Quiver & Burn (Surrender to Them 5)

This kind of thing wouldn’t even be possible if we didn’t rely on computers to do all the work for us.

“Still hard at work?” Mr. Smith walked over to my desk and started putting on his coat.

“Yes, sir.” I nodded and looked up. “Wow, I didn’t even realize how late it was getting.”

“Make some coffee and hunker down.” He smiled slightly. “I’ll expect a report when I walk in here tomorrow.”

“I might still be sitting here, but I’ll be working on it.” I nodded and shrugged.

“Thank you. I really appreciate your hard work.” He walked back towards his office and pulled the door closed.

The people at the office were starting to thin out. A few of my coworkers were working late, but I was going to be there long after they were gone. Even if I was pretty sure all of the accounts were going to be correct, I couldn’t put that in my report without checking all of them. Truthfully, I was hoping I would find one that wasn’t correct. I needed a piece of evidence that the SEC could latch onto and start their investigation. The tax fraud was probably going to be enough, but I would feel better if I had one example of the coding in a spreadsheet that created the formulas, to begin with. If I found that, I might not even finish my report. It would be enough evidence to launch a full-scale investigation with a lot more vigor than one person digging through spreadsheets.

Surely they didn’t fix everything this fast—that would have taken a lot of work.

I watched as my last coworker left. He was an older man named Benjamin who had worked at Dunkirk Accounting since Mr. Dunkirk’s father ran the place. He still had a couple of years to go before he retired, but he talked about it constantly. Doing the right thing was going to ruin his life. He would never have a retirement party at Dunkirk Accounting. He would have to retire early or find another job—I already knew how difficult that was. I wasn’t looking forward to becoming a whistleblower, even if I knew it was the right thing to do. The people I worked with were going to suffer after I reported the company to the SEC. I had originally contemplated an anonymous complaint, but that wasn’t going to be possible after Mr. Smith put me in charge of auditing the accounts. I would be interviewed, and I wouldn’t be able to lie.

Is that an elevator opening on my floor?

I had been scrolling through accounts so long that my eyes were hurting, and I wasn’t even sure how long it had been since Benjamin left. The building had been silent except for the cleaning crew, but even they were gone. I perked up when the elevator opened because I had no idea who would still be in the building. I thought my tired eyes were playing tricks on me when I saw Mr. Dunkirk himself step off the elevator. I had only seen him a few times since I started working at the company, and he usually stayed on the top floor. He rarely came to our floor at all. Mr. Smith was normally summoned rather than visited.

“Ah, Brylee.” A smile spread across his face when he saw me. “How are those accounts looking?”

Oh god, he wants a personal report.

“They’re looking okay.” I felt my stomach tightening up, which was made worse by the fact I hadn’t eaten anything since lunch. “I’m still reviewing them though.”

“No issues?” He tilted his head to the side.

“No, sir.” I shook my head back and forth quickly.

“Good, I’m glad to hear that. I had a feeling you would be the right woman for the job.” His lip curled slightly. “I hope you know that there will be a big promotion in line for you once you finish this report.”

“A promotion? Really?” I blinked in surprise. “Just for auditing these accounts?”

“This is really important and I wouldn’t have picked you if I didn’t believe there was a bright future for you at Dunkirk Accounting. This is just going to give me an excuse to put you in an office upstairs.” His nodded and his smile got a little wider.

“I—I don’t know what to say.?

? I blinked again, still reeling from what he said.

“Six figures.” He lifted his hand and shook his finger at me. “Plus a very nice bonus.”

Holy shit.

“Thank you, sir.” I was so surprised I could barely breathe.

“Alright, I’ll leave you to it.” He nodded and headed towards the stairs.

“Uh, Mr. Dunkirk—the elevator is that way.” I pointed in the other direction.

“I think I’ll take the stairs.” He waved over his shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I was bewildered by what Mr. Dunkirk told me. He was going to give me a huge promotion and an office upstairs? It was a bribe. It had to be. There was no other reason for him to offer me something like that. I hadn’t done anything to earn a promotion or an office, and I certainly didn’t deserve a six-figure salary after working at the company for a little over a month. I headed to the break room to get some coffee after he was gone. Taking the money would have been easy. People sacrificed their integrity for a whole lot less. I could write a glowing report, and that would be the end of it. I didn’t have to actually call the SEC. It seemed like Dana and Paul had taken whatever deal Mr. Dunkirk offered judging by the silence I was getting on their end. I finally understood who was responsible for the fraud Dana uncovered—it definitely went straight to the top floor of Dunkirk Accounting.

Is that a door?

I heard something slam and stepped out of the break room to see Mr. Dunkirk walking my way. “I was just getting some coffee. I’m about to get back to work, I promise.”