Justin by Kirsten Osbourne Page B

you never knew when an employee was going to turn.
    He raised his head at the knock on his open door. “Thanks for coming.” The HR manager was a tall willowy blond with blue eyes. He’d found her mildly attractive at one point, and he’d thought about asking her out once or twice, but he wasn’t willing to risk an unprofessional relationship at the office. Not with her, at least. Now, Sarah was another story. If she’d seemed halfway willing last night, he’d have taken her home with him and never let her leave again.
    Melanie smiled and took the chair he indicated. He’d already done his own research into the company files and saw Sarah had been right in her assessment. Why would Melanie not have come to him? “Great job on the Super Bowl prediction, sir.”
    Justin smiled slightly. He and his friends, with the help of the software developed while they were in college that had made them billionaires, had correctly predicted the outcome of the Super Bowl months in advance for the past twelve years. They took it in stride by this point, and jokingly said there was no reason to even watch it any longer. “Thanks. It’s not as much fun as it used to be.” He paused for a moment debating how he should get into this conversation, but decided to get straight to the point. “It’s come to my attention we have a number of illegal aliens on the payroll. Were you aware of the problem?”
    Her eyes widened in alarm. “No, sir. I had no idea!” Her innocent look would have fooled him if he hadn’t already seen she had been in the same files he had that very morning.
    “ I was told you were not only aware, but you’ve told at least one of your employees not to worry about the situation. Were you planning on handling it on your own, or did you just not care?” His voice was casual, almost flippant as the said the words. Anyone who didn’t know him well would think it didn’t matter to him at all.
    “ I’m not sure who told you I knew about it. I assure you, if I had known, I’d have taken care of it.” Her face was red with anger for being put in this position.
    “ So you didn’t look at these six files this morning?” He tossed a hard copy of each of the employees’ files onto his desk in front of her.
    She looked at the files, biting her lip. “No, sir. I didn’t.”
    He nodded, watching her eyes closely. She wasn’t a good liar. Even if he hadn’t had definitive proof, he’d have known she was lying by the look on her face. “I see. Someone with your log-in has been looking at those files.”
    “ I don’t know who could have my log-in.” Her voice was all innocence.
    “ I don’t either, because it’s against company policy to share your log-in just as it’s against company policy to hire an illegal alien.” He worked hard to keep his voice light even though he knew she was lying to him. There was no point in getting angry when he had absolute control over the situation.
    “ I wouldn’t ever share my log-in information.”
    “ Were you aware we have video surveillance of every office in this building? I found someone stealing from us when we first started the company, so I’ve had some trust issues with employees since. Why don’t we look at who was at your computer this morning at ten? That’ll be our answer, won’t it?” He turned to his computer and moved the monitor so they could both see it. He’d already watched the tape expecting this sort of lie from her, and wanting to have all the bases covered. He tapped a few keys, and there she was as plain as day. He zoomed in, and it was even possible to see one of the incriminating files on her computer. “Do you have an identical twin, Melanie?”
    She stood. “You’ll have my resignation on your desk in ten minutes. I assume you don’t want me to work out my two weeks’ notice?” Her voice was shaking, but she held her head high.
    “ You assume correctly. Send Angela in here, won’t you?” Angela was the assistant manager in