His for Now (His #2) (12 page)

“I’m quitting,” he said quietly.

I couldn’t hide my surprise.  Given Mark’s friendly relationship with the head of the Sociology department, he was pretty much the only contract employee who didn’t need to worry about being out of work in the face of budget cuts.  I had no doubt that if Mark stuck around, he’d continue to build his career with little-to-no effort on his part.  For him to be leaving was absurd!

“Why?” I demanded.

He sighed dejectedly.  “I got in over my head.”

“With…?”

Mark shook his head.  “No, I’ve said too much already.  Let’s just say it’s not a good idea to be poker buddies with your boss.”

“Kind of like it’s also not a good idea to date a co-worker?” I quipped.  Then, taking a deep breath, I blurted out, “I know about your computer hacking, Mark.”  Technically I didn’t – I merely had a hunch.  But it was a strong hunch and I wanted to see how Mark would react.

To my delight, he immediately gulped.  His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat, a telltale sign of his nervousness...and, perhaps, his guilt.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said in a voice that was slightly too high-pitched.  But after that giveaway reaction, there was no pulling the wool over my eyes.

Sometimes the power of silence cannot be overstated.  I didn’t say a word.  Instead
I stared him down, momentarily reveling in the power I had over him.  I’d never considered myself to be particularly vindictive, but after the way he’d made me squirm it felt good to get a little payback. 

“Are you going to tell?” he asked
, confirming my suspicions right then and there.  He looked a little pitiful, like his lower lip may start to tremble at any moment.  He and I both knew how much trouble he could get into if word got out about what he’d done.  After all, computer hacking is a federal offense.  And then there was the matter of defrauding the college…

Giving him a noncommittal shrug, I replied, “I’m not sure.  It depends on what you tell me.  Why’d you do it?  I know this job doesn’t pay that great, but you have a good thing going here with a promotion on the horizon.  Why put all that at risk just to steal some money?”

Defeated, Mark admitted, “I owe money…a lot of money.  Poker night with Clancy started out small.  It was no big deal.  But then we started playing against these big shots – rich business tycoon types.  The bets got more and more outrageous.  One weekend a while back, Clancy and I went to Vegas for a couple days.  We met up with an old friend of his and we both lost a lot of money…more than we could afford.”

“So you’re stealing money from the college to repay your debt?” I asked, putting two and two together. 
I regarded him curiously as the information sunk in.  “How much money are we talking about?”

“
A lot,” Mark mumbled.  “More than I make in a year.”

“Mark!”  I couldn’t hide my shock.  That was ludicrous! 

“I know, I know, it’s bad.  Clancy put Martel off for a while by doing him a favor but now it’s time to pay up.  We need the cash.  I never thought it would turn out like this, I swear.  I didn’t think skimming some money off the top of the budgets would lead to mass layoffs.  I feel awful.”

“Wait…did you say Martel?  His first name wouldn’t be Steve by any chance, would it?” I demanded, remembering how surprised I’d been to find Henrik Slate’s business associate at the college’s wine and cheese function. 

“Yeah, Steve Martel,” Mark nodded.  “That’s him.  We’re supposed to meet up with him tomorrow night to give him the money.”

“How does he know Clancy?”

Shrugging, Mark speculated, “I think they go way back…old college buddies or something.”

Hmm, that was odd.  Lost in thought, I struggled to make sense of all the new information.  It was awfully coincidental that Hayden’s world and mine were colliding in such an unexpected and seemingly random way. 

“Daniella…?” Mark looked like he was about to be sick.  “Are you going to turn me in?”

The thought was tempting.  For a moment I even considered it, imagining what Mark would look like in a striped prison jumpsuit.  But then my conscience got the best of me.  Mark was a jerk, yes, but I didn’t want to ruin his life. 
It was the type of thing Mark may have done without a second thought, but I didn’t want to sink to his level.  I was better than that. 

“I won’t turn you in,” I told him, “On the condition that you make things right.”

He blinked.  “How do I do that?”

I shrugged.  I had so much on my mind that I couldn’t hold his hand and lead him out of the mess he’d created. 
He’d just have to be a big boy and clean it up himself.  “You figure it out,” I told him.  “Hack into the server again and plant a copy of the real budget for the administration to find, I don’t know.  I’m sure you’ll come up with something.”

“What about the money I owe?”

“Sell all your stuff and get a loan…get a second job,” I suggested indifferently.  “I don’t really care what you do.  Just make sure that the stolen money gets returned to the college one way or another.  The students and faculty shouldn’t have to suffer because of your greed and arrogance.”

“Okay.” 
Mark went quiet then.  “You were right,” he finally told me.

“I was right about what?”

He hung his head, looking ashamed.  “I was threatened by you,” he admitted sheepishly.  “When we were in school together you were always a better student than me and now that we work together…you’re hands down the best instructor in the entire department.  I was afraid you’d make me look bad and I’d get left behind, so I tried to sabotage your career.  It was wrong of me, Daniella.  I’m sorry.  I’d take it back if I could.”

“You can’t take it back,” I told him
bluntly.  “All you can do now is focus on the future.”

He nodded.  “
I don’t like the person I’ve become.  I just want you to know I’m going to take my name out of the running for that promotion.  I’ll set things right with Clancy, too.  You deserve the raise, the tenure…all of it.  You always have.”

Touched
by his admission, I felt the resentment I’d been harboring fade away.  “You’re not a bad instructor yourself,” I told him earnestly.  “It’s a tough job.  I have days where I wonder if I’m even getting through to the students.  All you can do is keep improving on your teaching methods and hope you’re making a difference.  The rewarding moments can be few and far between but when they come along they make all the doubt and frustration worthwhile.”

“Maybe,” he
shrugged.  “Although to be honest I don’t know if I’m cut out for life in the classroom.  Some people – like you – are just naturals.  But I think I made a mistake.  I’m actually looking into a career in video game development.”

Mark, paid to play video games all day? 
That seemed…fitting.  In fact, I couldn’t think of a more perfect job for him.  “Well whatever you do, good luck with it,” I told him earnestly.  “I’ve got to get going – someone’s waiting for me.  But one last thing, Mark:  you said Clancy did Steve Martel a favor.”

“Yeah, so
that Martel would give us an extension to pay the money we owe.”

“What was the favor?”

“I dunno,” Mark shrugged.  “Something about giving him storage space for a painting, I think.”

I couldn’t get back to Hayden fast enough.  I sprinted across campus, running so fast that my shins began to burn and I got a stabbing pain in my side.  By the time I was standing in front of him outside the library, I was so winded I could barely breathe let alone speak.
  A little voice in the back of my head pointed out that I wouldn’t be in that predicament if only I’d spent less time at my desk and more time at the gym.

“Oh good, you’re just in time,” Hayden told me, gesturing to a set of headlights coming around the bend.  “There’s Steve now.” 

“Steve Martel?” I wheezed, my eyes widening in alarm.

He nodded.  “I don’t trust anyone else to get us where we need to go safely,” he said.  “Steve has always been like a father to me – more of one than my own father ever was, anyway.”  A look of nostalgia came over Hayden’s handsome face.  It wasn’t often that he volunteered information about his life or past, but now he seemed eager to fill me in.

All I could do was huff and puff while he reminisced.

“Do you know Steve is the one who came to my high school graduation?  He was also at my college convocation, come to think of it.  My own father, of course, was always too busy being wrapped up in his own world to make time for me…but Steve was always there.”

My head was spinning. 
The car headlights were getting closer.  Steve Martel was getting closer.  Unsure of what to do, I straightened up, wincing at the stabbing pain in my side.  Then I grabbed Hayden and ducked behind the corner of the stone building, leaving the painting propped up against it.

“What’s the matter?” Hayden asked, sensing my
uneasiness.  “Do you have a cramp?” he asked when he saw the way I was hobbling, gesturing to my leg.  “I can massage it for you…”

As a matter of fact I
did
have a cramp, but that was the least of my worries.  I feared that what I was about to say could break Hayden’s heart and I hated to be the bearer of bad news…but I had no choice.  Struggling to regulate my breathing, I opened my mouth and let the horrible truth tumble out.

“Apparently Steve and a faculty member here are old college buddies,” I told Hayden apologetically.  “
I just found out that Steve used his connections to get storage space here on campus.  Hayden,” I said, my words weighing heavy on my heart, “It was storage space for a
painting
.” 

I looked at Hayden pointedly as I let my words sink in.  I could see the confusion and then the disbelief on his face. 
It killed me.  “You’re not saying…he couldn’t have had any part in this,” Hayden murmured.  “Not Steve…why would he do that?  Daniella, that’s nonsense,” he protested angrily.

Although his tone was harsh, I knew Hayden’s anger wasn’t directed at me.  Though his words said he refused to believe me, I could see a look of horrified understanding in his eyes.  Sympathetically, I reached out and placed my hand on his forearm.  “I’m sorry,” I told him, wishing I could take away his hurt.

I peeked around the corner and saw the car pull up. 

I looked at Hayden questioningly.  “What should we do?”
I whispered.

“You stay here,” he told me, his jaw set in determination.  “I’ll take care of this.” 

Before I could stop him, he marched over to the car and opened the driver’s door.  I half-expected him to yank Steve out by his shirt collar and pummel him, but Hayden showed surprising restraint.  Instead, I heard the low murmur of voices and saw a lot of gesturing and increasingly animated discussion.

I crept closer.

“So let me get this straight,” Hayden was saying incredulously once I was within earshot.  “You knowingly arranged for my father to purchase a stolen painting because you wanted to, what?  Blackmail him?”

Steve was as white as sheet.  “Yes,” he nodded.  “But it’s not what you think.  You and I both know that your father is a greedy, self-serving
jerk.  He always has to get his way.  He’d rather withhold his fortune from his only son than compromise.  If you didn’t live your life exactly the way he wanted and take over the family business, he was going to leave you penniless.”

“You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know,” Hayden interjected.
  Though his tone was one of anger, I was able to read between the lines.  I knew his anger was merely a front for the deep sense of loss he was experiencing.  I couldn’t even imagine how it must feel to discover the man you looked up to all your life is a liar.

“I wanted t
o blackmail your father for your sake, Hayden,” Steve confessed.  “It was a way for him to turn over at least a part of his fortune to you.  I know all the good you want to do with that money…it was the right thing to do.”

Hayden’s eyebrow arched.  “You blackmailed my father so I could build orphanages and hospitals with the money?”

“That’s only part of the reason,” Steve admitted.  “I also wanted you to be free from your father’s influence once and for all.  I never meant to implicate you in this.  I had no way of knowing your father would send
you
to broker the deal I set up.  I was sick when I found out.”

Hayden appeared to consider Steve’s words carefully.  “You’re the most honest man I know,” he finally said.  “
And I do know you.  You practically raised me, coming to visit me at boarding school during parents’ week and getting me out of trouble time and time again.  You’ve always been good to me.”

“I’ve never had children of my own,” Steve said.  “I love you like a son, Hayden.  Please, you have to believe that I did all
of this with your best interest in mind.  It backfired horribly, but I never had any intention to hurt you.”

“What about the death threats?” Hayden asked
guardedly.  “How could you do that to me?  Surely you’ve seen the way my life has been impacted by them.  They’ve taken away my freedom.  They’ve taken away everything, Steve.  And yet you just sat idly by, continuing to make them?”