The Reluctant Assistant - Book One

Bugs & Bounty Part 46

While Jackson went to have a quick shower, Raymond took the time to rifle through the bag of junk food, finally finding what he was looking for at the bottom of the box of fries. Slipping the key into his pocket, he moved to put it in his office.

On the other side of the city, Damon's ex-wife, Lilith was sitting in her hotel room, reading the report that she was just handed. She was a dark haired woman, with olive skin and almond colored eyes that were narrowed as she scanned through the document. 

"So, Damon has him snooping around." she tapped her fingers on the report in her hands. "Has he been able to find anything?" she asked the young woman in front of her.

"Nothing so far. I've destroyed all the evidence." Audrey Carlton informed her. Lilith had asked her to get as much information as she can out of the company, to help her in her plan for a takeover. She was promised an executive position for all her work.

"You have to be careful, he's not someone to underestimate." she warned. "Keep an eye on him at the office. We have someone tracking him already, but he doesn't seem to be doing much, other than going on dates with his boyfriend." she shook her head. What was Raymond planning? So far she'd been unable to get anything on him. It was as if he almost didn't exist. Even tracking his finances proved to be impossible, no matter who she asked. Her plan was going along fine, but Raymond wasn't as innocent as he looked. It also appeared as if he was hiding his tracks. Maybe it was time to meet with him.

"Try to find out what he is up to at work. I'll get someone to bug his office." Desperate times called for desperate measures. "Okay, let's see what we can dig up. I'll try and convince more of the board to support our cause." So far her plan was going swimmingly, buying up stocks, and keeping Damon from knowing what was going on. Even if Raymond suspected something, he wouldn't know what, until it was done.

-- 

A week later, Raymond walked toward his office, seeing Penny and two of her friends mopping and cleaning the floors, including the lift. He was surprised that they were doing their cleaning duties so late in the morning, seeing that most staff were due to arrive within an hour.

"What is going on here?!" he asked loudly with a frown on his face. "You were supposed to be done with this a long time ago." he snapped, winking at Penny.

"I'm sorry Mr. Cook, Penny apologized. "We have a new manager who is still working out our schedules, sir. It won't happen again."

"A new manager?" he queried.

"Yes sir." her eyes darted around her. "He's also assigned a new cleaning crew to your floor and office this morning."

"Very good, just don't let this happen again." he nodded at her and the others and moved of toward another lift.

Getting to his office, he looked around, everything was where he left it, but that didn't mean much, of course. When his assistant arrived, he instructed her to get fumigators out for his office and the rest of the floor. Giving her the details of the company to use, he dismissed her.

When he got back to his office that afternoon, he reached under his desk, feeling around until he found a brown envelope taped to the desk. Gently opening the envelope, he let the contents slip onto his desk. Just as he thought, his office had been bugged with at least five listening devices. Deciding it was time to test the waters, he called Audrey into his office.

"Ah, Audrey, it so nice to see you." He smiled when she was seated in front of him. "I'm really impressed with what you've achieved in such a short time. You've been so helpful to me and what I'm doing here, I don't think I could ever repay you."

"Oh, it's no problem at all." She was confused by what Raymond was saying, but thought it best to hear him out, in case he let something useful slip.

"You're too modest. All the information that you've been able to retrieve has helped me considerably." He kept the details vague, so that it could be interpreted in more than one way. "I'm especially impressed with your loyalty to the company, and especially me. You've gone beyond the call of duty, and I thought that you should get that reward that I've been promising from the start."

"I'm sorry?" Now she was really confused. She was never promised anything by Raymond, yet he made it sound like they've been closely working together.

"I've transferred the money to your account, just to say thank you." He smiled at the confused look on her face. "Don't worry, nobody will ever know that you've helped me so much." He stood up and escorted her to the door. 

"Oh," he turned to retrieve a box from his desk. "I almost forgot to give you this." he held out the box to her. "One of our clients was so impressed with you, they wanted you to try out one of their new series of phones. I hope you don't mind that I accepted the offer on your behalf." he looked concerned that she would be upset. "I'm sorry, if you don't want to, I'll return it immediately.

"No-no, I don't mind. Thank you," was all she said taking the box, surprise and confusion clearly written over her face. 

"Don't mention it. I just hope you enjoy it, since you're the first one to have this model." Without waiting for her to respond, he turned back to his office, closing the door. Turning on the small signal jammer that was left alongside the listening devices, he made a few calls to have the signal traced and get more information on Audrey. Turning off the jammer, so that whoever was listening didn't suspect that they were found, he left the office early for home.

-- 

"You're early." Jackson said in surprise when Raymond opened his office door. "Not that I'm complaining." he walked to Raymond, slipping his arms around his waist, leaning down to kiss him.

"I thought that we could have something to eat at one of the new restaurants in town." he leaned in grinning mischievously at Jackson while slipping his hands under his jacket, pulling Jackson even closer. "What do you say, boyfriend?"

"When you ask so nicely, how could I ever say no. Especially since you're dressed like a grown-up and I won't get freaky stares from people thinking I'm a cradle snatcher." Winking at Raymond, he leaned in for another kiss, before taking his hand and leading him out of the office.

"So, where are we going?" Jackson asked when they started driving.

"Just wait and see. I'm sure you're going to love it." he smiled cryptically.

Soon they were seated at a small, cozy bistro, with low, intimate lighting. It was fairly busy, with a low hum of conversation and music playing in the background.

"Jackson, I have something for you." Raymond started, pulling a slim jewelry box from his jacket pocket. "This is so that you will always have something to remind you that I love you." he slid it over the table to Jackson, who looked at the box in surprise.

Jackson took the box, grinning at Raymond and opened it. His eyes widening in surprise.