Free Deadly Magic by Elisabeth Crabtree

eliminated five years ago because it was a money drain. You fired everyone on that team.”
    “ Yes, that was a good day,” he said smiling in fond remembrance. Refocusing, he waved his hand dismissively. “But I have confidence that you’ll be able to reinvent the board game landscape. It’ll be great. Teenagers love board games. Remember, be edgy and creative. Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t you put your criminal justice degree to good use? Design a mystery game. That would be fun. You like mysteries, don’t you?”
    Daniel looked at her sympathetically.
    Straker pointed to Belle. “Belle will work with you. You can teach her the ropes.”
    Allen raised his hand. “What about Grace’s assistant?”
    “ Oh, Grace needs an assistant.”
    Grace breath ed a sigh of relief. At least she wasn’t losing Ellen.
    Allen raised his hand. “But Ellen has been in the doll department for so many years.”
    Straker nodded. “And that’s where she’ll stay. Grace can get a new assistant.”
    Allen leaned back in his chair, grinning from ear to ear.
    “ Okay,” Grace said reluctantly. “I’ll draw up a job ad, but couldn’t Ellen stay with me until we hire someone else.”
    “ No. We don’t have enough time for you to hire someone from the outside. Besides, this is a family business, Holliday. What do I always say about my employees?”
    Grace look ed around at the blank faces sitting around the table. Reluctantly, she repeated the last thing she had heard him say about his employees, “We’re just placeholders until a super race of robots can be created.”
    Allen snickered, causing Straker to glare at him. Once Allen was appropriately cowed, Straker turned back, “My employees are like my family. I care for all of you. It hurts me when I lose a member of the family. And like any good father, I want my children to grow and advance.”
    Heads around the table began bobbing up and down.
    “We promote from within in this company.”
    “ But, you fired all of the designers,” Grace pointed out. “How can we promote from within?”
    “ Simple. Go downstairs to the toy shop. Take someone from there. Belle can go with you. Since you two will be working together, you both should have a say in who gets promoted.” He smiled as he looked around the table. “Well, that’s it for today. Everyone get to work.”
    Daniel hopp ed to his feet and rushed out of the room. More than likely to find Louisa, Grace thought watching as the door slammed shut. Michael and Belle reached for the door handle at the same time. Grace noticed the small smile they exchanged as they fumbled with the door and walked out of the room. Only Straker, Harcourt, Allen, and Grace remained.
    When the door clos ed behind Belle, Harcourt walked up to Straker. “I don’t need any help.”
    “Geez Sidney, how many times do I have to tell you? Belle isn’t going to be working above, with or under you.”
    “ I’m not talking about her. I’m talking about the boy. He’s completely incompetent. He’s not a true magician. He doesn’t study his craft. No, he goes for shock value. I’d almost prefer Belle. I may not like her father, but he at least knows what he’s doing.”
    “ Michael stays.”
    Allen , who’d been pretending to leave, came back inside and quietly sat down next to Grace. He leaned over and whispered into her ear. “You need to tell Mr. Straker that board games are not a good idea. Ask him for some time to do some research. Do some feasibility studies. Teenagers just don’t spend a lot of time with board games, anymore. He likes you, he’ll listen.”
    Grace glanc ed out of the corner of her eye, surprised that Allen was actually attempting to be helpful.
    Allen stood up and left as soon as Harcourt walked out.
    Seeing Grace still sitting there, Straker ask ed, “Do you need something, Grace?”
    “ About the board game . . .”
    “ I knew you would love it.”
    “ I do. Really, I do,” she lied, “but couldn’t we