A Wicked Stepfather Pt. 03

CHAPTER 5

A nagging thought about the arrival of this new guy Eliot unnerved Peter Cruickshank. Eliot had arrived out of obscurity and was obviously admired by Eloise and had been seized by her over-sexed daughter as a new trophy. To rub it in, Eliot's manager Brigit was treating him like some sort of guru. If it hadn't been for Jenna almost nailing the guy over dinner he'd been suspicious that the guy had been brought in as a future senior executive. It seemed Eloise and Brigit also had a carnal interest in the guy. He'd keep an eye on this newcomer.

At that Peter's nagging thought changed into a jealous pique. What did that guy have that he didn't unless it was only a matter of age? His suspicions were further eroded when in bed after coming home from the restaurant he had to tap Eloise twice on the hip before she sighed and rolled over for him. She would have been all over him had she been engaged in some sort of intrigue although what sort of intrigue Peter couldn't decide. It was doubtful that Eliot had been recruited to be his successor as he had at least another fifteen years before he'd consider retiring or heading off to spend his retirement fund in the company of a chick who looked rather like Jenna if that honey wasn't Jenna.

Eloise was okay but she was rather predictable and wasn't out to milk him dry as were today's cock-addicted hot chicks such as Lisa, accounts section supervisor. If a guy wanted to be taken to the limit obviously Eloise wasn't the one for that simple because she was losing her bedroom focus and agility. Still, she was always there for him and continued to give him the impression she loved him creaming her tits. Yes Eloise was right for him and had acknowledged that by promoting him into the top tier of business professionals in the city and at the same time was unwittingly allowing her husband to increase his personal wealth. She was so trusting it was pathetic and that had made it so easy to exploit her and her company.

Peter smiled recalling he'd recommended a change of auditors to Eloise and she took that as a recommendation to the board and it was approved. He held control because only he ever saw the preliminary report of the auditors and he sorted out auditors so they understood the complications in excessive amount of overtime worked by some commercial printers (old machinery requiring excessive maintenance) and the excessive amount of wastage between the amount of paper stock coming into the company and that amount actually going out the doors as deliveries to clients and their distributors (print runs being redone because color-registration was sub-par or mis-numbering of pages, etc). Oh yes, wasn't he a wicked man!

When the auditors claimed the wastage was excessive for industry standards for comparable plants Peter's answer was so were the company's standards. When an auditor remained unconvinced at that explanation Peter had a truckload of price lists that the company's logo had been printed upside down (a common printing error) to the auditor's offices and thereafter the volume of wastage was never again questioned as that was drummed into any new person on the audit team before they left to begin the audit of CCCP (Clouston Clarion Commercial Printing Ltd).

Yes, Peter smiled. He was far too clever for Eloise and her board. When residing in Delaware as a young man he'd formed his own limited liability company, Mono Enterprises Company, as a trading enterprise and now used it to bill his clients for printing contracts and to receive 'goodwill' payments for introducing suppliers and services companies and appointing them as principal suppliers to the Clouston Evening Clarion Printing and Publishing Company, of which CCCP was a subsidiary. He traded as a sole entity and ran the company correctly including paying all taxes and filing all required reports and paying all fees via the accountant acting as the company's registered agent.

It all worked very smoothly, with Peter also raking in payments on individual company vehicle purchases and sales and on individual travel transactions. But the largest payments came from Peter's underhand printing contracts that involved fiddles using Clarion printing's paper stock and printing personal to output his contracts he personally secured under his own trading company. He did not pay Clarion printing for using its resources including labor materials and looked after the invoicing himself. He wasn't too greedy, keeping volumes low enough to remain unnoticed and only had to pay the commercial print manager a monthly cooperate-and-keep-your-mouth-shut payment to allow his fraud to perpetuate undetected. The only interest of printing personnel was being paid, rather than who was paying them and why.

Peter was in line for his illegal operations to top the $3 million mark in net profit by the end of the year. That was the advantage in running commercial operations with virtually no 'overheads'. A lot of creative accounting was involved and Peter kept two legitimate clients whose work he put through the company's system as 'Peter's Clients'. In this clever move accounts personnel were instructed to put all incoming correspondence, orders and payments on jobs marked 'Peter's Clients' to him to transact. When payments from those two legitimate clients were received that money would be channeled into the company's revenue flow, thus setting up internal recognition that Peter had a couple of clients who were pals that he personally serviced fully. That meant if any nosey auditor or in-house executive asked anything about Peter's personal clients there was a blemish-free paper trail to which accounts personnel would display.

For a secret payment of $5000 the commercial print manager accomplice had printed Peter a full set of company receipts, invoices, contract forms, quotation forms and client registration forms that he kept at home and kept all transactions loaded as encrypted files on his laptop. If any of his secrete client's had an auditor inquiring about an invoice number any accounts person was unable to find that query would then be referred to Peter. He'd access his illegal set of accounts and supply the required information.

There had been only two such enquiries during the five years he'd been skimming the company's business and both had been dealt with so smoothly no suspicion was aroused. Peter had found it so simple that he itched to double his illicit income but wisely counseled himself to stay small and involve no one else. He suspected few of his clients were legitimate business persons which afforded him even greater protection, making everything appear legitimate. None of his clients knew who actually printed their order because Peter would advise he would put the job out to a print broker.

Late that morning Peter visited the company's recently promoted business promotions officer. Sloan had been the assistant officer and found it difficult to believe that Peter was willing to promote her to the vacated post as she'd been in the deputy position for only three months.

Sloan looked at him in delight as he entered her office. "Oh Mr Cruickshank, how lovely of you to call."

"It's Peter to you Sloan now that you are an executive."

"Oh Peter, thank you."

"I was wondering if you would like to have lunch with me?"

She smiled and said it was she who ought to be inviting him to lunch to express her gratitude.

Peter laughed and rubbing his fingers over his chin asked how far would she go to deliver her gratitude.

Sloan blushed and looked nervously at the door. Without looking Peter said her PA was not at her desk.

"You know I'm married."

"Yes, and that guy ought to be still thinking about his good luck. How about it Sloan?"

She blushed and whispered did he mean sex.

He nodded and she rubbed a hand over her left breast and said, "I really don't..."

"Please yourself," Peter said brusquely and moved to leave the office.

"Wait."

He continued walking.

"Please wait."

He stopped and Sloan came over to him. "I've never done this before."

"Your first is the one you remember, although I guess you mean you're not yet committed adultery. It probably is similar to that eventful time you first opened your legs."

"God Peter, someone may hear us. I'll consider if you can assure me if we will have complete privacy."

"Yes. Wait for me in the foyer of the Princess Hotel at 1:00. The company has a private room there and only I will be registered as the user. We can order room service lunch so it's best you take a two-hour break."

"Very well. I'll think about it. I'll call you if I decide to accept."

"That's an unnecessary call. Call only if you can't come."

"I really..." Sloan didn't bother finishing because Peter was almost out of the door and she knew he had no interest in hearing anything negative.

Sloan arrived at the Princess early and went straight to the bathroom and used to vending machine to get a pack of three condoms, thinking an older man like Peter might find one condom sufficient. She'd never purchased condoms before and had the feeling everyone was looking at her despite being the only person in the room. She returned to the foyer where Peter was waiting for her. She flushed when he said, "Been for a nervous one or to buy condoms?"

In the elevator he pressed the button under the blue notice marked Premium rooms. She thought nervously it was unnecessary for him to go to all this expense, they could have gone to the back seat of his car? She then she figured the company would be paying for this philandering. The twenty-five-year-old almost gushed in excitement.

Inside the beautifully appointed room Peter put her at ease immediately, saying, "Don't image me as your father. Picture me as a guy a bit older than you who loves to fuck younger women."

She'd been thinking he was old enough to be her father and suddenly that image dissolved, being replaced by one of his white and somewhat hairy ass rising up and down over her, her legs over his shoulders. She began to have a little difficulty breathing.

"Do we do it now?"

"No, slip off your panties and put them in your handbag. Keep your high heels on because they make you look sexy. Then sit on that lounge chair. If you feel like showing me you pussy, do that. Otherwise don't. There's a menu on the table beside you; choose what you want to lunch. Champagne?"

"You mean sparking wine?"

"I mean French champagne."

"Oh God yes."

She took the flute and ordered chicken pasta and sat with her legs closed. He sat on his chair and after calling through the order unzipped and pulled out a flaccid penis and that disappointed her. Perhaps he couldn't get it up without considerable assistance.

Sloan opened her legs and hung them over the arms of her chair. "If I slop some champagne on to my pussy will you come over and lick it?"

He grinned and she watched in amazement as his dick stiffened and the purple head seemed to look directly at her vagina. Oh God, he's got it trained, she thought.

Two-and-a-half hours later Sloan was back in her office, feeling a little stiff and as if her pussy was stretched and on fire. She'd taken the biggest pounding of her young life, far in excess of what she'd received on her wedding night. That Peter, he was a animal. He had her sweating, and groaning and cooing and falling into unrestrained releases. He'd coated her internally and externally with semen, refusing to put on a condom after she admitted she was 'protected'.

She'd felt it was all over when her returned to the bed with a lubricant, saying he wanted to finger her rectum. She permitted that, nervously thinking he probably wanted to take her anally but she only done that once previously and had not enjoyed it. It her amazement Peter was so good that he strummed her up and she could hear herself pleading with him to put it in where by then he had two fingers stretching her. After three glasses of champagne she was ready for anything and certainly was taken on a journey she'd long remember. As he sweated over her she fingered herself into release after release until she heard him groan into his release. She then almost lost consciousness, feeling exhausted, depraved, abused and mentally bereft.

Peter ran a bath for her and carried her to it, talking to her kindly although he looked rather exhausted. He then showered, keeping an eye on her. He later washed and dried her and after she had consumed two bottles of water she agreed she was ready to return to the office.

Sloan collapsed on to her office chair and was almost sleep when someone knocked on her door. She had no option but to invite the person in.

"Hi, I'm a newcomer in editorial, Eliot Nephew and you were out of the office when I was conducted on the royal tour. I've just popped in to say hi."

As Sloan straightened up to reply Eliot said, "Are you okay? You appear to have been run over by a truck?"

He seemed pleasant and Sloan new he had no authority over it. She had to talk to someone so let loose. "I've been a stupid, stupid woman. I said yes to a lunch invitation from someone around here and that turned into a bout of sexual excessiveness. I stupidly engaged without resistance when the going got rough."

She began sobbing and held out her arms. Eliot rushed around the desk to comfort Sloan.

"Peter Cruickshank?"

Sloan's eyes bulged and she appeared on the verge of panicking. "How could you say such a thing?"

Eliot sensed he was being fended off. "Look, it doesn't matter. You need some feminine counseling. I know the right person to assist. Please stay put."

Eliot rushed off and told Brigit what the problem was and Peter Cruickshank seemed to be the villain.

"Oh God, Sloan's not long married."

"Say nothing about my suspicion it was Peter. Later she may be just the person to recruit for real insider watchdog information. We must play this carefully."

"All right. Take me to her and then leave us. I'll take her to the executive bathroom. Send Cathy my PA up to talk to me. She'd need to keep everyone away. We'll have to get Sloan into a fit state to go home."

Half an hour later Brigit called Eliot to her office. "Sloan is a little better. She's been ravaged. I'd really like to remove Peter's testicles."

"I'll hold him while you cut," Eliot offered, deadpanned.

Brigit laughed and the tension eased. "The problem was Sloan has only known gentle guys around her own age. She's fairly slight, possibly sexually inexperienced and never has been used like a piece of meat before. But there's nothing we can do about it. She's insisted it was not rape, that she acquiesced out of gratitude because Peter ordered her promotion."

"And today he set out to collect?"

"It clearly looks that way but the poor darling was only just coherent and it was a nightmare for her to talk about it."

"Well, let see what eventuates. Does she have tomorrow off?"

"The next two days. She reports to Peter so I asked the office manager to authorize it and to call Cathy. Peter doesn't have a designated deputy. Usually he delegates to the office manager, financial controller or chief accountant and that worries me."

Eliot, standing to leave, asked why was that?

"Eloise told me over lunch that she's invited Jenna to rejoin the company and Jenna has said yes. Eloise said she asked Peter this morning to find Jenna a suitable position and suggested perhaps Jenna could be appointed his deputy."

"Oh God," Eliot said, slipping back on to the chair. "This thing is getting out of control when our investigation hasn't yet started."

"Come on," Brigit said, standing and picking up her handbag. "Let's go out for a drink."

* * *

Eliot had assumed Brigit meant coffee but she shepherded him into a bar. They sat in the corner of the poorly lit and sparsely occupied premises because it was only just after 3:30, just ahead of the first arrivals of early-finishing workers. Eliot had brought two vodka Martinis to the table.

"The big problem is where to look where the company has been creamed off, if indeed that's what Peter has been doing, " Brigit said, clicking the glass against her teeth as she sipped her drink.

"He'll be doing it," Eliot said. "He knows Jenna will assume control of the business when Eloise is ready, leaving him out in the cold. I reckon he will have given himself eight to ten years to build his nest-egg and is probably already five years along the path. Obviously he's not been stupid or overly greedy otherwise the external auditors would have picked up on him and no informer has come forward to blow the whistle."

"So rather than chase your tail you have to think of the most logical place to start."

"Correct Brigit. So we go for the high ball. What area of the business does Eloise have the least amount of interest?"

"Commercial print."

"Correct, and it's the largest profit center and being located three miles away from her office is comfortably remote from her and being the largest profit center is the area best known to Peter. It also operates two shifts five days a week and usually only one shift on Saturday and maintenance is performed on Saturday afternoon and on Sundays if required. Who is to say the presses are not running on Saturday afternoons or even on Sunday?"

"Peter wouldn't be that bold, would he?"

"I don't really know him but he's arrogant enough to try anything. He may even be calculating enough to have his ill-gotten gains stashed away so if he was caught red-handed he'd be prepared to be locked up for six months or up to ten years or whatever sentence he receives, knowing that big pot of real gold awaits him."

"Do you think the authorities should be called in?"

"You know the answer to that which is why I was recruited. The first thing the authorities would ask is 'where's your evidence?" We have nothing but suspicion. The other thing is we'd like to force a confession and recover that pile of gold wrestled illegally from the company."

"You have no hope of getting him to confess or recovering that pile of gold."

"I know Brigit. But I live in hope. What do you know about management at Clarion Print?"

"Not much. Managing director Bruce Tillman is near retirement age as is general manager Walter O'Connor. The operations manager is Wes Gould who rarely smiles and has the look of a criminal. He won his position through being the best guy available with a reputation for technical brilliant unmatched by any other applicant when the job came up five years ago."

"When?"

"I said five years ago, the same time Peter was appointed group managing director. Oh no, there could be collusion."

"Yes, or simply two guys have a common bond as new appointees.," Eliot said. "I must look up their appointment dates as a matter of interest."

"Yes, we should go into the backgrounds of both guys."

Eliot said indeed. He asked if Brigit could appoint chief reporter Eva Mitchell as deputy news editor.

"That would buy me a fight with chief sub Jed Mason as his deputy has traditionally acted as deputy news editor."

"Well, times have changed. Find a trade off to keep Jed happy. I trust Eva and don't know the others. Eva could start the background research on Peter and print manager Wes Gould.

"Okay," Brigit sighed. "I accept the necessity to keep flexible if this catch-the-crim effort is to succeed. We'll be left with people in positions they may not merit but according to Eloise you'll be reorganizing company structure anyway, with me losing my job."

Eliot said it would depend on what the board recommended and Brigit of course would have input. "All I can say at this stage I would probably recommend major restructuring. At the very least, and I emphasis that, you'd be offered the position of editor-in-chief of the community newspaper group."