✅ My Cousin's Keeper [NaNoWriMo 2021]

45. My Investigation

Here's a chapter dedicated to Clinton, with thanks for all your support over the last year. Thank you.

I would probably have gone back to my own office, taking a shortcut through one of Upper Ashfields's many parks to avoid the roads. There had to be something I could think of on the way. Some method to find out who had discovered my secret, or was close to doing so. But before I could deal with my own problems, I needed to make sure Tess was safe. She was my little girl now, and I needed to protect her from bad influences as much as I could. So I went out into the park and took the long way around. I found cousin John on my phone, with a brand new number in a Mediterranean tax haven.

"Hey, John!" I said cheerfully, trying to mask the anxiety in my voice. I didn't want to worry him, but I needed to know what he knew about this guy with his eye on Tess; and I could only hope that the Naylors knew of some wedge that had allowed them to ensure he kept his distance.

"Hi„" he sounded lethargic. He must have been under a lot of stress, or perhaps it was just early morning in San Lorenzo. "Uhh... Gabby, is it?"

"Yes. I hope I'm not disturbing you. I was just... I was a little worried about this character Tess has been hanging around with, and I hoped you could give me a little advice. I think you must have dealt with him before, but I don't know Tess that well, and I'm having trouble getting through to her. I really don't want to see that little girl hurt."

"I think she's not a little girl anymore," he answered, and this time I was sure I could hear the sound of regret. He missed his baby too; and I knew he would be happy to see her again, back to the perfect little angel with no inclination to rebel. "Her friends... You mean Spike, right?"

"Young man struggling to grow a beard? Comes from a questionable background, thinks it's appropriate to talk about drugs and crime as if it's no big deal." I really hoped I could impress the seriousness of the situation on him, despite the distance.

"Yeah. Poor kid, he's had some trouble with his family. Won't stop trying to rescue his mum after she's given up on herself. It's disheartening, but you have to respect that. We let him stay at our place a few times, crash on the sofa when his stepdad was being worse than usual. I thought he should have seen someone professional, or gotten in touch with social services. But there's no help for a kid like that, so we just have to do what we can."

"I'm worried. Tess believes everything he says. You know how impressionable girls can be. She'll trust him once, and then regret it forever. Someone her age shouldn't have somebody like that in her life."

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."

"I said, guys that age are only after one thing. You should know that better than I do. And I don't feel comfortable with Tess spending so much time with one. You let him stay? How could you be sure he wouldn't take advantage of the situation?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, but I had to be respectful. To sound like I was being supportive, like I just wanted to protect their daughter. I couldn't believe that my cousin would be so negligent with his precious child, but I couldn't let my disappointment show if I wanted to get anything useful out of them.

"Gabby," he said with a sigh. "I think you're overreacting a little. Tess said that you didn't seem too friendly with Spike, but I can assure you he doesn't intend anything inappropriate."

"I wish I could be so sure. I can't trust a young man of that age, no matter how pretty his words are."

"Then trust me. I've spoken to the boy. I taught him to cook, he always wanted to do his share when he was at our place. I guess I was a substitute father figure, because he hasn't had one since his dad died. He's been like a brother to Tess the last year, keeping her safe at school. And if you're thinking that even nice guys let their hormones take over, then don't."

"You really think there's a teenage student who can control himself around a pretty girl?"

"He can. Not to put too fine a point on it, but he's gay. Pretty sure that's why his stepdad has such a problem. Why he's scared to go home and he needs a place to stay. That's something you can empathise with, isn't it?"

"I... guess?" I answered, and that one comment surprised me enough that I had to stop and think for a moment. I'd been expecting him to say that the young man was so sweet, and I knew that they could always put on that mask when they needed to. Or that he was just a boy, no worse than the rest. That particular excuse had been completely unexpected. "But still, would you leave them together unsupervised?"

"Probably. I trust my daughter. You don't know them like we do. Either of them. It's been a couple of months, but..." I heard some mumbling on the other end of the phone, but no words that I could make out. And then he was back. "Look, it's not the best time right now. How about we talk later, and I'll see what we make of your concerns. I want Tess to be safe and happy, that's the most important thing to me. But this sounds like an instinctive reaction, a kind of judgement without all the facts. I really think that if you knew a little bit more about the situation, you would be able to cut the kid a little slack. Look, can you call back later? You can check our calendar on FriendSpace, right? Call back after work, when we're both fresh. This isn't a conversation for this time of day."

"Yeah," We did the usual pleasantries and I hung up, feeling just as exhausted as John had sounded. I just wanted to protect my little. I might feel a little sympathy if the kid was gay, but why did that make any difference? I still didn't want him perving at my perfect little angel.

I couldn't think about it for too long, because I knew I would need to get back to work. And perhaps try to figure out some clues to my more immediate problem. My position with corporate was precarious enough; and while impressing the guys from Claughton could give me a boost, any revelation of my taste in fanfic had the potential to bring me right down again.

I looked around. I was surrounded by bushes now, which were surprisingly pink despite the season. There were so many parks in this town, I still didn't know them all. But it wasn't hard to find a signpost, with directions to all the major nexuses by foot, cycle, and road. James Street, according to the little roundel at the top of the post. Not an area I knew well, but it was never hard to find your way around Upper Ashfields. It took me five minutes of jogging to get back to the Fitzgerald Building.

I'd already started forming suspicions about what might have happened. I had nothing concrete to base them on, only wild guesses, but there were two designers who had made no secret of their hatred for being managed. They thought they should be in charge, like this was some startup operation with no structure, and they were probably determined to do whatever it took to discredit me. Perhaps they felt like they would be at the top of the totem pole if a scandal could crop up. Just like my predecessor in this role, Mr Gently. I didn't know how those two could have gotten around the normal logging on the printers; or how they could possibly have found out what I was reading in my free time. But when I imagined them laughing at me, I knew there was no doubt they were the ones responsible.

I strode into the office with my head held high. There was no way they would disrupt my work so easily.

"Belle?" I called over to the girl who was currently manning the front desk. "Tell Klimt and Hagen that I would like to see them both. I believe there's space in my calendar at two. Separately, if possible." I looked down at her, almost trembling as she tapped the keys. Had I just interrupted her in the middle of writing an illicit email to her boyfriend on an office PC, or browsing sites that the company would disapprove of? While that was completely unprofessional, and I knew she would have to learn better before she could be trusted with any kind of responsibility, that wasn't the issue right now. This girl had been shunted mercilessly from one office to another, and she deserved a little leeway in her decisions.

"Calm down, girl," I said. "You're not the one in trouble now. You haven't done anything wrong that I've seen. So keep your nose clean, and you might make something of yourself one day. There's a bright future ahead of you if you can stay focused on your work."

I didn't wait for an answer this time. I just hoped she would realise that she would never be successful in business if she couldn't leave her personal life at the door. If she didn't get the message, then that was her problem. I felt a little bad about that; she was a nice girl, and the world had already dealt her a bad hand, but I wasn't inclined to bend the rules just because an employee happened to be cute. Sooner or later, she would make a choice between professionalism and her private life; while I was busy enough with my own duties.