On top of that, he had a massive file on Bruce Palmer, detailing everything publicly known about the man, plus a great deal not generally known about him, either. The amassed information bordered on obsessive—certainly far more than one would expect from a business rival, no matter how competitive he was.
Callie sat back in her chair, her hands clenched into fists in her lap. From his notes his intentions were quite clear. He wanted to destroy Palmer Enterprises. But it didn’t make sense. Sure, they competed in a healthy marketplace for similar work, and in business it was every man for himself, but why was he so hell-bent on bringing Palmer Enterprises to its corporate knees? This appeared to go much deeper than mere competitiveness. There was something almost chilling in Josh’s systematic approach. As if he’d declared war and was working to a strategy that, once implemented, would not stop until his goal was reached.
Callie took a sip of her rapidly cooling tea, hoping the soothing brew would calm the anxiety that had now formed a tight knot in her chest.
For all intents and purposes, the man she had grown so attracted to was not the person he appeared to be at all. Sure, the Josh she knew was focussed, hardworking and driven. But he was also warm and interesting and there was something she glimpsed deep inside him that drew her in ways she’d never encountered with another person before. There was a hurt hidden behind the urbane exterior he presented to the world. A hurt that spoke to something in her heart and urged her to help him heal in any way she could.
Callie closed the windows she’d had open on her computer and was about to shut down when she noticed one file she hadn’t opened yet. Its title was innocuous—nothing to even indicate why she’d downloaded it—but she’d searched for files that had the word Palmer in them and this one had cropped up.
She double-clicked on the document icon and waited for the file to open.
Her eyes scanned across her screen double-time as she scrolled through the many pages of the Word file. A buzz of excitement thrilled through her veins. This was definitely something big. Something that Tremont Corporation had in place to pre-empt Palmers with an innovative new contract overseas. It would leave Palmers in the corporate dust.
While it wasn’t what Irene had specifically asked her to look out for, Callie’s mind spun on the possibilities. If Palmers had this information, they would lead the world. And if Josh really was intent on bringing Palmers down, getting ahead of him in this work would stop him as effectively as a heart attack.
The next morning Callie phoned Irene before she left for the office, arranging to meet with her at the older woman’s favourite café on the waterfront for lunch.
“I investigated the original author of some of the documents. They didn’t try to hide their tracks very well.” Callie mentioned the name of one of Bruce’s up-and-coming business interns.
“Bruce isn’t going to like that, but don’t worry. We’ll deal with him. He’ll be sorry he sold us out.”
For a moment Irene looked furious, but then she re-composed herself.
“Everything I found is on here,” Callie said, passing the memory stick over the table.
A pang of guilt for what she was doing struck her square in the chest, but, she rationalised, it was no more than Josh had done to them. She’d allowed herself to begin to think he was a different breed from the man Irene had warned her about, which only served to show how cleverly persuasive he really was.
“That’s everything?”
“Yes, everything I could find. Seriously, I was shocked when I saw how much information he’d gathered on your family, particularly Bruce. Surely that’s not the norm when someone is trying to undermine another firm?”
“Not unless he was looking for dirt to dig up.”
“Well, he certainly didn’t find any in that lot,” Callie said staunchly.
Irene slipped the memory stick into her handbag, a worried frown bisecting her brows.
“There’s still something about the man that concerns me. He’s a constant threat to us and I want to know why.” Irene reached across the table, her perfectly manicured hand now curled like a manacle around Callie’s wrist. “You’re going to have to get closer to him. Really close. The information you need to get isn’t going to be something he keeps on a hard drive anywhere. It’ll be something he keeps inside him.”
There was an iron command in Irene’s voice and Callie shot her a worried glance.
“I mean it, Callie. You’ve come this far; you’re going to have to take it all the way. It’s the only chance we have to find out what on earth is behind it all.”