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Date Posted: 16:39:24 05/03/02 Fri
Author: Repost Fairy
Author Host/IP: 64.193.19.25
Subject: Chapter 66
In reply to: Genevieve 's message, "Burden of Proof - Chapter 55 onwards..." on 16:10:02 05/03/02 Fri

~*~*~*~*~*~

She walked quickly down the brightly lit corridor. At six a.m. Saturday morning, their department was relatively deserted. The tapping of her heels on the hard floor echoed loudly in the empty hallway.

He was already in his office, as she knew he would be. When she reached his open doorway, he put aside the document he was reading and gave her a warm smile.

“You’re here early.”

She returned his smile as she walked toward his desk. “So are you.”

He gestured toward the glass coffeepot on his desk. “Coffee?”

With a grateful nod, she sank into her customary chair. “Thank you. I’m afraid this morning was rather rushed.”

Some of the warmth faded from his pale blue eyes. “Late night?” Without waiting for an answer, he poured coffee for both of them and handed her one of the mugs.

She put the file she carried on the desk, and took the mug. Wrapping her hands around the warm china cup, she shook her head at him, mildly exasperated by the question. Some things never changed. Paul’s possessiveness was one of them. “I was going over the transcripts from the Harker file.”

“I see.” He sipped his coffee before giving her a slow smile. “If I’d known you had such an exciting evening planned, I would have asked you to join me for dinner.”

Leaning back in the chair, she crossed her legs and gave him a non-committal smile. “Perhaps another night.” Their eyes met and held. She felt her breath catch, and knew by the sudden gleam in his eyes that he remembered the last time she had ‘joined him for dinner’. Food had been the last item on their agenda that night. She cleared her throat, ignoring the flutter of awareness that unfurled in the pit of her stomach. “In the meantime, we have a rather interesting development to discuss.”

“Which is?”

“We’ve just learned Vachek is hosting a dinner party for his daughter’s 21st birthday next Saturday.”

He frowned. ”That’s unusually doting of him, wouldn’t you say?”

She smiled. “I would.” She handed him a printout from the file she had brought with her. “My belief is that he plans to use the opportunity to consolidate any last minute transactions before the EEC conference.”

He scanned the document quickly. “All four of the major buyers will be in London this weekend?” He looked slightly incredulous. “I find that rather a convenient coincidence.”

She nodded. “It does suggest collusion of some kind amongst the main players.”

He looked at the printout once more. “This is quite a guest list.”

“I agree. Luckily, our people will be in place.”

He glanced up at her. “People?”

She nodded. “Yes. The social schematics are more suited to a couple.”

He handed her the document. “Who are you using?”

“The usual pairing. They’ve worked together before.”

‘Fine. I’d like to debrief them myself.”

She offered him a quick smile. “Of course.” She opened the file again. “There is another matter we need to discuss. Vachek Holdings has become embroiled in legal proceedings instigated by a former employee.” She glanced down at the file. “An unfair dismissal claim. There was a mediation conference yesterday.” She looked up at him. “Which was, not surprisingly, unsuccessful. What was surprising is that Vachek attended personally.”

He frowned. “That’s not his usual style.”

She nodded. “No, it’s not. But that’s not what I’m worried about. We only discovered the development after monitoring a call from Vachek’s secretary.”

“It wasn’t in the report?”

“No.”

“That’s odd.”

“I agree.”

They shared a long look. “I don’t like anomalies,” he finally said as he reached into his breast pocket. “Look into it, would you?” She watched as he drew a slim cigarillo out of its packet. He caught her eye and raised an inquiring eyebrow. “May I?”

She let her gaze drop to his lips, then glanced at the cigarillo. “I’m not fond of the taste myself, but it’s your office.”

He smiled at her wryly and put the packet down on his desk. She took a last sip of her coffee and picked up the file. “I must go. Thank you for the coffee.” She felt his eyes on her as she rose from the chair and turned to leave.

“Are you free tonight?”

She turned around slowly to meet his eyes. “Perhaps. What did you have in mind?”

She hid a smile as his eyes widened at her choice of words. It was a game they had played often over the last eight years. His gaze travelled lazily over her and she felt the balance of power subtly shift. Heat suffused her skin where his eyes touched her. As always, she marveled at the potency of her reaction, even as he smiled at her knowingly.

“Dinner. 8:00pm.” It wasn’t a question.

She looked at him for a moment, mentally skimming through the day that lay before her. When his self-assured expression began to waver, she gave him a slow smile. “I’ll expect you at 7:45.” Without waiting for his reply, Madeline turned and walked swiftly from his office. As pleasant a distraction as these morning meetings were, she needed to get to work.

~*~*~*~*~


For JayBee and Debbie Biv, for being very, very patient. grin

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Replies:

  • Chapter 67 -- Repost Fairy, 16:41:18 05/03/02 Fri
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