t want to see it, but clearly, the guy has small-dick syndrome.”

I still don’t understand how this happened. “Where did they get one of my keycards?”

“Earlier today when you were in Nashville for your finance meeting? The Senior Vice President of Finance Natasha Markova accessed your office, Jack, and apparently, told your assistant at that location that you needed something for the meeting that she was calling in on.”

“Natasha?!” Wells is the first to speak, but is clearly as shocked as I am. “You have video proof? She’s early forties, brown hair, a bit plain looking, maybe; she’s not ugly or anything, but a bit of a wallflower and somewhat awkward socially.” Wells shakes his head. “Are we sure it was her?”

“How long has she worked at Lux?” I ask Wells because the genius remembers everything—and I mean everything.

“She was hired over fifteen years ago as a finance manager and has steadily been promoted. This doesn’t make any sense. She’s a nice lady and has never even been written up, let alone helped a scumbag like Kane Daughtry or Rick Wilson.” His face pales, and I know exactly how he feels because we trust membership of our leadership team—especially people that have been with us for as long as Natasha has been.

“I might have a suggestion for a motive, it might be a stretch, but honestly, stranger things have happened.” Ryan surprises me by chiming in. I nod for him to continue. I’ve been trying to get Ryan to come work in, or even run, our finance at Lux for years, but he’s held me off. Not for lack of me trying, and Ryan has been a good sport about it, coming along to events and meeting key people in the finance department.

“Last year when your CFO retired, and I turned you down again.” Of course, he mentions it. “You and Wells wooed Chris Greene from that start-up you guys bought out.”

I follow but I don’t. “So, she was pissed we let the CFO be in New York instead of Nashville?”

“No, you dumb boys, she was pissed she didn’t get the CFO job,” Sophia speaks up. “Why wouldn’t she want that job if she’d been with the company for as long as you say and as faithful as you say?”

“Obviously not that faithful!” Wells argues. “She almost got my sister killed!”

“Not justifying her actions, not at all. But when I dug into her personal life, I don’t think she has it very easy, so who knows what her thought process was,” Sophia explains.

I look at Ryan and he nods. “Yeah, she wanted that job. I think she maybe thought it was going to be hers until it was announced Chris was coming onboard. She was crushed when you and Wells didn’t even open it for internal applicants and just pulled someone in from outside, especially with everything that had happened with Kane. She felt like she had wasted her career and was stuck.”

What. The. Fuck.

“How do you know this? And why didn’t I know this?” I ask him a little too rough.

“She was venting at the holiday party you made me go to, asking if there were any openings at the hospital. I didn’t think anything of it, or I would have said something, honest. And by then, Chris was already in place and things were going smoothly for you guys, so I thought she just needed time to adjust.”

“Also, it may be of interest to add that she’s been making monthly payments to a bookie out of Nashville that’s known for taking a pound of flesh if necessary. Her history doesn’t add up for a gambling issue though … although her brother’s lifestyle and bank account absolutely does. She also has had more than one direct deposit from the celebrity gossip site The Spill, and those transactions are eerily close to when stories with inside information about Tinsley’s location were leaked.”

Natasha wouldn’t have known where Tinsley was, but because of her position, she knew I was with Tinsley, and my leadership team is typically always aware of my general location.

“Where is she now?” I demand as I run my fingers through my disheveled hair. The movement causes me to get a whiff of myself, and I scrunch my face in disgust. Did Rick puke on me? I need a fucking shower. I hugged my girl smelling like this? Fuck.

“Thor had security detain her until authorities could place her under arrest. She was also taken into federal custody as an accessory to Rick and Kane’s crimes. She’s facing a lot of shit,” Liam explains.

“Good.” I don’t feel bad. Not really. Maybe a little that I upset a faithful employee who had worked that long for us, but that does not justify her betrayal which almost cost Tinsley her fucking life.

I could have lost her today.

“So, was the finance meeting location even a misunderstanding?” I ask the room.

“No, her texts show that she used that as her ploy to get into your office. It was planned so she could get access to your desk, which apparently, it’s not a guarded secret that’s where you keep the all-access keycards,” Sophia says and I can hear the unspoken security threat. “But Liam already made a call, and you’ll have a safe with biometrics for those access cards in your office by the end of day tomorrow. It’s already being shipped.”