A Texas Family Reunion

From the moment her cousins had moved to Plano and settled just a few blocks away, she’d fought David for control. Since he was three years older, it wasn’t exactly a fair fight. And her girl cousins had followed David around, doing whatever he told them to do. She’d tried to free the girls from his will, persuade them that he wasn’t their boss, until the oldest cousin, Janet, had asked why they would want to do the opposite of what David said. He only had their best interests at heart. Their mother had said so.

Alexandra had immediately asked her own mother why they would want David to tell them what to do. Her mother had explained that some women preferred that men guide their decisions.

Alexandra was repulsed by such an idea. Her father always called her his little radical, even at five. She abandoned the effort on her cousins’ behalf, but she refused to allow David to control her life.

“Alexandra,” Jim said from his desk, “I’ve talked to my sisters, Vanessa and Rebecca, who live in Dallas. They’re very anxious to meet David, but I’ve talked them into waiting until next Monday night. That way Rebecca’s twin, Rachel, who lives in West Texas, will have time to get here.”

Alexandra nodded. “Sounds good, but I’m not sure David will continue to associate with you and your sisters.”

“Why not?”

“You heard David talk about his mother. He always tries to do whatever she wants. She only has to say she might like something and David finds a way to get it for her. He made a deathbed promise to his father to take care of his mother and sisters.”

“You can’t fault him for that,” Jim said, frowning.

Carrie joined the conversation. “I agree with Alexandra. Being protective is one thing, but taking away choices stifles a person’s development.”

“But David just tries to grant his mother’s wishes,” Jim protested.

“But how can she appreciate what she gets if she never has to lift a finger to get it?” Carrie argued.

“Maybe his mother is too old to learn new tricks, sweetheart. Anyway, it’s not our business. So we’re all agreed next Monday night would be a good time to have my sisters and David meet?” Jim asked.

“Yes,” Alexandra confirmed.

WHEN DAVID GOT BACK to his office, he found one of his best employees waiting for him.

“Hi, Pete. What’s up?” he asked as he took off his jacket and settled behind his desk.

Pete Dansky shut the office door and moved closer to David’s desk. “We’ve got problems.”

David’s head snapped up. “What are you talking about?”

“Our government contact just called me. He said we must have a spy, because someone else submitted a bid very close to ours in design.”

“That can happen,” David said slowly. “Did it have—”

“It had everything ours had except for the last bit of work you and I did. I described it to Williams and he told me it wasn’t there.”

“Then we still have a chance?” David asked.

“Yes, as long as the last bit doesn’t get passed on.”

“Are those papers in your office?”

“They’re in my safe!”

“Good. But we can’t let anyone work on them but you and me, and that’s going to slow things down. Can we meet the deadline?”

“I don’t think so. Even if you and I work day and night, I doubt we can finish.”

“So we have to find who betrayed us and fast.” David leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.

A long minute passed. At last Pete said, “David? Are you napping or thinking?”

“I’m thinking. I need to make a phone call to some people who can help us.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes. It’s a detective agency that my cousin works for. I’ll see if they can take our case and how soon.”

“And you think they’ll be able to find the spy?”

“Yeah, I do. What I need you to do, Pete, is list all the employees who had access to the files.”

“Okay. I’ll be back with a list in ten minutes.”

“Good.”

Once Pete had left his office, David got the number of Greenfield and Associates and dialed it. When a woman answered who wasn’t his cousin, he assumed it was Carrie.

“This is David Buford. I need to know if your firm does personnel reviews.”

“Yes, David, we do. What have you got in mind?”

He explained the situation.

“I see. Let me pass you to Jim. Hang on.”

It was a couple of minutes before Jim picked up the line. “David, Carrie explained your situation and what you want. I think we can do the job, assuming we have complete access to your employee files and are allowed to interview anyone we want. I’ve got a few things I can put off. We can start tomorrow morning. Does that work for you?”

David told him it did, and they hung up. He felt satisfied. He might not’ve seen Jim for twenty-three years, but he sensed that Jim hadn’t changed. He’d been honest as a boy, and he still was. David could trust his older brother.

THE NEXT MORNING Jim was sitting in David’s reception area when he arrived. Which was good. What wasn’t good was that Alex was sitting next to him.

“What’s she doing here?” he demanded when he saw his cousin.

Jim raised one eyebrow. “She works with us now, remember?”

“Of course, but yesterday was her first day. Isn’t she kind of green?”

Jim rose to his feet. “Suppose the three of us go into your office, David,” Jim suggested. “We can discuss things there.” Alexandra stood up, too, her face flushed with anger.

David led the way into his office. After they followed him in, he closed the door. “Well?”

“Look,” Jim said, “we didn’t hire Alexandra to train from scratch. We hired her because she’s already been trained in most things. She’s quite able to do an interview and assess the data in the files. If you have a problem with that, you’ll have to hire another firm.”

Alexandra protested. “No, I don’t want you to lose—”