Pimpernel by Pratt Sheralyn

Author:Pratt, Sheralyn [Pratt, Sheralyn]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi
Publisher: Wicked Sassy
Published: 2016-01-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

As it turned out, Margot Harbour wasn’t just a terrifying woman, she was an institution. There was probably a correlation in there somewhere, but Claire was still taking in the ambience of the woman’s top-floor offices. Meticulous was the first word that came to mind. Luxurious was the second. Sterile was third.

Three of Claire’s favorite words.

Claire was allowed in the offices now that she’d been sworn to secrecy. At 6:15 p.m., she had been escorted up by a man with a gun and shown a desk she could use. Apparently, that was Margot’s version of Make yourself at home.

The meeting Claire had with Margot at 9:00 p.m. would be all about prepping for the fake investor meeting when Claire would reverse the accounts. Margot was providing the mock investor and Claire was going to walk her through the script and let her ask questions so she could coach whoever Claire ended up talking to—hopefully someone in Asia. Then they would record Claire’s part of the script together.

Claire had just under three hours to write and finalize everything before a courier arrived at 9:00 with all the equipment and programs Claire used in Mr. SUV’s secure workroom. Half of the equipment should have been impossible to get, but apparently “impossible” and “within 24 hours” were synonymous in Margot’s world.

Claire finished her script 7:30, feeling good about the thirty-minute conversation she and some investor would have as a ruse while Claire reversed accounts and refunded investors. The script was solid and believable. But finishing it ninety minutes early gave her plenty of time to obsess of all the ways things might go wrong.

What if the technology failed? What if there was a lapse is playback time? What if the fake investor Margot found was bad at reading scripts, or made obvious mistakes that made it clear he was acting? What if the escape plan didn’t work?

Jack and his team were allegedly pros at all this, but there was just so much room for error and it was driving Claire mad. To distract herself, she decided to give herself a self-guided tour of Margot’s offices. Her guard didn’t stop her, so she figured it must be okay.

She checked out room after room, mapping the spaces and resisting the urge to adjust employees’ personal belongings. Margot’s personal office was so silent that Claire wasn’t aware she was intruding until she looked through the door. The space was the definition of minimalist. There wasn’t even a computer on the streamlined desk Margot was seated at because apparently the desk was the computer and the wall across from the desk was the screen.

Wonder replaced propriety as Claire lurked in the doorway, her eyes mapping-mapping-mapping everything until they landed on a video on the wall. It showed Jack sitting at a poolside bar with a blonde woman. For a few moments, Claire went blind to everything else, only seeing the blonde woman’s sincere smile as she said something to Jack on the muted video. They knew each other.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.