Page 43 of Come As You Are
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“We wanted to see if we could catch whoever was bringing our stock into the Grotto, but since I was there, none of it has been touched and no new bottles have shown up.”
“That would have been too easy,” I said. “When did Mal change the code on the storeroom?”
“A couple of weeks ago, I think. I can look at my log and tell you exactly if you’d like.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think that will be necessary.” Again, my mind was whirling as I considered my next moves. “Did you ever see Andrew at the Grotto?”
Festus had been hunched over with his hands clasped between his knees, at my question he looked up. “You think Andrew’s behind this?”
A knock at the door interrupted us, and I bade whoever was out there to come on in, already suspecting it was Sebastian and Vee. What I wasn’t expecting was to see them return with our possible suspect. It remained to be seen if it was Andrew or Aaron standing awkwardly in my office.
I stood. “How about if you three take the couch,” I said, knowing full well Sebastian and Vee would bookend Andrew/Aaron, and taking note that this man did not walk as smoothly as Illyria’s lead dancer.
Once everyone was situated, I leaned against my desk and contemplated the man sitting between Sebastian and Vee. He looked so much like Andrew, but he had a hard glint in his eye, a calculating and assessing look that my employee did not. Still watching him, I took out my cell phone, selected Andrew’s number, and placed the call on speaker while it dialed.
“Olivia? Is something wrong?” the voice on the other end of the phone sounded as if I had woken him up, which I was sure I had since it was now after eleven.
“Everything’s fine. Who am I speaking with?”
The man on the couch opened his mouth, but Sebastian and Vee nudged him and shook their heads.
“This is Andrew. What’s going on?”
I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Andrew, do you have a twin brother?” Silence greeted me. “Andrew?”
“Olivia, I’m so sorry. It’s only been a couple of times, I swear.”
“Andrew, shut up.” The man on the couch—Aaron—who looked so much like the man on the other end of my phone it messed with my head, tried to get up, but Festus stood instead.
“I suggest you stay quiet,” Festus said, leaning over the coffee table and getting in Aaron’s face.
“Oh, fuck,” Andrew’s voice said. “What the fuck did you do, Aaron? Shit. Olivia, I swear, all I asked Aaron to do was fill in for me a couple of times. I got offered a part in a show that was in development, and some of the rehearsals conflicted with my schedule at Illyria. Oh my God. What did he do? What the fuck did you do, Aaron? Jesus Christ, if you screwed up my job—”
I took the phone off speaker and told Andrew I needed to see him. “I know it’s late, but if you could come to the club right now, I’d appreciate it.”
“I’m on my way. And I am so, so sorry.”
“We’ll talk when you get here,” I said and ended the call. Then I called 911.
Sebastian
Andrew arrived well beforethe cops, which wasn’t surprising since no one’s life was on the line, and it did let us get a full confession from Aaron. Once Andrew asked him to fill in on those days he had rehearsals, Aaron had sized things up and realized how easy it was to hack into Illyria’s accounting system. He began transferring money to himself while hiding it as an expense to a non-existent alcohol supplier.
Gossip around the club had told him Illyria was having issues with the Grotto, and he offered his services as a saboteur to Orsino in exchange for a sizeable fee. Orsino had agreed, wanting Illyria to go out of business or get so desperate Olivia would sell to him, but Aaron hadn’t been too eager to kill off both golden geese. Thankfully, he’d been playing out the drain on Illyria’s finances as long as he could, so the damage was nowhere near what it might have been.
While dealing with Aaron was pretty cut and dry, Olivia was having a difficult time figuring out what to do with Andrew. She suspended him without pay for the next week while she sorted out what to do. On the one hand, he hadn’t embezzled money from Illyria, but on the other, he’d given his brother access to the club and lied to her.
“I just don’t understand why you didn’t come to me and ask if you could have the time off,” she told him.
Andrew shook his head. “I wasn’t sure you’d say yes, and it was too good an opportunity to let pass.”
“Would you have asked Antonio?” Olivia asked, and I could see what it cost her since she tried so hard to be a good and supportive boss.
“I think so,” Andrew said.
I watched Olivia flinch as that answer landed, and Andrew saw it, too. He looked like he was about to cry.
