to Mia as being weak. Now he understood why. Today’s spitfire had not been daunted by him and had been more than capable of expressing her opinions confidently and concisely.
He gritted his teeth knowing Mia was a round peg who didn’t fit into the square hole he’d created for her.
Who was the real Mia Simms?
More importantly, what was her agenda?
The intercom on his desk buzzed.
‘Yes, Grace?’
‘Connor, I know you said to hold all calls, but I have Glen Davis on line one and he said you left a message with his secretary only ten minutes ago requesting he call you back as soon as possible.’
Ah. His HR manager. ‘Thanks. I’ll speak with him.’
He picked up the handset. ‘Hi Glen, thanks for getting back to me.’
‘Hi Connor. What can I do for you?’
‘I’m interested in the personnel file for Mia Simms.’
‘One moment and I’ll bring it up on my screen.’ Glen cleared his throat. ‘Okay. Mia Simms is twenty-six, a graduate from the London School of Economics and Political Science and joined us straight after graduation. Prior to tertiary education she was schooled in the south east.’
‘Where does she live now?’
‘Er… At the time of the interview she only gave a postal address as she was about to move. It’s been an oversight not to have followed up but I’ll phone through to her shortly and get her current residential address.’
‘Hold on that for the time being.’ If she was guilty of hiding anything, Connor didn’t want her to know he’d already started digging in her personnel file. ‘Anything on her family background?’
‘Let’s see. Parents were killed in a plane crash when she was a kid. Record says she has no siblings or other living relatives. There’s nobody listed as a next of kin.’
Shutting off the surge of empathy he felt for her knowing she’d been orphaned too, Connor asked, ‘What about her emergency contact person?’ ‘There’s nobody listed.’
Nobody? His empathy turned quickly back to suspicion.
‘What I can tell you is that all her performance appraisals have been first-rate,’ Glen continued. ‘She’s never missed a day of work, nobody ever has a bad word to say about her and her record is perfect.’
Connor was well aware the head of marketing sang Mia’s praises, but nobody was perfect. ‘Could you email the file to me?’
‘Certainly.’
‘Thanks, Glen.’ He’d read through it as soon as possible.
Connor disconnected the call and thought more on the perfect Miss Simms.
No address.
No emergency contact person.
Gran was normally a very shrewd judge of character, but could she be missing something about Miss Simms?
He deliberated calling one of his close friends who had a private investigation and personal security business to ask him to do some digging but dismissed the idea just as quickly.
Instead of jumping to any more negative conclusions, he’d apologise to Miss Simms and give her the benefit of the doubt—for now. He’d still be on his guard, but if he could get her to relax over dinner and open up, he might be able to get a feel for her integrity.
If there was anything that didn’t add up, then he’d ask Tony to launch an investigation and leave no stone unturned.
Chapter Four
‘Miss Simms to see you, Ma’am.’ Dawson, the distinguished butler, made the announcement with formal flourish as he showed Mia into Violet’s favourite sitting room.
‘Mia!’ Violet put her book down. ‘What a lovely surprise. Come in!’
There may have been surprise on the older woman’s face, but there was also a shadow of guilt.
‘You weren’t expecting me?’ Mia asked dryly.
‘Not right now, dear.’ Violet stood up so she could give Mia a hug. ‘Shouldn’t you be at work?’
‘Shouldn’t you be in hospital?’ Mia looked her friend over, trying to gauge how strongly she could call her to task given the state of her heart.
‘No. I’m being well looked after at home.’
Violet was tall and slender, immaculately dressed and never had a hair out of place. She wasn’t exhibiting any shortness of breath, but did look tired. ‘Dawson said you gave him and Nell a scare last night.’
‘Connor told you first though, didn’t he?’
‘Of course he told me. I’m fairly certain he made a bee-line for my office the second you delivered your ultimatum.’
‘Hmm.’
‘How are you feeling?’
‘At the moment I feel fine.’
‘But you should be in hospital, Violet.’
‘I have the most delightful young nurse looking after me and you know how I abhor hospitals.’ She made a dismissive gesture with her hand.
‘Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t well?’
Violet motioned to a richly upholstered settee. ‘Sit down.