"Now, when it's time to get down to business, I get down to business."
Juan Pablo Montoya

Yesterday, while meeting with Benson, I knew what my top priority would be this morning. Benson wants a preliminary report on these three companies before I leave today. I came in an hour early. Benson opened his office door, and the light was on, so I peeked into the doorway.

"Good morning, Mr. Easton."

He looks up from his computer and waves me in. "You're in early. Are you good having our morning meeting now?"

"Of course, let me just grab my notepad."

After my brief morning meeting with Benson, I returned to my office, closed my door, pulled up my sleeves, and delved in.

First up, Holland's Construction Group. The first thing I do when scrutinizing a company for Benson is to go to their business Website. The research I do can discover if they're respected and have character through the customer's reviews.

I pull up Holland's Construction Website and click on their customer reviews. It takes me a while, but I get through all 248 reviews. While most are pleased with Holland's work, a handful were not. Those are the ones that I consider and take notes on.

After meticulously combing through the negative reviews, there seems to be a recurring complaint by mostly women customers regarding one of Holland's foremen, Gregory Wallace. Wallace's main grievance was his lack of professionalism, sexist comments, and making the women uncomfortable. I make a note to look into Gregory Wallace.

Next, I Google the company. This search wields several articles on the company. I open each one and read through them, gleaning as much information as possible. I get ready to click on the following article when there is a knock on my door.

"Come in." I stretch and rub my eyes as I see Liza enter my office.

"We're getting pizza for lunch. Are you in?"

I look at my watch. Shit, I've been at this for five hours.

"Yes, I would. Thank you. Can you please let me know when it gets here? I'll be working through lunch."

Liza nods her head in understanding. She knows that when I look into a possible business collaboration for Benson, I'm like a hound dog sniffing around, searching for my buried bone. I won't stop until I'm satisfied that I have found everything I could to help Benson make sound business choices.

Liza leaves, and my cell phone rings. I see that it is Sam calling. I smile before picking up, "Hello, Babe. What's up?"

"I got your note this morning when I woke up. I must've been exhausted because I never even heard you leave. I know you are working late, but I want to bring you dinner before I leave for my shift."

My heart melts like wax on a sweet-smelling candle. "Babe, I would appreciate you bringing me dinner. You're so damn thoughtful."

He chuckles. "I may have an ulterior motive. I don't want to go a whole day without seeing you, my love. Is 6:00 okay, and what are you hungry for?"

My love for this man grows stronger with every sweet gesture he bestows on me. I'm one hell of a lucky woman. "I'm good with 6:00. Surprise me!"

We say our goodbyes, and I return to the article on Holland. I'm shocked to see what the article title is. 

Foreman Goes Missing From Job Sight

As I read through the article, I discovered that Gregory Wallace was the foreman who went missing a year ago from a job site he was managing. I quickly glimpse at my notes and find that the last complaint against Mr. Wallace was the week he went missing.

The article enthralled me. I never noticed Liza enter and place a plate of two slices of plain cheese pizza and a bottle of Lipton iced tea on my desk. I take a bite of pizza and continue my probe into Holland's Construction.

Once satisfied with my preliminary report of Holland, I move on to Building By Bligh. I bring up their web page and click on the customer reviews tab from the drop-down menu. The research will be much quicker since there are only 32 reviews. I take my time reading each review.

I noticed that the reviews date back only six months. I find this alarming. I look to see if older reviews are archived. I scroll down to the bottom of the page and find what I'm looking for —a link to archived reviews. There are over 500. Be careful of making wishes. I take another bite of pizza, take a deep breath, and focus on reviews with three stars or less.

I lose track of time and jump when Sam knocks, enters my office, and opens his arms to me. "Dinner!"

I grin, push back my chair, and walk into Sam's embrace. He squeezes me tightly and kisses the top of my head. I take a moment to breathe in his scent, but instead, I smell the mouth-watering aroma of our dinner. I look at the takeout bag; yep, La Puerto. I knew that I smelled Mexican food.

"You have a slice of pizza?" Sam looks at me, confused. I'm sure he thinks that I was already eating dinner.

"Um... that was my lunch, Babe." His confusion changes to sympathy.

"You work too hard."

I shrug. Sam works too hard, too. I pull out of our hug, take his hand, and lead him to our lounge. "Shall we take this to the kitchen?"

"I thought that you'd never ask." He gives me a sexy grin, and for a moment, I think about staying in my office and having Sam for dinner. However, my stomach growls like a hungry bear. "Damn, Baby, let's get some food in you," Sam says while grabbing my hand and dragging me into the kitchen.

Sam and I discuss the cases we're working on and, as usual, throw ideas back and forth to each other. Sam informed me that he asked Pete to help move me in this weekend.

Peter Lauver is a good friend and colleague of Sam's. I first met him a year ago when Benson gifted me a cruise for my ten years of service. I invited my friend Millie, and Pete had the trip planned originally with a girlfriend. She broke up with Pete, so he asked Sam to go. Millie and I met Sam and Pete on the first night of the cruise, and we were inseparable from day one.

Millie and Pete are still deeply in love. They moved in together six months ago. According to Sam, Pete will propose to Millie on Valentine's Day. While I think that date is quite a cliché, it suits them.

Dinner ends way too soon. Sam leaves to start his shift, and I get back to work. The offices are all dark, except for mine. Right before Sam came, I had finished with the customer reviews. I didn't find anything of significance to report to Benson.

I Googled Building by Bligh. The company is currently under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service for claims that one million dollars has gone missing from their reports. There's no record of the lost money.

Finally, Big Dog Contracting. I look at the time and head home to finish my work. I put my notes and laptop into my bag, locked up, and headed to my car. I know that I have a long night ahead of me. I opted to go to my apartment instead of Sam's because it's closer to the office. I shoot Sam a text before pulling out of my assigned parking space.

Ten minutes later, I pull into my townhouse garage. I love my home, but I love Sam so much more. I remember how proud I was when I purchased it six years ago. Sam and I decided to rent it out for a year before putting it up for sale.

I switch on the lights and take a moment to look around my home and reminisce back to when I first stepped into the townhouse with Millie.

"Oh, Millie! I don't have to go any further than right here."

I smile at the memory of seeing the open and bright first floor of the townhouse for the first time. It immediately felt like home. The entryway opens into the large living area with light oak hardwood floors throughout the entire space. To the right is a galley kitchen with stainless steel appliances and whitewashed cabinets with a white subway tile backsplash and island bar. The kitchen has a breakfast nook with windows across the entire back of the house. The natural light illuminates each of the rooms spectacularly.

Now, all I see are half-filled and sealed boxes scattered around what was once my home. I sigh. Millie is helping me pack because of my long hours. I will truly miss this place, but Sam is my home now. I couldn't be more excited to share our lives by taking this massive step in our relationship.

I grab a water bottle from the fridge and my work bag, then head upstairs to my room, throwing my bag onto my bed. I change into my pajamas and snuggle under my fluffy comforter. I fire up my laptop and type the Big Dog Contracting Website address into my search engine. Their homepage pops up first, and I select the link.

For the next four hours, I combed through customer reviews and jotted down notes. There were no reviews in particular that caused customers to complain. There was, however, a wide range of criticisms ranging from not keeping promised timelines to poor quality of work.

My Google search came up with something surprising. There was an unsolved murder two years ago on one of Big Dog's construction sites. I read the name of the head detective, Sam Kidwell.

Well, damn!