Jay laughed and reached into his suit coat and produced a pen. “Use mine, Izzy. Please.”
She couldn’t stop staring into his and Clay’s eyes every chance she got. I’m being ridiculous. “I appreciate it.”
She signed the paperwork.
“Allow me.” Clay held out his hand. “I’ll hand it to my uncle.”
She smiled and gave him the signed document. Mr. Moody was more age appropriate for her. Even though he was a nice-looking man, his personality was less than charming. She had always been a sucker for a man who could make her laugh. That definitely wasn’t something Moody was capable
of, but his good-looking nephews were.
Moody glanced at the agreements that she, Tom, and Lyle had signed. “Everything is in order. Let’s get right to it.” He turned to Clay and Jay. “Tell them what you have discovered.”
The twins handed her, Tom, and Lyle thick files and explained that there was a discrepancy in two of GWI’s field offices.
“Chicago and London each have several GWI warehouses.” Jay’s tone was serious. Gone was the levity he’d entered the room with. “Most seem perfectly normal. The inventories fluctuate up and down.”
Clay nodded, clearly just as concerned with the business at hand as Jay. “Each city has a single warehouse that is out of the ordinary from all the rest. We can find where inventory is going in but we can’t find any report that shows where it’s going out.”
“Have you contacted any GWI personnel to check on those warehouses?” she asked them.
Tom glared at her. “That’s putting the cart before the horse, Isabella.”
“I disagree,” Clay said. “Because that’s exactly what we did, Mr. Kinder. The funny thing is no one in London or Chicago seemed to be aware that these two warehouses even existed.”
“We sent someone in each city to check on the warehouses,” Jay said. “But both were locked down with no access that either man could find.”
“Do you believe that someone on the inside is embezzling from GWI?” Lyle asked.
“It’s possible,” Clay said. “We just don’t know.”
“Or it might be that the report that tracks these two warehouses has fallen through the cracks,” Moody offered. “We have tens of thousands of reports at GWI. We just went through a major restructuring. That’s why you three are here. We want you to find those missing reports so that we can clear this whole mess up.” He punched his button. “Come in here, now.”
“Yes, sir,” Brandi answered through the intercom.
When she stepped into the office, Moody motioned her to his desk. There was no respect for her from him, but Izzy couldn’t miss how flagrant his gaze moved up and down the young woman. The man was a complete ass.
Tom and Lyle were checking her out again.
God, men can be such pigs. But Clay and Jay seemed to be the exception. They weren’t looking at Brandi. They’re looking at me.
“I want you to book flights for Mr. Kinder and Mr. Gibson on the next flight to Chicago.” Moody looked at her two co-workers. “That won’t be a problem, will it? I want you on this ASAP.”
“No, sir. I was just wondering about Isabella,” Tom said. “You won’t be needing her, I assume.”
“On the contrary,” Moody said. “I’m sending her to London, along with my nephews.”
“Sir?” Tom and Lyle said together, obviously as shocked as she was by what the man had said.
She turned to Jay and Clay, who were staring at her with broad smiles. Oh, boy. I’m in trouble. How was she going to keep things professional with them when they would be spending so much more time together? How long would they need to stay in London? Until the job is done, Izzy, that’s how long.
Seeming quite pleased with himself, Moody leaned back in his chair. “Of the three of you, I am most impressed by Ms. Clemens, and I will communicate that to Mr. Jenkins. If there is embezzling going on, which I doubt, it will likely be centered in London.”
“Mr. Moody, that is why you should send me and Lyle.” Tom was agitated by the man’s declaration. “I’m sorry if we got off on the wrong foot, but trust me, Isabella is new to the firm. Despite her age, you should know that she only graduated six months ago. She’s very capable of small jobs, especially with the right supervision, but she doesn’t have enough experience to tackle such a vast issue as this.”
“I’ve made my decision, Mr. Kinder. Ms. Clemens is the lead for this project. You and Mr. Gibson will be reporting to her. That’s final.” Moody turned to her. “How long do you need to pack, young lady?”
Young lady? Now he’s turning on the charm. Why? “I can be at the airport ready to go in a couple of hours.” That was pushing it, but she wanted to let all of them know that despite what Tom had said, she was ready to tackle this project head on.