Her Suspected Billionaire

Chapter 14

Sheila smiled as she saw Steven walk into the restaurant. She hadn’t seen him all week because she and Alice were going back and forth at the police station trying to figure out who sent her that horrible photoshopped picture. And so, she’d invited him over today. Steven had come with them that night and had offered to come with them in the following days that they went, but Alice wasn’t comfortable with him being there. She was a tough and sweet girl, and besides Sheila and her mum, she didn’t want to appear vulnerable before anyone else. Steven had understood. He had been friends with Alice way back before Alice had even met Sheila and he knew how she liked handling her problems herself in her own way.

“Hey, you,” Sheila greeted him, opening her arms for a hug. Steven hugged her, squeezing his face in her hair.

“Gosh, I missed you so much,” he said finally when they’d sat down.

“Missed you right back. How’ve you been?”

“Should be asking you that. How’re you and Alice?”

“She’s better. But the police…they’re not being helpful and it gets her paranoid sometimes. Last night, she suggested she moves out so whoever sent her the picture would target her and not harm me. Of course, I told her I’d rather she stayed and we fought this person - whoever he is - together.”

“She’s a sweet girl. I just wish she would let people in to help her fight some stuff sometimes.” Sheila looked around, as if to be sure they weren’t being watched before she spoke again.

“That’s another reason I invited you, Steven.”

“Say what now?” Steven asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Alice needs help. And I can’t do much to help her. But you can. She doesn’t even need to know. I mean, she doesn’t know it but you’re the one who helped her get her current job and that’s something she’s grateful for everyday.”

“I could never sit back and watch Alice not have a job. She’s such a hard worker and very talented as well.”

“I know she is. Here’s the deal, Steven. Back at Alice’s former job, her boss tried to molest her. And she hurt him. Broke his head or something. He almost died. But he didn’t. And Alice never pressed charges against him for attempted s****l assault because she had already decided to quit.”

“How could she not? Quitting or not, that man is a s****l offender! Is that why she’s uptight about me being involved in the case? Is she embarrased or something?”

“I sincerely do not, but I feel she’s going about all these the wrong way. This boss of hers, Clinton Clark, called her the day she went for the job interview at Sterling Industries.”

”What?” Steven exclaimed. His voice had risen now and he looked very upset.

“We’re not sure he’s the one though. But Alice feels he is, because he’s the only one who’s got an axe to grind with her. And just yesterday, the police said they interrogated him and struck him off as a person of interest.”

“How is that even impossible?”

“We have no idea either. But this whole situation is getting Alice pretty worked up and I feel I need to help her somehow, but I dunno how.” Steven leaned back in his chair and joined his hands together.

“So that’s where I come in,” he said. “But how am I supposed to do that? I’m an accountant not a lawyer.”

“Oh, you’ll be of great help as an accountant all right,” Sheila began and started to tell Steven what she wanted him to do. She wanted Steven to go to Kings’ Group company building, book an appointment and see Clinton. He would have a tape recorder on him and he could talk with Clinton about wanting to invest. And then he would ask for a tour of the company, all the while observing how Clinton interacted with his female staff.

“That doesn’t make any sense. What if he’s courteous and cordial with everyone? That would be a big waste of time.”

“Well, what other option do we have. What if he’s not courteous and he talks nonsense that can expose him as the pervert he truly is,” Sheila asked, placing her head in her palms. She was exhausted and was eager for a way out of this predicament that she was willing to do anything.

“I’ve got a better idea,” Steven said. Sheila lifted her head to hear him.

“Going to Clark’s office isn’t going to make any difference. His office isn’t his comfort zone obviously. No one’s office is.”

“Mine is,” Sheila burst in.

“Let’s be serious here, babe,” Steven replied her with a little laugh. “Your office is my comfort zone too. But for Clark, his definitely isn’t. His words will be calculated and thought through and so will his actions. Imagine the police coming to search your home and you have an illegal firearm. There’s no how you’ll yell to Alice ‘Please help me hide my gun’. Get what I’m saying?” Sheila nodded slowly. He was making a good point indeed, and now as she thought about it, she realized her plan was pretty foolish and wasn’t going to make sense in the first place. There was truly no way Clinton would admit that he had tried to sexually assault Alice to a total stranger.

​As if reading her mind, Steven reached across the table and took her palms in his.

“The fact that you came up with a plan to help Alice feel secure again is brilliant, Sheila. It’s one of the things I like about you. You look out for those who matter to you,” he said to her, slowly caressing her hands with his thumbs.

“And besides, you’ve given me something to work with. I would just modify your plan, that’s all. Instead of going to his office, I’m gonna trace him to his house. I have a friend who works in a firm that sells CCTV cameras and small voice recording microphones. I could rent some mics from him. We’d get the mics, plant them in Clark’s house…”

“What!” Sheila exclaimed. “What are you thinking? How do you want to get into his house? He’s not gonna let you in as a guest!”

“I don’t plan to go in as a guest. Heck, he won’t even know I, or anyone, at all was ever in there,” Steven said calmly, with a small smile on his face. Sheila raised her eyebrows.

“Break and entry, Steven?”

“I wouldn’t call it that. Maybe an unsupervised visit.”

“It would be too dangerous. What if he came in when you were still inside? He could call the cops on you. You would be locked up.”

“That’s a very wild if. We know his working hours. We can time his routine. Besides, I won’t be going alone. I’ll go with Derrick.”

Derrick was Steven’s younger brother who worked in the police force. He had only just completed his training in the police academy and was newly employed at one of the police stations in Sunrise Valley, the neighbouring town. But Steven was sure he would love to help him plant some bugs in Clark’s house. He was home now for a month’s leave before he resumed officially. Sheila had never even met him before yet.

“Okay…so Derrick would be on the lookout for you, right?”

“Definitely. Sheila, you’ve brought me into this. Now let me help in the best way I can, okay? I’ll be so glad to help out Alice right now.” Sheila nodded.

“And looking at the bright side, I’ll get to meet Derrick.”

“Of course. I’ll ring him tonight. We could get started tomorrow. Thank goodness I have a flexible work schedule.”

“Okay, all these FBI talk is getting me hungry. Potato salads are on the menu. Care for a plate? My treat,” Sheila asked, getting to her feet.

“If you keep treating me like this every time I come here, you just might go bankrupt,” Steven replied her, standing too. He pulled her to himself slowly and planted a kiss on her forehead.

“Thank you for agreeing to this, Steven. I was worried you’d talk me out of it,” Sheila said, snuggling against his chest.

“Alice is my friend too. It’s only best I do what will make her feel safe and happy again.”

​Sheila raised herself on her toes to let Steven peck her on the lips before she left his embrace and headed to the kitchen to fix up two plates of potato salad. She gave Joe a mischievous smile when she saw him wink at her on her way to the kitchen.