Chapter 119 Finding Answers

I do as Martin says, taking a seat as my entire body tenses at the idea of what he is about to say. I wish I could just run from the room and pretend that he didn’t suggest I should sit down. It’s what I used to do when I was a child and grandma wanted to tell me off.

It probably wouldn’t work now though… Plus, I’m supposed to be a grownup. I’m supposed to be all about handling the difficult stuff.

Martin pulls out the seat at the table next to mine, turning it so he’s facing me as he sits down. His expression is haunted and his eyes are sad. I’m not going to like what he’s going to say. That one look is enough to make me not just want to run from the room, but maybe the country.

Ear plugs could work… I just need to make sure I don’t hear what he’s about to say. If I don’t hear it, it’s not real, right?

“Your grandma and I have known for quite some time that your parents; deaths were not accidental.”

I guess there’s no avoiding that.

“Grandma knew?”

I’m completely flabbergasted. How could my grandma have known and never told me? Then again, I probably shouldn’t be surprised. There’s a lot of things my grandma has kept from me. Her one mission in life has been to protect me.

“We knew, or we suspected at least, but we had no evidence.”

“Couldn’t you have told the police?”

“Told them what? That we suspected that someone…”

“Well, yeah.”

“There were threats, Eden,” Martin says, leaning forward, his voice a whisper. “Whoever killed your parents made it really clear who was next.”

“Next?”

He doesn’t answer and it dawns on me what he means.

“Me?” I ask. “Even so… There’s no way grandma knew and didn’t tell the police.”

“Eden, you mean more to your grandma than…”

“Grandma would never let my parents’ murder get away with it. I don’t get it.”

“I think she was scared,” Martin explains. “We only had suspicions and no evidence.”

“You keep saying that but I don’t believe you. Grandma isn’t scared of anything.”

“That’s just what she wanted you to believe.”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s what parents do,” he says. “They protect you. And let you think they’re invincible, fearless.”

I can hardly argue with that. He’s got grandma pegged. Instead of arguing with him, I fiddle with the paperwork in front of me. I’m on the verge of telling him everything, all about the email and what it said about him.

Problem is, I have no idea how to ask. I can’t exactly say ‘Hey Martin! Did you kill my parents?’ That probably wouldn’t go down too well.

“Human Resources…” I begin, trying to change the subject from the conversation I need to have.

“They’ll be ready to fire him on Monday,” he answers.

“Good.” I’ve wanted him gone since I first started working at the company. I don’t want to waste a second. The sooner he’s gone, the better.

“There will be ramifications, Eden.” He’s looking at me seriously, as if he expects me to know instinctively what he means. “James Artie…”

“What about him?” I ask.

“He’s not going to be happy about this,” he explains. “In fact, he’s probably going to be livid.”

“So?” Is it bad that I don’t care? Couldn’t give two figs to be exact. James has made it his personal mission to make things difficult for me since I took over the company. I’m not expecting him to take his nephew’s sacking sitting down.

“He’s not going to make it easy.”

“I wasn’t expecting him to. That’s why we needed all this evidence,” I say with a shrug.

“Just checking you realise that he can make things difficult for you. He’s dangerous.”

I open my mouth to ask him what he’s talking about. It feels like there’s more to what he’s saying. Dangerous how? Is he insinuating something or merely referring to James’s pull with the department heads.

So far, he’s failed to ruin this company though he’s sure tried. Or at least he’s tried to take it from me.

There’s a knock at the door and so instead of asking him, I shout out for the person to enter the room. Noah pops his head around the door, offering us both a smile.

“I thought you guys might like some breakfast,” he says, stepping into the office.

In one hand, he has a brown bag of a what I hope is bagels and in the other is a pile of paper work. The bagels are an excuse. He’s here because he wants to be. Before meeting me, he’d be completing at ease, working alone in his office.

It might be that he’s worried about me. Scared that Martin might actually be my parents’ killer. But it’s more likely that he just wants to be here. Where I am. I know because I feel the same way. I hate having so much distance between us. That’s the worst part of covering for my grandma.

If it wasn’t for my grandma needing my help, I’d be happily at my desk outside his office.

“Ah, Noah,”Martin says, “I’m glad you’re here.”

Noah lowers his stuff onto the table before taking a seat. “Is there something you need?”

“Yeah. I need you to look over this list of possible assistants.”

“You want me to choose a new assistant?” Noah asks hesitantly.

He really doesn’t want to. He’s had some seriously bad luck with assistants.

“Can’t I just go without one for a few months?”

Giggling, I try to hide my entertainment as Noah blowers at me.

“Wait. Why are we hiring a new assistant?” I ask.

“Well, you’re not going back, are you?”

I hate the way Martin says it. Like it’s completely impossible that my grandma might just walk out of the hospital tomorrow and we can go back to the way things were. As much as I hate it, I know that he’s right. I’m not about to go back to working as Noah’s assistant. But that isn’t actually what I meant.

“I meant, design team two.” Both Noah and Martin are looking at me like I’m crazy. “We aren’t going to be able to hire a replacement for Lewis immediately.”

“Yeah, but how does that help?”

“Design team two need a leader and you need an assistants.”

“Wait. So instead of getting an assistant you want to give me a whole extra team?”

“Yeah. Hang on, Eden. Shouldn’t we disperse design team two members throughout the entire company?”

“Holly can be your assistant,” I say, “and as for the team… I wouldn’t trust them with anyone else. I’m not completely comfortable talking Holly’s word for it, that no one else knew.”

“You don’t trust her but you want her to be my assistant?”

“You’re never going to like your next assistant,” I tell him with a shrug.

Smirking, he nods his head at me. “You know me pretty well, don’t you love?”