Chance Encounter Ch. 04

"Paul, it's better than I deserve; better than what I expected," said Bert in a subdued voice.

"I'm going to rely on you not to let us down again, Bert. Now, you better go home before I have a chance to change my mind," Paul answered.

Bert walked slowly out of the room.

"You took it pretty easy on him," Ted said to Paul.

"I've fired people for less," Paul said.

"Getting soft?" asked Ted.

"Probably!. He's closing out forty years with the Company, you know. Except for this, his record is as clean as yours or mine."

Ted nodded.

"There's more," Paul said. "We might need him to testify, so we have to keep him on board. If I canned him, there's a big risk that Grafton would find out what we know. It wasn't an easy call, but it was the right way to go." Paul turned to Jim Spencer. "One day, you'll be sitting where I am. Always think things through before letting the ax hit the block. Then, do it or not when you're sure that you're right."

"What you did is against Company Policy. It could be a lot of trouble, and you're on the limb by yourself," Ted told Paul what he already knew.

"So be it!" Paul exclaimed. "I'll set up a sit-down with Adams tomorrow and disclose it. That way, you two will be covered."

George Adams was President of the company and Dunn's boss.

"Now let's talk about my visit with Miss Wright," Paul said.

Paul narrated the story that Audrey told him, and their plan to liberate the set of false drawings.

"You've got a big bluff going," Ted told Paul. "I can't think of any judge issuing a search warrant based on what you have. I hope that Morehead is as stupid as you think!"

"I don't think that he's stupid, but I believe that he's afraid and greedy. Scared and greedy people do stupid things," Paul answered.

"Audrey Wright is taking a big chance," piped up Spencer. Ted nodded.

"That's why we have to move fast," said Paul. "Grafton is sure to figure it out if he gets downwind of this. If he does, he'll alert Morehead."

**********

It was nine o'clock on a Wednesday morning. Paul was sitting in front of George Adams explaining what he had done with Bert Loehman. George was Paul's boss and President of Dunn Chemicals. Paul had broken the rules with the action that he took with Bert, and figured a confession in advance would be wise.

George Adams and Paul Crane grew up in the Company together. Both of them started in engineering. After a few years George went to Sales and Marketing, while Paul remained in Engineering and Production. Paul knew that he would find a friendly ear in George, but he recognized the conflict, too, because George had his eye on the ultimate prize: the position of CEO.

"I want to keep Ted Wilson out of it. I told him that I was going to disclose it, so he wouldn't have to worry about it. Jim Spencer was there, too." Paul took a sip of coffee as he ended his story.

"Spencer?" George asked.

"He's a senior manager in my department;" Paul answered. "... my 'go-to' guy."

George nodded.

"It's probably what I would have done, Paul," George said, then leaned back and sighed. "It wasn't long ago that we wouldn't be having this conversation. You would handle your area and I would let you do it. Today is different. Directors are afraid of everything. I'll have to report it to the Ethics Committee because it's a violation of Company Policy and the rules say that I have to. Some of them will say that you should have fired him for what he did; others will say that you're picking on him because of his age. They will all think that you did the right thing, but none of them will say it."

"What do you think they'll do?" asked Paul.

"I don't know for sure. Everyone on the Ethics Committee is an outside director," George explained. "My guess is that they'll force you to walk on your kneecaps and eat crow. They'll give you a slap on the wrist and a warning. It might cost you some stock options. It's hard to say. Of course, they can get more serious."

"I guess that they'll have to do whatever they will do," Paul mused.

"Let me change the subject and talk about this Peoria lawsuit." George said. "There's a time to fight and a time to cut losses."

"Peoria was a good project from the start. From a business standpoint, there's no reason to back off. I hope that the Company hangs in there," said Paul.

"We're on thin ice, in my opinion, Paul. I know that on pure business grounds it makes sense. When the local government backed out, it really hurt. Now we're banking on the Agency in Illinois. They could back out, too. The PR's going to be murder. It always is when the issue is environmental. Hopkins is a celebrity of sorts. Facts will mean nothing. We could lose this suit in a trial. Jury risk is tremendous," countered George.

"George, the fight is over more than just that Peoria Plant. If we cave in here we will face the same thing every time we try to build a new plant anywhere. I'm betting that the State will hang tough. It's their approval process on the line. And, by the way, the City of Peoria didn't really cave. They never changed the zoning. We could put the deal back together in a jiffy."

"If the State of Illinois gives it up, so do we, Paul," George commanded.

"There's a side issue of corruption on the part of Hopkins and a guy that was working for the State and Montgomery." Paul went on. "We ..."

"I know about that!" George cut him off. "Be careful here. I abhor it, just like you do, but we're here to sell product, not fight the world's battles."

George had been clear enough. Paul was disappointed. It was a predictable stance by the President of the company. George wondered how much further he could go.

On his way back to his office Paul stopped to see Bert Loehman.

"I came by to see how you're doing, Bert."

Bert gave a non-committal shrug.

"It wasn't pleasant doing it to you last night," Paul said.

"You had no choice," Bert answered.

"No hard feelings, then?" Paul asked.

"I just hope that you don't get in trouble over this," Bert answered.

Paul waived his hand in a 'don't worry about it' signal.

"Have you spoken with your wife, yet?" Paul probed.

"No," answered Bert. "I thought that I would wait until I spoke to Jane Hansen so that I would have all the details. I only want to have to tell her once."

Paul understood and nodded.

"Look, Bert," Paul leaned closer, "Eat your Wheaties, keep your strength up. I'm going to need you. There's a lot of work in front of us. You're not retired yet!"

"Don't worry, Paul," Bert assured him.

"I'm not worried, Bert. I'm here to tell you not to worry."

**********************

When Paul arrived at his office the next morning it was past ten o'clock. He had been to a Chamber of Commerce breakfast. Marge stopped him as he strode into his office.

"You had a call from a Miss Wright. She said that she was in her car passing Chicago, and wants to see you this afternoon. I have her cell phone number."

"Would you see if you can connect me, please?" Paul said.

Paul: "Audrey, it's Paul Crane calling you back.

Audrey: Mr. Crane, I need to see you today. Will you be at your office? I want to deliver a package to you."

Paul was away from his office at three o'clock when Audrey arrived at his office. Marge paged him and Paul hurried back.

"Hello, Audrey, I hadn't expected to hear from you so quickly," Paul reached out his hand as he greeted her.

"I worked fast, Mr. Crane," Audrey answered. "I was so excited that you were taking me seriously that I just wanted to get moving."

She extended her hand as she answered him. Paul took it gently, as he would any lady's hand. As he did so, he felt softness in the skin and firmness originating from the wrist at the same time. It occurred to Paul that Audrey was a strong young woman who could show either side at will.

"Where are my manners?" said Paul. "Would you like a refreshment?"

"I did drive from Springfield today. I started at six this morning," said Audrey. "A coffee would be nice."

"Nine hours!" exclaimed Paul. "I think that rates at least a cup of coffee."

Paul opened his office door.

"Marge, would you bring in coffee for two, please?" asked Paul.

"I thought that you might order Champagne and oysters!" Marge shot back in a voice blended with teasing and sarcasm.

"Coffee will do it just fine, Marge," answered Paul, not taking the bait.

Paul stepped back into the office. In the far corner sat a suite of furniture designed for casual meetings and Audrey had found a seat on the sofa. She sat patiently with her legs crossed. As Paul approached her she looked up at him and smiled.

As Paul took his seat in the chair facing her, it occurred to him that he was viewing the most beautiful young woman that he ever been alone in the same room with. Sally had been nice looking in her twenties, but Audrey was special. Paul realized that he had missed a lot of detail in their earlier hotel meeting. In the more relaxed situation, he decided to catch up.

Audrey's clothing was a bit more casual than when he first met her, but dressy enough for a visit to the office after her long drive. She wore a striped cotton shirt-style blouse tucked into a navy skirt that was full at the bottom. It descended to just above her knee. She had on loafers and clear hose. Mostly, she wore a countenance that was bright and cheerful, with lines that appeared when she smiled or laughed and disappeared when she was finished. Audrey was tall— Paul guessed about five-eight—and had an athletic look. She had broad shoulders, but a slender build. The tightly-tucked blouse told Paul that she was smaller than 'busty' but had plenty to fill a man's two hands.

"What do you have that made you drive nine hours to see me?" Paul asked.

"I got the drawings from Craig." Audrey proclaimed. "They're in the tube over there." She pointed to Paul's desk.

Marge entered with the coffee. She raised her eyebrows when she saw the pair seated at the seldom-used sofa and chair.

"Ask Jim Spencer and Bert Loehman to come in with the Peoria drawings," said Paul.

As they waited, Paul questioned Audrey further.

"Did you have any trouble getting them?" Paul asked.

"At first he wasn't going for it," Audrey answered. "Then I did what you said and told him that I wanted a cut of the action. When he thought that I was crooked like he was he trusted me more."

Paul nodded.

"It wasn't long before we had a deal. He passed me the drawings in the parking lot yesterday before work." she finished.

"We'll see what changes they made to them when Bert and Jim get here," Paul said.

Audrey said that she wanted to 'freshen-up'. Paul directed her to his private rest room. While she was away, Paul wrote something out longhand on a sheet of paper and took it to Marge.

"Marge, would you type this up, please? Blank paper—not Dunn letterhead. Four copies, please with blank envelopes. Bring them right in when you're finished."

Jim and Bert came through the door just as Audrey returned. Paul introduced Audrey to Bert. She already knew Jim.

They laid the prints out on the conference table, the good set and the phonies, side by side. There were over thirty pages in the packet, but they knew which had the best chance to contain differences. It was difficult to find them at first, until a pattern emerged.

"Every engineer has his own 'personality' when it comes to drawings. After a while, you can see it come through," Bert explained. "For example, here and here, you can see where he changed the pipe diameters. On this next page he has the reactors mis-sized. There's a wrong-sized heat exchanger there. Once you start to read him, the changes are easy to find."

"We have to find them all!" Paul commanded.

"We have a program that can find differences. We'll scan it and run it through the CAD." said Bert.

"Document every change. Hand-check it! Write a report—both of you sign as PE's when you're satisfied," ordered Paul. "Make no marks at all on this set that Audrey brought us."

Marge brought in what Paul had asked her to type.

"Audrey, here is something that I want you to sign," Paul said. "It is a statement by you stating that Craig Morehead freely gave you these drawings on yesterday's date for the purpose of safekeeping. It states that you delivered them to us on today's date for the purpose of assisting us to discover fraudulent changes in them, and that you left them in our custody."

"Sounds right to me!" exclaimed a jubilant Audrey.

"Let's not start the party yet!" warned Paul. "Read it carefully; make changes if necessary; don't sign it until you're satisfied. Then sign all four copies. Jim, Bert and I will sign to acknowledge receipt. Marge is a notary. She'll witness them."

"Audrey," Paul went on, "When you've done that, record your story by voice into the dictating machine. Marge will transcribe it. Then you can sign it, I'll witness it and Marge will notarize it."

"Alright," Audrey said, "but it seems like a lot of paperwork."

"Audrey, this isn't 'fun and games'," Paul countered. "I'm taking no chances."

Paul left the others to their task and went to attend a meeting. When he returned forty-five minutes later Marge was just starting the transcription. He found Audrey waiting in his office, sitting again on the sofa in his office. Paul retook his chair opposite her.

"How did you get away from work, Audrey? Where does the Agency think you are?" asked Paul.

"They think that I'm on vacation." she answered. "Actually, I am. I'm driving up to northern Wisconsin to go camping. I'm thinking that I might go the Nicolet Forest."

"That's pretty remote," Paul said. "You won't find much nightlife!"

"That suits me fine!" she countered. "I have experience in the woods. I'm an ecologist, you remember."

Audrey relaxed back and stretched out her arms across the back of the sofa and crossed a leg over one knee. Her full skirt slid down her thigh, showing a toned limb that was long and as shapely as any Paul had ever seen.

"It would be perfect if I had a man to go with me!" she added in a wishful tone.

The provocative statement gave Paul a start; he knew that it was meant for him. It was an intriguing concept because his eyes were already glued to the shapely calf attached to the toned thigh. As it pivoted on Audrey's knee it bobbed up and down. Its movement was just enough to reveal the slightest flexing of the muscles in her leg, but not so much to appear contrived. She would cock her slender foot on the upswing, like a crooked finger beckoning one to 'come hither'. It was a playful little bounce that held Paul's attention. His eyes moved involuntarily up and down with it. Up—down, up—down, up—down; it was hypnotic. Paul knew that he was allowing his gaze to linger too long, but the sight was so pleasing—who could blame him?

His imagination delivered the scene to his mind's eye. His hands rested gently on her knee. He traced a slow, raptured ascent upward along the fine line of that thigh. She sighed and uncrossed her legs. She spread them slightly to enable his pleasure-rendering hands to complete their journey. The molded legs kept their delightful promise of perfection. It was a sensual treat just to touch them, and when she sent back signals of her own pleasure, it was more than pleasure. When he reached her hips, he grasped the waistband of her pantyhose. She lifted up, assisting in their removal. Slowly, he peeled them, down her thighs and past her knees. He removed her shoes one at a time. The hose slipped over her feet, and then were gone. His hands retraced their path, this time over smooth skin. It would be another slow march. He cradled her feet, and then the flesh of her calves, a prelude. He coursed over the knees. She issued a tiny gasp of anticipation. His fingertips caressed those beautiful, sweet thighs. She let out subtle moans at the pleasure, to let him know how well he pleased her. It was the softness on the inside of them that pleased most. She spread herself more. He found her. Paul felt the puffy lips through the encasement of the silk panties. She was spilling her moisture onto them. He bathed his fingers in her heat. He pressed in gently. She was captured by pleasure and anticipation. Almost too late, she struggled to blurt out, "Not here—somewhere more private."

They were transported. It was early morning; he was in the chilly water waiting for her. She was standing nude on his dock. She was afraid, not of the coldness of the water, but that she might plunge in too soon, before his eyes could drink in all of her. It was a perfect view. Her white skin, with the healthy pink glow, blazoned out against the pines in the background. There was her sweet face, shining with eagerness, framed by her gold mane. His eyes descended lower. Her broad, sculpted shoulders were next. There were strong, supple arms, gently defined, on either side. They hung at her sides, not drawn up in front of her in futile modesty. Her firm breasts rested effortlessly on her chest, shaped naturally and firm; the pink nipples pierced the dawn's light. Paul viewed her slender torso, tiny navel in the middle, atop the slender, toned limbs, joined at spare hips. In the middle was her juncture marked by fine blonde hair, where they had joined with passion and tasted sweetness the night before. She flew low over the surface, like the loons who shared the lake with them. She met him in the refreshing water. Before long, they would join anew.

"I said that I wished that I had someone to go to the forest with," she called louder.

Paul shook himself from his reverie and saw her looking at him with a Mona Lisa smile, as though she had read his thoughts. He felt a little embarrassed. He wiped a bead of perspiration from his hairline.

"Do you like to go into the woods, Mr. Crane?"

"Actually, I have a cabin on the peninsula," Paul said. "It's just as wild, but half the drive."

"That would do nicely," she cooed, waiting for him to finish the invitation.

There followed a silence that filled the room. They looked at one another for long seconds. Paul struggled with the choice. At long last, Audrey broke the silence.

"I'm famished and I have no one to dine with tonight," she declared, setting her sights a little lower.

"Where are my manners?" Paul exclaimed. He strode to the office door and opened it.

"Marge, I was hoping that when you're done with the transcript, you could dust off your expense account and take Miss Wright somewhere nice for dinner. Don't be too late, though. She has a long drive tomorrow."

Audrey looked at Paul in confused amazement. Paul instructed her to visit him in the office again on her way back from Wisconsin.

As Audrey left, Paul felt remorse at his self-denial. It had to be. If he and Audrey had been seen together it would have destroyed the credibility of any testimony she would make. Paul knew that it was the right decision—but she certainly was beautiful.

**********

Later that evening, while Marge and Audrey were trying out the new restaurant in town, and Paul was watching the Tigers play the Yankees on television, Bert Loehman was telling his sad story to his wife.

"Agnes, it's the dumbest thing I've ever done. I'm lucky not get fired," Bert concluded the revelation.

Agnes and Bert Loehman had been married for thirty-eight years. They met when Bert was a junior engineer at Dunn, and Agnes was a clerk in a local department store. Bert had moved to the area to join Dunn when he was twenty-five. Agnes was a native. While Bert was a Company man, Agnes always retained an arms-length skepticism of the giant company that overwhelmed the small city. Agnes was good at math, especially as applied to Bert's salary matters.

"What do mean 'lucky'?" she cried. "This is going to cost us a lot of money!"