The Shudder Lingers Page 5

  She laughed out loud, “My word, what did you put into that coffee?”

  He said, “I am serious. I think you would be good for the business. Everyone knows and appreciates your capabilities, especially after the success of the drone application.”

  Having laughed it off seconds earlier, she sat back and stared at Slade, before replying, “I suppose I am unemployed, but managing director?” she mused. She stared out over the city, and then back at him, “I’ll think about it. Sounds crazy, but I am enticed by the idea.”

  Slade smiled, “Cool.”

  She excused herself to head for the showers, but before she left the room, she turned back, “Just one thing. Seeing that you are an employee of WKJD, will you be OK with me being the boss?”

  He was caught slightly off guard, but convincingly replied, “I don’t see why it should be an issue. Go for it.”

  Standing in the shower a short while later, with steaming water running over her, she became more enamoured by the idea of being managing director and suddenly saw how life’s chess pieces might just be positioning the game in her favour. By the time she was dressed, she was convinced that it was a viable option. She sent Clyde a text message indicating that she would like to be considered for the top job.

  She arrived at WKJD thirty minutes earlier than the scheduled meeting start time. She found Gavin and Lizzie in the small back office, one of the few with no glass panelling. Lizzie looked tired given the obvious exertion of getting to the offices. They made sure she was comfortable and left her with a glass of water.

  As they crossed the lobby, the elevator door opened, and Daniella strode in, elegantly dressed in business suit and her normal high heels. She half nodded before marching ahead to the boardroom. Clyde was already seated but got up and greeted everyone.

  Once everyone had taken their seats, Clyde cleared his throat, and stated, “For the sake of the meeting today, I will act as chairman. I have no apologies, so it is just the four of us present. With that the door opened, and Lizzie made a slow but deliberate entrance, greeting Clyde and positioning herself next to Gavin. Stacey had been keeping an eye on Daniella and the horror on her face when Lizzie entered was priceless to say the least. Clyde was about to sit down, when the door opened again, with Cheung Lee making his entrance into the boardroom. This time it was Stacey who was gobsmacked. After several fleeting encounters, here she was face-to-face with the son of the man who had tried to kill her. She found herself unable to move, even as Cheung walked around and greeted everyone else. When he got to her, she limply shook his extended hand. As she gathered herself she noted with interest how he hugged Daniella, realising that they had definitely met before. He was dark haired, of average height, and somewhat shorter than Daniella. Cheung Lee seated himself next to Daniella. Stacey glanced at Gavin and Lizzie, who clearly had no idea who he was.

  Clyde tapped the boardroom table again, “After those surprise entrances, let me reiterate that we have no apologies, but we now have six people present. I have two items in the agenda for today, firstly to resolve the shareholding status and secondly the matter of appointing a managing director, for which, interestingly, I have received two applications.” Stacey felt the piercing look from Daniella without even needing to look her way.

  Clyde continued, “Firstly, let’s deal with the shareholding issues. The latest records reflect the shareholding in WKJD as: Wilson had twenty percent; Kirsten’s trust, held for Lizzie, has twenty percent; Daniella has twenty percent; Wang had twenty percent; Stacey has ten percent; and finally, I have ten perc—”

  Cheung Lee immediately interrupted, “From what I understand my father had fifty percent. Why is this now only twenty percent?”

  Clyde raised his eyebrow at the interruption, and lifted his tone just a fraction, “Mr Lee, indeed your father had indicated the desire to acquire further shares, but those agreements were never signed, thereby leaving the shareholding as per the formal records.”

  Showing visible anger, Cheung replied, “Well, this looks to be headed for an acrimonious relationship.”

  Clyde raised his voice a fraction further, “The only changes are that Wilson’s shares, in line with his will, revert to Gavin. With both parents now dead, the shares held in trust for Lizzie divest fully to herself.”

  Clyde looked around the room, but was met with silence, “Moving onto the second matter of appointing a managing director, I have received two expressions of interest for the position, one from Daniella Arundel and the other from Stacey Saranga.” Stacey allowed herself to look the way of Daniella and was met with a steely gaze that threatened to catapult her backwards. Despite trembling internally, she held the woman’s stare and smiled politely. Clyde continued, “Our shareholders’ agreement calls for a simple majority from shareholders present, with candidates unable to vote. Therefore, all those in favour of Daniella please raise your hands.” In a flash Cheung raised his hand. “All those in favour of Stacey, please raise your hand.” With that Lizzie, Gavin and Clyde raised their hands. Clyde stood up, “Congratulations Stacey, in terms of the simple majority vote, you become the new managing director of WKJD with immediate effect.”

  For the second time in a matter of days, Stacey became aware that perhaps she may have made another irrational decision. She grappled with self-doubt, realising that what she actually knew about running a business was probably dangerous. On the flipside, she felt a rising excitement, that, just after losing her own job, here she was the boss of another company within days.

  Her excitement was short-lived when she found that Daniella had moved around the table and was standing directly in front of her. She leant over Stacey and said in a rasping whisper, “Make just one mistake, and I will be all over you like a bad rash,” before turning and storming out of the boardroom.

  Lizzie was the first to congratulate her, “Well done Stacey, you have my full backing. Let’s make this company great.”

  Clyde quipped, “Well done Stacey, it’s not going to be easy, but you have what it takes.” Gavin was silent but offered a high five.

  They all ambled out and she found herself alone in the boardroom, staring at the four walls, with the enormity of the situation weighing on her mind. Suddenly the boardroom looked intimidating, the table looked enormous and she felt rather small. She shook her head, trying to shake off any negative gremlins. She reached for her mobile phone and sent Slade a text, “We did it. I have been appointed as managing director.”

  She looked up to see Lizzie standing in the doorway, “I can sense the confusing thoughts going through your mind. Let’s go and have a look at your office. If you don’t mind there are a few items in there that Gavin and I would want to keep.”

  Stacey nodded, “Of course.”

  As she got up to follow Lizzie, she received a call from Gerald, “Afternoon, how are you?”

  He replied, “Great thanks. Just to let you know that we arrested Larney and six of the perlemoen smugglers. I’ll keep you posted on the interrogations. Keep well.” Stacey sighed with relief, at least one more piece of the puzzle had fallen into place.

  Chapter Eleven

  It was a blustery day, as Stacey headed out for an early Monday morning run. She needed to have a clear head as she tackled the first day in the office as the new managing director. She had not slept well, as butterflies kept floating inside her stomach. She’d spent the better part of the night anxiously mulling over how little she actually knew about running a business. She was reminded of a message from a sermon several months ago, that said, define yourself, don’t allow yourself to be defined by others. This seemed to spur her on and by the time she turned the corner near her apartment, she was fired up with positive energy.

  Arriving at the office, she again felt multiple emotions, her mind and heart in conflict with each other on numerous levels. As the elevator doors opened, she gingerly took a few steps forward, only to be greeted by the receptionist, who flashed a huge smile, “Good Morning Miss Saranga. Can I g
et you a cappuccino?”

  Stacey felt somewhat awkward, but pinched herself, “Yes, that would be great thanks.”

  “Coming right up!”

  Stacey slowly walked towards Wilson’s office, somewhat apprehensive about the large space she had to occupy, when suddenly she stopped in her tracks. Cheung Lee was standing in the passageway staring at her, offering no greeting. Scrambling for words, she greeted him, “Morning Cheung. How are you?”

  His body language softened somewhat, and he replied, “Fine thanks.”

  He then started turning away when she asked him, “So what brings you to the office today?”

  He visibly tensed again, before responding, “Well, as a shareholder I figured I would get my father’s office and his previous job.”

  Stacey felt a small shudder running down her back and a moment of anxiety flushed through her veins. She had not been at the office two minutes, and already a confrontation to deal with. She replied, “I did not understand that to be the arrangement. I will check with Clyde.”

  With a cynical sneer, he sniggered at her, “I thought you were the boss. Clearly you don’t know anything about this business.” With that he turned and headed to Wang Lee’s old office.

  She was saved by the receptionist holding a cappuccino out to her, “Thank you very much.”

  She headed to her office and found a bubbly old lady there, arranging some files on the desk. She looked up and with a beaming smile, “Good Morning Miss Saranga. My name is Emily; I will be your personal assistant.”

  Sheepishly she replied, “Good morning Emily. Please do call me Stacey.” Emily ushered her into the office and made a fuss of showing her where everything was. Stacey was rather quiet, and said softly to Emily, “I am rather new at this, so I would appreciate any guidance over the next few weeks.

  She replied, “No stress Stacey, you can rely on me. I was personal assistant to Wilson for over five years. I have already taken the liberty of setting up meetings in your diary for some of the key-management team.”

  She smiled, “Thank you Emily. One more thing please, can you call all the staff together, so that I can address them?”

  The old lady smiled, “My, it looks as if you have the hang of it already.” They smiled at each other. Moments later Emily stuck her head around the door, “I will have all the staff in the open-plan area in two minutes.”

  A new wave of butterflies took off in her stomach, but she recalled her days of being on stage as a young girl and recalled how she used to love the attention. She strode confidently to the meeting area and immediately saw the welcoming face of Slade, who gave her a wink of encouragement. She felt the individual stares, as each one created their own impressions of the new boss. She smiled politely, all confident on the outside, but internally the butterflies were vying for her attention. She cleared her throat, “Good morning everyone, my name is Stacey. I am sure many of you are surprised to find me here, especially after the tragic death of Wilson. At this point I don’t know many of you and obviously I have limited knowledge of the business. I would like to meet with each of you over the next few days and get to know you. In addition, what I do know is that this is a good business, and together I would like us to make it a great business.” With that she received a standing ovation and a loud cheer from one of the younger team members. Several staff members came and shook her hand. The butterflies gave way to excitement. She glanced around the room, the positive vibe was palpable. However, she noticed Cheung frowning at her with his arms crossed and then her gaze was drawn to Jackie, the young Indian woman in the marketing department whom she had met before at the Spectre home. She was standing close to Cheung, holding an almost identical pose with arms crossed. Stacey whispered to herself, “The people dynamics are going to be interesting.”

  Slade had sneaked up behind her, “I heard that, Boss” he said with a teasing chuckle. She replied with a broad grin.

  The next few hours were tedious, as Stacey met with several of the key management team, including product development, project leaders, finance and human resources. She realised that running a business was not going to be all glitz and glamour. She made a mental note to find more expeditious ways to delegate and run all meetings in future. She was staring out of the window when Daniella barged in to her office with Emily following close behind, objecting to the intrusion. Stacey rose, “It’s OK Emily. Come in Daniella.”

  Daniella seated herself in a large leather chair behind the desk. Leaning back, she said, “Wilson looked so handsome in this chair. He also had a remarkable business brain.” Stacey felt the jibes, but kept her lips tightly closed. She opted not to sit, but moved towards the window, thereby disarming Daniella’s move to take positional power.

  Daniella was forced out of her chair and stopped a short distance from Stacey, “You know damn well that I wanted this job, and I would obviously have been a better boss. Here is the deal; either we need to establish some clear ground rules, or I will have you booted for incompetence within a month.”

  Stacey was wary of the aggressive tone and moved slowly to lean against her desk facing Daniella, before replying “I would be curious as to why you feel you need to set any ground rules. My sense is we need to be working together, so as long as the rules are mutually beneficial, I’m willing to listen.”

  Stacey could see the anger in Daniella, “Don’t pick a fight you can’t possibly win. I’ll be back in the next day or so, and then I will tell you how you will manage my business.” She inched closer to Stacey and gave a piercing stare, before turning and leaving the office.

  Stacey felt herself shaking and sat down. Moments later Emily walked in with a cup of coffee and placed it before her. “Thank you.”

  Emily paused before leaving, “That woman is trouble, always has been.” She closed the door as she left.

  Stacey attempted reading through the files on her desk, but struggled to focus, longing instead for the days where she could focus on projects only, and apply her data scientist skills. She made a mental note to structure her work so that she could continue doing what she loved. It was early evening before Slade entered, “Time to head home, I’m cooking.” She nodded and quickly closed the document she’d been reading through.

  Chapter Twelve

  Gerald had requested a meeting with Stacey, and they agreed to meet in a public park close to her office. They arrived simultaneously and greeted each other. After formalities, she stated, “Your message regarding the interrogation of Larney sounded rather urgent. What’s happening?”

  He glanced skywards, stroking his chin, “Very interesting information, which corroborates much of what we had suspected about the perlemoen smuggling, and the involvement of Wang and Wilson. I believe we are closing all the loops and we have arrested all the primary perlemoen harvesters. My sense is that we have now halted the whole operation.”

  She pondered the information, none of which was really new, and then asked, “What about the insider at WKJD, did your interrogation come up with any names?”

  He shook his head, “Nothing I’m afraid. It would appear that all their dealings were directly with either Wilson or Wang. One of the smugglers did indicate seeing a woman in Wilson’s vehicle once, but it could have been anybody.” They sat in silence for a minute, before he asked, “We agreed that you would change the application code to prevent any further manipulation of the drone App. Have you done that yet?”

  With the loss of her job and the hectic start as managing director, her commitment had slipped her mind. She replied, “No, but I will start having a look at it today.”

  He got up to leave, “Well, as I said, we have halted the smuggling operations, so at least the worst is over.”

  Stacey frowned, “I hope so. Thanks Gerald.”

  She headed back to the office and asked Emily to not have anyone disturb her so that she could attend to her workload. Now that she had systems access, she felt that reversing the changes to the application code would be easier. She
used her personal laptop and retrieved the last application she had saved on a web-based server. She then traced the application code files on the WKJD servers and attempted to open them, but they had been password protected. Realising that she had limited attempts, she reflected on what it could be. She then went into the server and found a back-up drive that Wang had kept. Foolishly he had even kept a folder named passwords. She shook her head at this basic error but was pleased when she found what she was looking for.

  Access was soon granted with the correct password. She opened up the application code and was soon entrenched in the detail of the program. She found the changes that were made to her original application code and then proceeded to make the changes. She then ensured that she changed the password again, so that it was re-protected. When she had closed the application, she decided to check the audit trail on the application. She soon found it, and it showed that all the initial changes had been made by herself, but on page six of the audit trail, suddenly Slade’s name jumped out. She stared in disbelief, but then recognised the date, which coincided with the date she originally hacked the system and made the changes. She scrolled to the next page, and then Wang’s name appeared several times, and then for the last five entries, before her changes of today, Jackie’s name appeared. Stacey felt a small shudder run down her back and wondered if she had stumbled on the insider. She studied the audit trail entries again and realised that all the entries giving Jackie access had been made within the last week. She took out her phone and took a photograph of the entries, before logging out.

  She walked to the office window and recalled how Jackie’s arms were crossed at her first staff meeting. She said in a whisper to herself, “So, I wonder what your involvement is?” She then sent Gerald a text, “The application code has been changed. Please see photo attached of the audit trail with Jackie Parush’s name identified. This might be our insider.” She received an immediate reply, “Great work Stacey. I will get onto it right away.”