Wounded Animals (Whistleblower Series Book 1) Read Online Free

responses to surveys. She had that smooth-as-silk voice that customers loved to hear.
    “It can be. But we still get plenty of sun, even in the winter.”
    “It’s nice to meet you,” she said as she took her seat and booted up her computer.
    Third through the door was Paul, a gaunt kid, about the same age as Martin. Paul wore a smirk on his face, and I didn’t like him immediately. Something about those kids who think the world owes them something. He was the kind of guy who could get laid in college without trying.
    He jabbed a hand into the air and I shook with him. “Welcome to Dallas,” he said. “See you’ve met Keisha and Martin.”
    “I sure have,” I said.
    “You can probably tell by looking at me that I’m the smart one in the group. Just finished with my MBA in the spring, so I’m ready to hit the ground running.”
    I resisted the urge to ask him why the hell he was at an entry-level tech support job with an MBA. “Well, I guess you’re in the right place then, Paul. There’s a lot of opportunity at IntelliCraft.”
    I felt dirty talking up the company, but it seemed to make Paul’s face glow.
    “Yes sir,” he said as he took a seat at a workstation.
    I smiled at them, pretended I wasn’t bitter about what their employer was doing to the company. I couldn’t be mad at these kids, though; this wasn’t their fault.
    But I still had to fake the smile anyway.
    Finally, the straggler of the group. Darren. He had jet-black hair and bushy eyebrows. When I saw him, the hair on the back of my neck stood at attention, but I couldn’t say why.
    He walked right up to me, shoulders square. “You must be Mr. Candle.” His voice was like oozing tar, bass-heavy and slow.
    “That’s right. I’ll be training you on the IntelliCraft Design software over the next few days.”
    “Oh yes, for sure. I’m really looking forward to it. I’m eager to find out where I fit.” He smiled, but his brow remained cocked, and I got the sense he thought he knew something I didn’t. Kareem’s warning about a dangerous man rushed through my brain like a strobe light.
    But that was crazy. What in the world could this kid do?
    He held out his hand to shake, and for a split-second, something told me not to do it. But it’s not as if I could leave his hand there, hanging in space.
    I gripped his palm. His hand felt cold.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
     
    At the end of the day, I walked the long hallway to Wyatt’s office. Seemed like a million steps. I passed open offices decorated with whiteboards containing scribbles about the future of the company. Long-term strategic goals, bandwidth prioritization, cost-benefit analysis, new verticals ripe for exploration. Nothing about people.
    I leaned in Wyatt’s doorway as he was wrapping up a waxed piece of paper, chewing, with a dab of mayo jutting from his lip.
    “You tell him that if he doesn’t want to meet with me, this is the last time I’m gonna ask nicely. My time is valuable, you understand.”
    I raised an eyebrow, and he waved me in as he pointed to a Bluetooth circling his ear.
    He held out one finger to me. “Y’all have been good clients for a long time, but this is the kind of impasse that sinks relationships, know what I mean? Yep. Okay. I’ll have them draw up those changes and get it right over to you. Okay.”
    Wyatt’s office had a little more flair than the average cube-dwellers here. Big baseball fan, as evidenced by the numerous framed Texas Rangers jerseys and signed balls in glass display cases. I knew nothing about baseball, but imagined he had a small fortune of memorabilia here.
    One bit of odd decoration stuck out to me: a Persian rug, mounted on the wall like a tapestry. Seemed to clash with the rest of the pieces.
    He ended the call, wiped the mayo from his lips, and gestured me into a seat. “Candle, it’s good to see you again. How’s Grace? Big as a house yet?”
    You know how sometimes you’ll wrap