Back by Searle DM

Author:Searle, DM
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nightscape Press
Published: 2023-12-22T00:00:00+00:00

FORTY

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Rebecca escorted him back to the elevator and rode down with him to the lobby. They were alone in the lift. Nick was quiet, observing her body language carefully. He’d wanted to ask some of the questions Flynn had suggested. But it would be too suspicious to start launching into them all straight away. Today’s task had been to convince Rebecca and her boss that he was genuinely interested in working for them. But looking at her stance, cross-armed, slightly turned away, made him wonder if he hadn’t been as convincing as he’d hoped.

‘Everything okay?’ he asked.

She turned to meet his eyes. ‘Fine,’ she said coolly.

He raised an eyebrow.

‘Okay, okay. I’m glad you changed your mind, but if I’m honest, I wish you were a little more on our side.’

‘How do you mean?’ he asked.

‘It would be nice if you didn’t just assume big pharma are automatically the bad guys,’ she said.

He bit the inside of his cheek, considering his response. ‘I don’t,’ he said. ‘I’m only interested in the truth.’

‘And you’ll find it,’ Rebecca said. ‘You do your job right, your investigation will show that we’ve done nothing wrong. But my point is it would just be nice if people like you could appreciate all the good we do in the world.’

He was about to offer a cautious reply when the lift doors pinged open. They were back in the lobby. Waiting for them was driver-slash-debt collector Ben Cooper. He was dressed as sharp as ever, the collar of his shirt threatening to rip under the pressure of his tree trunk of a neck.

‘You’ve got that meeting in Richmond, ma’am,’ he said. ‘I tried to message you.’

‘Oh yes,’ Rebecca cried. ‘Sorry, I had my phone on silent. It’s my fault.’

‘Please don’t apologise,’ Ben said in his cheery voice. ‘Shall I fetch the limo?’

‘Thank you, Benjamin. If you wouldn’t mind.’

Ben smiled and disappeared. Rebecca invited Nick to wait with her outside the building’s revolving doors.

‘Where’d you find that guy, anyway?’ he asked. ‘He reminds me of a doorman in a posh Mayfair club.’

She smiled. ‘Yes, he does, doesn’t he? Benjamin is my minder and driver. And my personal assistant for a lot of the time, as you can see. He’s ex-military. Served in Afghanistan.’

‘I can believe it,’ Nick said.

‘Jeremy hired him. I don’t know how they know each other, but I think there might be an army connection. Jeremy was in the service too once. I remember he said I should have someone who could not only drive me about, but be useful if I ever got myself into a fix.’

‘Fix?’ he asked, puzzled.

‘I suspect he meant that I could be a target for someone with a grudge, perhaps. Big pharma might not be big tobacco, but we’re still the villains in some people’s eyes.’ She gave him a fixed look.

‘Point taken, Rebecca,’ he said. ‘And I promise I’ll write my report with an open mind.’

Her cobalt eyes softened. ‘That’s all we ask. I’ll get the contract over to you in a few hours.

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