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Jared was a valued employee, and with Olivia only working part-time, I needed him to step up as one of my senior people. He was older than most of the other programmers, like me, in his mid-thirties. I called him into my office so we could have a chat about his project and what other prospects were offering him for the rights. I asked Lucian to join me.
Jared was painfully thin and had a shock of spiked red hair on his head. He wore a goatee that had gotten so long; he braided the end. His ice-blue eyes always made me shiver even though his demeanor was kind. When he entered my office, the look on his face said he had something to tell me.
“Zane, Lucian, let me start by saying I appreciate the opportunity you gave me here at Eltech.”
I waited for the shoe to drop, “Declan Blair has offered me a deal I can’t turn down.”
“Jared, why don’t you tell us about it and maybe we can match it.”
“I doubt it. He’s offering me five percent of sales for the rapids along with a position as vice president of his gaming division with a ten percent bonus. The salary is twice what you would pay for the same position. I’m really sorry.”
I looked at his face and saw that he was sorry. He was a nice guy, and I felt no ill will towards him though I was upset to be losing him and his game.
“Are you sure there isn’t anything I can offer you?”
“No. I need a change at this stage of my career. My wife is having our third child, and she wants to move out of Manhattan for a house on Long Island. This deal will help me do that.”
“Unfortunately, our policy is to ask that you vacate your position on the day of your announcement to leave. I’m sorry about this, but it’s a security protocol.”
“I understand. Thank you for the opportunity.”
I buzz security and have them escort Jared to his desk to clear out his personal items. This is a blow that I wasn’t expecting, and it will cripple us.
“I don’t suppose Olivia would come back full time?”
“I doubt it. She loves being home with Vincent.”
“Would she consider bringing him here? What about if you stay home and she comes in?”
“Maybe we could work something out, but for how long would this last?”
“Not long. I need to see if we can hire a senior programmer. I’m not sure what Blair’s game is, but I don’t like it. You suppose he knows?”
“That you slept with Lana? Maybe or he’s just trying to jab you from all points. He wasn’t too happy we turned him down for that project he proposed.”
“He’s a fucking snake. He dangled that carrot in front of us like we were fools. I’ve been building this company ever since I was twenty-three. I’d like to think I have some type of business acumen. I don’t think he was prepared for me to turn it down.”
“He might be out to get you or was bribing you to keep quiet about his little tryst in Atlanta. Whatever it is, we need to stay away from him.”
Lucian left my office, and I had to consider that Declan was out to get me for whatever reason. It turned out I would find out the answer to that soon.
Chapter 14
“We have to do something. We can’t keep losing programmers to Declan, or we’re going to be in a bad way. This is the fourth programmer in the past two weeks that has defected to Blair Industries.”
“He’s taking all our senior staff. Did you know he contacted Olivia?”
“Excuse me?” I was amazed Declan would contact the wife of one of the owners of Eltech.
“His assistant called her yesterday.”
“How could Declan be so stupid?”
“Because Olivia is listed as Adams. We never changed it on the company registry. He doesn’t know she’s married to me. We were at the fundraiser together, doesn’t he remember?”
“Either he does and is playing a game, or he wants her. She should go to the interview.”
“You seriously want to send her over there?”
