Taking Care of Business

Taking care of business every day
I've been taking care of business, it's all mine
Taking care of business and working overtime.

 

“Arggh!” Trixie hung the phone up more forcefully than usual. “That was like pulling teeth,” she grumbled.

“Having a problem this morning?” Sean asked from the doorway of Trixie’s new office, a steaming mug of coffee in his hand.

“Harold Langham’s secretary, Edith Farrow.” She held up a pink message slip Amy had left for her. “She didn’t want to give me an appointment to see Mr. Langham.”

“I thought you talked to Langham yesterday?” He crossed into the room and sat down.

“I did, and he said anytime this week was good.” She rolled her eyes. “Apparently he forgot to tell his secretary. I had to threaten to call Mrs. Langham.”

“Are we set for today, then?” he asked.

“Yes. I’m meeting with Matthew at Wheeler Industries this morning. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get started there today. Either way, I’ll call you. Then, early this afternoon I have an appointment with Harold Langham. Let’s plan to meet back here around four today and review what I hope are our two newest clients. Keep your fingers crossed that we’ll get a go ahead on Langham today as well. Then I’m going to have to figure out what to do about Control & Venture.” She shut down her laptop and pushed back from the desk. “I assume that Freeman has plenty of work?” she asked. The three of them had worked late into the night for the first part of the week moving the offices of the Belden Wheeler Detective Agency. They were exhausted by the move, having worked well into the night to get the office set up for work to resume.

Sean’s snort was interrupted by a large yawn. “Are you kidding? You have enough regular business coming through those doors to keep the three of us busy, and that’s not even counting the ORCHID project.”

“Good!” She grinned at him. “That’s my future we’re talking about.”

“Yeah, well -- a success on the ORCHID project is my future,” he reminded her. “I’m still concerned we don’t have any more details on the security breach at B3 Software.”

“You’re right. We’re going to have to find the time to do more digging there,” she told him. “Agent Tibbs has pretty much conceded he won’t find anything else. He thinks that Reid, Madji or Chris, maybe even all three of them, could tell us who breached the security if they wanted to.”

“What about Chris?” he suggested. “Do you think it would do me any good to talk with her? See if she’d go to lunch with me?”

“It wouldn’t hurt,” Trixie said. “But I think her affections are directed elsewhere.”

“Where?” he asked. “All our background information on her indicates she’s single and unattached. She’s pretty easy on the eyes, once you get past her general geekiness.”

“It’s just a feeling,” Trixie replied. “Make your own call on it.” She grimaced as the phone rang. “I’m not answering that. If I do, then we’re going to be late.”

Sean moved to answer her phone. “I’ll get it, and instead of coming back here, maybe you should drop in on B3 as a routine follow-up. See what you can find out.”

“It’s too soon,” Trixie replied. Grabbing her laptop case, she began packing the computer. “I promised Agent Tibbs –” She stopped all activity when she realized to whom Sean was speaking.

“Sorry, Jim. You just missed her,” he said into the phone, quirking a questioning eyebrow at Trixie.

She nodded silently.

“No, she’s in meetings most of the day. We’re not expecting her back until late.”

“I see. Yes, I’ll tell her.” He returned the phone receiver to its cradle.

“How long are you going to avoid him?”

“When I decide, I’ll be sure and let you know,” she snapped.

Instantly regretting her unprofessional loss of temper, she took a deep breath and offered Sean an apologetic look. She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, Sean. I appreciate you handling the call that way. Was there a message?”

“Yeah. Jim wanted to let you know that he’s heading to Washington to finish his Smart School project with Mike. He’ll be back on Friday. He asked me to ask you to call him if you have a chance.” Sean relayed the message almost word for word. “For what it’s worth, you don’t owe me an explanation.”

Trixie nodded, unsure exactly what explanation she could provide to Sean. The current tension between her and Jim was of her own making. Shifting her briefcase from her right hand to her left, she turned to leave. “Thanks, Barnes. I’ll be in touch.”

 

 

“Hey! Rumor has it that you might be hanging out here today.”

Trixie turned at the sound of the familiar voice. She was standing at the window of the spacious office Matthew Wheeler had told her to use for the duration of her security review. The plush digs were far nicer than any she had been assigned at the other companies, and the office was located on the same floor as Matthew’s office. Matthew’s secretary had informed her it was the office reserved for family. Grace, Jim, and Honey used it when needed.

“Not a rumor. It’s a fact,” she replied to the husky redhead. “I heard you were on your way to Washington.”

“Not yet,” he answered. “I’m hitching a free ride on Dad’s plane, so I’m waiting on him.”

Trixie frowned. “Your Dad’s leaving town? He didn’t mention that to me.”

Jim came into the office, sitting on one corner of the desk. “Yes, he’ll be back tonight. It’s just for a meeting this afternoon. I thought I might catch up on some of my responsibilities with Wheeler International while I waited on him. The quarterly board meeting is next week.”

“Oh!” Trixie frowned. She knew from her investigation that Jim was on Wheeler International’s board, as were Honey and Grace, but she had assumed Jim and Honey took a passive role.

“I didn’t realize you had responsibilities to your Dad’s company,” she said quietly. “Will that interfere with running your school?”

“No, and I wouldn’t do it if it did. I’m fortunate enough to chair the Philanthropic Committee. We guide and direct the charitable activities of Wheeler International.”

“So you get to say how much the company gives to your school?” she asked.

Jim shook his head. “That would be a conflict of interest,” he told her. “I get to research the various places around the world where Wheeler has ongoing projects and offices. Our philosophy as a company is to give back to the areas where we have people and projects. The most recent project Dad has going on is in Qatar. I have to recommend to the board next week if we’ll invest in a local cause.”

“Qatar has the highest per capita income of any country in the world,” Trixie told him. “They’re very small, smaller than Connecticut. Also, the Amir prides himself on taking care of his people, although they still have those pesky human trafficking issues to deal with.”

Jim quirked an eyebrow at her. “My, my, my … it almost sounds like Agent Belden was assigned to Qatar.”

Trixie shrugged. “Not at all. Our country’s relationship with Qatar was not one of my assignments, but all agents were required to know the basics about our allies and our enemies. The agency publishes a guidebook on all countries. You could access it as well. It’s on the Internet.”

“I see. Any recommendations, then?”

Trixie shook her head. “The people of Qatar are taken care of. The people who relocate there are the ones that are caught up in the system. The government doesn’t protect the victims of the traffickers, and they’re usually deported. There’s not much you can do to help them in-country.”

Jim leaned closer. “You’d be a valuable asset to my committee. Maybe you have some free time tonight for dinner, where we can discuss your fee to consult with my committee?”

“Your committee is available tonight?” she stammered. “I mean, I thought you were going to Washington.”

“You object to having dinner in our nation’s capital?” His hand moved smoothly toward her hair, tucking a wayward curl behind her ear as his hand drifted down her neck in a soft caress. “Come on, Trix. Why don’t you come to Washington with me this afternoon? You can see the computer model demonstration for the SMARTSchool application that we’re going to present at the fundraiser. You can eat dinner with Dad, Mike, and me, and fly back with Dad tonight. We haven’t had any chance at all to, um, discuss that interesting gossip you managed to divulge when we were in Sleepyside.”

Trixie flushed as she managed to halt the beginnings of a delightful shiver that was the direct result of Jim’s persuasive tactics. “I can’t,” she squeaked. Clearing her throat, she continued, “I have a meeting this afternoon with Harold Langham. Besides, my team’s working overtime as it is, and it’s not right for them to work while I’m off having dinner in Washington.”

“Are you sure?” he murmured, leaning close enough that she could feel his breath on her neck. “You could call and reschedule the meeting.”

“Jim? Are you bothering my new security consultant?” Matthew spoke jovially from the door of Trixie’s temporary office, disrupting the charged energy that had been mounting since Jim had entered the room.

He turned and smiled at his father. “Nope, I’m just trying to talk her into joining us in Washington this afternoon. Don’t you think the two of you could get some work accomplished on the plane ride back to New York this evening?”

Matthew threw back his head and laughed. “I’m certain we could. We might also get some work accomplished before we left for Washington if you weren’t hanging around.”

Standing up, Jim shot his father a reproachful look. “You didn’t remember to tell me this morning that you were planning on Trixie using the family office.” He held up a hand before Trixie could protest. “Don’t worry. I’ll find another spot to work while I wait for Dad. I just need to read through some documents.” He turned and gave Trixie a meaningful look. “We’ll talk later, Trix.” Then motioning to the two of them to get on with the work at hand, he slipped out of the office, but not before delivering his parting shot. “She’s all yours, Dad … for now.”

 

 

“Welcome, Trixie!” Harold Langham held out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Grace and Matthew have talked about you and your escapades with their daughter for years.”

Trixie shook his hand, and as he motioned her towards the chair in front of his desk, sat smoothly down. It was difficult not to compare the stale, dark office setting at Langham with the bright spacious offices of Wheeler International. The fact that the offices were within walking distance made the contrast even more striking.

Settling in the seat next to her, Harold propped on ankle across his knee and leaned casually on the arm of the chair. “Tammy tells me you’ve already started up your business, and we need to throw some your way.”

“Yes, I got a bit of head start with the business, while Honey finishes up her work in Boston. She’ll be relocating in just a few more months. We thought it best to get things going so she could hit the ground running.” Trixie noticed Harold assiduously eyeing her figure.

“Smart move. Start-ups are tough. Tammy insisted we bring you in and get you to work.” Harold talked directly to Trixie’s chest. “However, I have to be honest. I’m not sure we need a security evaluation. We don’t do electronic commerce for one thing. Our business is run the old-fashioned way.”

Trixie relied on her training to produce a fake smile. “It’s not necessary for you to have an internet based business model to be concerned about security, Mr. Langham –”

“Oh, please,” he interrupted, giving her an oily smile. “Call me Harold.”

“Yes, well, Harold. As I was saying, our security evaluations extend to encompass your entire computer networking. Your back office operations are networked, correct?”

“Oh yes! Absolutely.” Harold shifted in the chair and reached over to pat her knee. “But you see, we’ve never had a problem with security. A few minor employee theft issues, but never any real security issues.”

Trixie blinked. Harold’s behavior was what Chief Walker had told her she might expect. Now how do I use this to my advantage, she wondered. Clearing her throat to buy a few moments, Trixie uncrossed her legs and reached for her briefcase.

“Harold,” she smiled. “If you don’t feel any need for our services in the area of security, then your wife told me she had a back-up assignment in mind for our little agency.”

“A back-up assignment?” he echoed. “What could that be? Our home security is modern and up-to-date. We did a major update when my mother got so bad with the wandering.”

“To be fair, I’m not sure exactly what she had in mind. Just that she said it was the traditional private investigation work. ”

“Traditional,” he echoed, his brow creasing.

“I won’t waste any more of your time, Harold.” Trixie beamed at him. She gave a casual glance at her watch. “I’ll see if I can catch your wife this afternoon.”

“Wait just a minute.” Harold sat up straight and held up a hand. “I really don’t like to cross Tammy. She’s always played an active role in the business, but lately she doesn’t have time to take care of my mother and be as involved in the business. I’ve told her we should put Mother in a home, but she won’t hear of it. You know how stubborn these women can get.” The unctuous smile was back. “How about you take a look around for a day or two, and then let me know if you think we really need a security evaluation? You can give me a quick assessment, and we’ll go from there.”

Trixie pounced on the offer. “You know, Harold. I think that’s a wonderful idea. In fact, the Belden-Wheeler Agency offers a complimentary two-day assessment for our preferred customers. Of course, you’re a preferred customer. Let me bring my team in here, and we’ll take a look and give you a free summarized report.”

The look of relief was obvious. “Excellent idea, my dear.” He paused and once again looked her up and down. “Would you be starting tomorrow?”

Trixie shook her head. “No, let me check my schedule.” She pulled out the BLISS unit and started punching keys. “How about next Tuesday? That would give us plenty of time to finish your evaluation next week, and if we needed extra time, we could use the weekend to prepare your report.”

“Consider it done, then.” He stood to shake her hand. “That was a quick meeting.”

“Yes -- in fact, I never expected us to finish so early.” She stood up quickly and almost tripped over Harold as he leaned and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Trixie swallowed nervously, and remembered the conversation with her boss at the beginning of her assignment.

“Not if they don’t think you’re very smart.” He grinned.

“You mean you want them to think I’m a blonde ditz?” Trixie said slowly as she sat back down.

Chief Walker grinned. “Exactly! We want them to placate you, not take you seriously, so they’re not scared off.”

Trixie stopped the subconscious thought process to focus completely on Harold’s next words.

“It’s too bad we finished so quickly, because my calendar is open for the remainder of the afternoon.”

His meaning was clear and while the suggestion repulsed her, she realized this could work to her advantage, as long as she set the parameters.

Resolving to do something that might make Harold Langham reveal crucial facts, she turned her head to one side and beamed at him. “Would you have time to give me a tour of your offices? It would really help the team next week if I already knew the layout and had met some of your key people.” She deliberately fluttered her eyelashes a bit and fumbled the unbuttoning of her jacket.

“Of course, my dear. An excellent idea! A most excellent idea!” Harold resumed his blatant leering.

“Then let’s get started on the tour. Grace and Matthew were so complimentary of your business last weekend.” She was gushing now and hoped the mention of his friends would remind him that she was dating their son.

Harold Langham almost drooled as Trixie held out her hand. “Please lead the way, Harold. This is going to be an interesting tour.”

 

 

Trixie took a deep breath of fresh air. The cold, damp New York wind felt good on her face after her meeting. She barely managed to restrain a shudder as she remembered how Harold Langham had attempted to poke, prod, pinch, and proposition her all in the space of two hours. A shower would be perfect right about now, she thought, as she made sure her coat was securely buttoned. The wind had a decided bite. That was quite a meeting! Chief Walker must have known a Harold-type when he suggested the ditzy blonde routine as a way to attract clients. What a jerk!

She walked a few blocks to clear her head and then headed east. She wanted a few minutes to calm down before she met with her team and decided to stop at the next coffee shop she came too. Desperately wishing Honey was in town, she went so far as to call her cell, disconnecting when the call went straight to voice mail. She walked a couple more blocks, trying to think of anything but Harold Langham before she noticed a coffee shop on the next corner.

Nodding resolutely, she waited for the light to change and crossed. Within minutes, the revitalization process had begun as she took a sip of a fragrant cappuccino.

Trixie sat in the empty coffee shop, debating how to approach the review of the Langhams’ business when she heard a familiar voice. She looked up and saw Ben Riker at the counter, ordering the brew of the day.

She waved at him and he nodded back, acknowledging her a grin. “Feel like company?” he asked.

When she nodded her answer, he motioned that he would join her as he paid for his coffee and walked towards her table.

Just as he sat his cup down, his cell phone chirped. Grimacing, he apologized before politely stepping away to answer. His side of the conversation was easily overheard.

“I can’t this weekend, Mother,” he insisted. “I’m tied up with client meetings.” He paused and turned to roll his eyes at Trixie while listening. “Yes, but Mother, that’s the weekend of Jim’s fundraiser. I thought you and Father were planning to attend.

“Okay. I see. Well, Dorothy just signaled that my clients are waiting on me, so I have to go. I’ll talk with you later in the week. Yes, bye for now.”

He hung up the phone and grinned. “The Madre doesn’t like ‘no.’”

Trixie nodded but said nothing as Ben sat down.

The silence caused Ben to frown. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “I’ve gotten in with the Langhams.”

“Fantastic, Trix.” He smiled. “Your boss will be thrilled about that.”

Once more, she nodded in response.

Ben intertwined his fingers and began tapping the tips of his index fingers together as he studied the young agent. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong, or do I have to pull it out of you?”

“I’m, uh …” Trixie shook her head and took a deep breath. “Nothing is wrong, it’s just not right either. Did you know the Langhams were good friends with Matthew and Grace?”

Ben stopped tapping for a moment and briefly closed his eyes. “Tammy Langham went to school with Grace and Mother. Of course, Mother was a few years ahead of them. But I don’t think Harold and Matthew are anything more than casual business associates these days. Why?”

“Do you have time to be my sounding board?” she asked, leaning forward.

“Sure. How about a doughnut to go with our coffee?” he suggested. “My treat.”

Trixie nodded. “Sounds great. I’m going to make a quick trip to the ladies room while you get our doughnuts.”

Minutes later, Trixie returned to the table, her coat over her arm.

Ben stood to pull her chair out and took her coat, hanging it carefully on a nearby coat rack. Returning he wagged his eyebrows at her and grinned. “I see you’re not wearing a diamond.” He teased. “But then, The Squawker doesn’t know what I know about your history with Jim and diamond rings.”

Trixie groaned. “Do you realize that The Squawker sounds good after my afternoon? For the past two hours, I’ve been dodging the straying hands of Howard Langham.”

Ben’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding?”

Trixie shook her head. “I still feel like I’ve had an alien abduction experience. For the life of me, I can’t understand why his wife hasn’t left him.”

“You should have decked the horny bastard!” Ben protested. “Shit, Belden, you don’t have to put up with that kind of crap.”

He pushed her in a chair and handed her a doughnut. “Talk.”

“I wanted to take him down,” she admitted. “I guess at first I was too shocked that he was actually putting the moves on me. I mean, come on, Ben, he knows I’m dating Jim. He even repeated the engagement gossip from the fundraiser tea that Tammy had told him, but it didn’t slow him down a bit.”

“What did you learn?” he asked, shifting his position to the edge of his chair. As another customer entered the coffee shop, he leaned forward to allow Trixie to speak softly.

“His company’s in trouble,” she said. “He gave me a tour of his operation. He has a rather sizeable business, but he was very conceited about the offices as well as the importance of his business. He didn’t realize that I was casing the place.” She shook her head, recalling how much she had seen during her tour. “I even managed to get a few pictures. He bragged about his sales and told me about his customers. Apparently, he entertains clients quite often with dinners, boating excursions, and hunting trips.”

“Why do you think he’s in trouble?” Ben asked.

Trixie leaned back for a moment and processed what she had seen on the tour. “First, his office space can’t be more than sixty percent utilized. There’s too much empty space, so his overhead is going to be high. The office plants looked sickly, which made me think he’s cancelled his plant service.”

Ben laughed. “You are your mother’s daughter if you noticed that!”

“No,” Trixie replied with a shake of her head. “I’ve seen enough of companies in trouble to tell. The plant service is the first thing they cancel. The next thing is the cleaning service. The carpet was looking pretty worn and stained. He must have cut back on the cleaning service and since he’s the property owner, he can’t cut a deal with his landlord to do any updates, so the place is looked tired and worn. Oh, and the computers are six or seven years old. I even saw a couple of out-dated monitors still being used.”

“Did you get any financial information out of him?”

“Noooo,” the answer was slow. “Not really. When I asked him how his business was doing, he said they were battling back from a poor investing cycle.” She shrugged. “Whatever he meant by that. But when we went back to his office, he started chasing me around his desk, I mean, literally. I thought that only happened in movies. Luckily, his secretary came in. He was very irritated, but he left with her to take a call.” Trixie grinned as she remembered the moment. “To be fair, I think he was hoping I’d be waiting on the sofa when he returned, but I grabbed my coat and briefcase and got ready to leave. When he still hadn’t returned, I took the opportunity to peek at a few papers on his desk.” She held up her PDA. “That’s when I got the pictures.”

Ben threw back his head and laughed. “Of course you did. Any big conclusions? Do you think they might be in on this?”

“I think they might have a financial motive,” Trixie admitted. “There was a lot of red on one of those financial statements. Ben, they’re not clients of yours, are they?”

“No, not personally. I’m not sure if my firm handles the Langhams’ legal affairs.” He shifted in his chair and gave her a puzzled look. “You deduced all that by spending two hours with that jerk and you got pictures?” he asked.

Trixie nodded. She sat down her coffee mug, feeling like herself again. “He didn’t think I knew which way was up,” she told Ben. “Seriously, he was trying to impress me with his operation and his wealth. He must have mentioned he was a preferred supplier to the Spanish Navy half a dozen times.” Trixie paused and dropped her voice so it was deep. “‘My dear, I don’t think the Armada would float without Langham Industries,’” she quoted in Langham’s deep, ebullient tone.

Ben laughed. “You’re kidding. He really said that?”

Trixie nodded. “He also told me he has a private yacht moored at the harbor, and he would love to invite me aboard for cocktails and dinner one night.” Trixie dropped her voice to imitate Harold’s and gave Ben a lascivious wink similar to the one Harold had given her.

“You’re right,” Ben nodded. “He’s disgusting. I would’ve thought him to be a bit more suave, debonair…” he paused and waited for Trixie to look at him. “Not to mention a bit more discriminating.”

The teasing worked.

“Why, Ben Riker, you have a lot of nerve!” Trixie protested. “Do you mean that …” She stopped when she noticed him grinning from ear to ear.

“Come on, Trix.” He leaned back and rested his elbow on the tiny table. “I couldn’t resist. Besides, all you have to do is tell Jim and you won’t have to worry about Harold again.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Get real, Riker. I can’t tell Jim. I was using him to try and find out information about his company. That’s the reason I’m on this case. Besides, we’ll be evaluating Langham’s security next week.”

“You mean you took the job?” Ben jerked forward. “Are you crazy?”

“Ben Riker! You of all people know that I have to take it. I don’t have the luxury of turning down Harold’s business. It’s part of my assignment to find out everything I can about the technology.”

“Whoa… hold up there a minute.” Ben held up a hand in protest. “You’re right. I totally forgot you don’t get to pick and choose your assignments.” Ben shook his head. “You know, I don’t have anything to do on the case right now unless you give me something to do.”

“What do you mean?” Trixie asked.

“I’ve finished what they asked me to do. You’ve gotten in at every suspect company and until someone gives me something else, then I’m pretty well finished until the next time someone calls.”

“Why did you take the job anyway?” Trixie asked. “I mean, I know the bureau has thousands of contacts like you. People they’ve vetted and need for a specific case, but I would’ve never thought you would do something like that.”

Ben shrugged. “Chalk it up to a certain dissatisfaction with my own career. I had applied to be a government lawyer way back when, but after ---” He stopped and shrugged again. “One day I’ll decide what to be when I grow up.”

Trixie’s eyes narrowed as she gave Ben a steady look.

“What?” he demanded. “Just say it if you have something to say.”

Trixie shook her head. “No. I was debating pursuing that, but I have a pretty good idea.” She stood up. “You helped me out, Riker. There’s no doubt about it. And you did it with a style that no one will ever question.” She extended her hand. “I appreciate it. I also appreciate the pair of ears today. I just needed to vent a few minutes before I got back with my team.”

Standing up, Ben took her hand and shook it solemnly. “Listen, Trixie. Don’t make the mistake of not telling your team how Langham came on to you. I assume you’ll be taking them back with you.”

Trixie reached for her coat. “I have to. I’m giving Harold a special preferred customer two-day review of his system. We’ll be working twelve hour days just to get the minimum amount of information we need to see if he’s our traitor.”

Ben smiled. “You sure have grown up, Trixie. Jim’s a lucky guy.”

“Thanks.” She flushed, embarrassed by Ben’s honest compliment. “Maybe one day we’ll work together on another case. It won’t be long before this one is done and dusted and Honey will be here.”

Ben grinned wickedly. “Then that’ll give me enough time to figure out something slightly better than just salt in the sugar bowl.”