Eventually I had a chance to get a word in. “Yeah, well you know me—a glutton for punishment. Anyhow, did you tell Janice I’d be late, and can you come grab me from the lobby? I’ll be there in just a couple of minutes.” I was looking forward to pumping him for information, so I was quite disappointed by his reply.
“Dude…yeah, I told Janice, but I’m at Heathrow. I got a call over the weekend, so I needed to hop onto the Heathrow Express just a few minutes after I got your text. I had the pass arranged, but I can’t come sign you in. I’ve got to get on the plane now. Sorry, man…” He trailed off, sounding genuinely apologetic.
“Hey, no problem—catch you later,” I finished before closing the call. I wracked my brains, trying to figure out whom I could bother to come and meet me in the lobby. In the end, I decided that Anne in Accounting was probably my best option. She’d been there at the beginning and the end of my fight with the thing that had been driving Phil, and that meant that she was sure to have been included in any gossip. We’d worked together for the past couple of years, so I figured she’d clue me in. She was pretty cute too.
“Hi, Anne. Julian here,” I greeted her enthusiastically; no reason to let her know that I was terrified of the meeting that was coming up in less than sixty minutes.
“Oh—hi, Julian. I thought maybe you had the day off today. How can I help you?” Anne’s slightly squeaky soprano voice inquired from the handset pressed to my ear.
“I’ve been at meetings in the city, but I left my pass at home. Can you come sign me in?” I lied smoothly, years of practice coming to the fore. A few minutes later, the petite blonde came out of the elevator and signed me in. As we were entering the elevator, she turned to me with a slightly worried look on her face.
“I can’t believe you’re back at work already. Your eye is still all black, and I can see the bruises on your neck still. I can’t believe what Phil did to you. I was right there, and I just can’t believe it,” she offered, putting a hand on my arm.
“Yeah, it was really lucky that I was able to find those scissors and fight him off,” I lied again without batting an eyelash. “What are the people in the office saying about it?” I lied again without batting an eyelash. I needed to know what was going on, and I needed to get the information out of Anne before we got to the top of the elevator.
“Janice doesn’t really seem that bothered, but she’s been acting really weird, spacey-like. Richard was saying that we might end up just going with our normal firm on the conference center thing because this whole procurement is starting to drag. Otherwise, people are shocked, but I heard the HR girls talking about how they were terminating Phil’s work contract. I guess it’s pretty obvious, but I’m glad to see that you’re here,” the younger woman finished with a smile and then surprised me with a quick hug before the elevator came to a stop.
I was relieved to find out that there didn’t seem to be any calls to sideline me, but perhaps people just hadn’t expected to see me in the office yet. In any event, I thanked Anne and parted ways with her as she took a detour to powder her nose. Entering the room that our department was based in, I was slightly relieved not to see Janice. I waved to Richard at his seat and jumped onto the hotdesking terminal in the corner of the room.
CHAPTER 22 1425–1500, Monday, August 3, 2015
***Kelly***
Kelly couldn’t believe that she was actually showing up for this meeting. She had almost stayed back in her flat, where she’d spent most of the past day shaking with horror at what she and her “friends” had done to so many of their clients. She felt foolish for not having previously discovered the trend, and she’d been terrified at getting confirmation that at least one of her partners had actually known this was going on. Although she’d tried to muster the courage twice before the meeting, she hadn’t had the stomach to confront the other women. She was afraid to find out the full truth. No—she had used her time to prepare an intervention for the coming meeting; one that could end the chain of death and madness that she’d helped to forge.
She sat in a cafe inside Paddington station, watching for the arrival of her partners. Her sleek gray pantsuit was well tailored, hugging every curve, and she’d noticed stares from more than a couple of the men passing by. But today, not even that could really lift her spirits. Kelly had never needed money as much as the other women, but growing up poor was no excuse for what they had done. She couldn’t forgive, and she couldn’t forget, and she couldn’t let them hurt anyone else.
“No more,” Kelly muttered to herself as she sipped her coffee. She hadn’t been brave enough to confront her partners, but when the new alarms that she’d set to track their clients had pinged, alerting her that Donald Rutland had been the man killed in last night’s riots, she’d known that she couldn’t dodge her responsibility. That's why she’d spent the last twenty hours coming up with a plan: She was going to kill OMG.
A few minutes later, she saw Tara coming out of the underground station, and Ena followed her soon after. The women had never been late for a meeting, and in a way it was comforting to see that even at this point, they weren’t deviating from routine. Once the other two had passed out of the station and started toward Paddington Basin, Kelly dropped a twenty-pound note on the table and strode, high heels clicking, out of the Praed Street exit.
Kelly had initially considered just pulling out of the partnership, but had quickly realized that that wouldn’t work. The other two women would carry on without her; at worst, they would just have to buy out her portion of the partnership. If they could salvage the situation today, they’d have the funds to do that. That would leave Kelly on the outside looking in, without any real ability to affect the situation. She shook her head in disgust, muttering, “Even worse, they’d almost certainly be able to find another rube to participate in their sick little rituals.” And if that happened, Kelly knew that she’d never be allowed to walk away.
Her plan was twofold. First, she’d have to sink today’s meeting in such a spectacular fashion that the firm would be kicked right out of the bid process. Second, and more importantly, she’d have to find a way to destroy the ritual book. She still didn’t know where the book had come from; it had seemingly just shown up one night in their third year at university. All of the girls had been studying together, each helping the other revise for her given exams, when the lights had went off in their shared flat. When the lights came back on, as far as any of them could remember, the large, leatherbound book had simply appeared in the middle of their table.
Kelly had wondered several times if that had really been what happened, or if there’d been more to the story that the girls had all conveniently “forgotten” as part of the payment required for services rendered. She shivered slightly as she reached the door to the pharmaceutical company’s building, and Kelly wished that she could forget everything that she’d learned over the past twenty-four hours.
Ena and Tara were waiting in Reception when Kelly strode through the doors. Both plastered on smiles, and Kelly waved while she signed into the visitor’s register. Both of the other women looked immaculate, Tara in a short cream skirt, and Ena wearing black trousers with a red blouse cut as low as propriety would allow. It was obvious that they were both committed to landing the deal today. But were both equally guilty?
“Ladies,” she said, smiling and taking a seat. Unconscious of the nervousness it belied, she crossed her legs. Kelly noted, with a pang of disappointment, that both also had pens—of the special sort that they used to mark their clients. Kelly paused momentarily before mentally crossing out “clients” and replacing it with “victims.”
Tara and Ena nodded at her wordlessly, and she fought to keep her face impassive. She couldn’t allow them to suspect for a moment the full extent of what she was planning to do. Kelly was relieved when she looked up and saw Julian coming out of the elevator, because it meant that she wouldn’t have to keep up the act much longer.
***Ena***
Ena g
lanced at the man walking slowly across the lobby toward them. He wasn’t a very imposing physical specimen, but she was shocked to see him here. She’d had a call from Redderton late yesterday evening, and they’d reported that, in addition to the injuries the man had suffered struggling with his coworker, Julian had been central to the altercation at Burger King that had sparked off a minor riot. The private detective said he’d witnessed Adler being thrown around the restaurant and subsequently was on the verge of passing out in an alley, where a crowd of Chinese students had bundled Julian off.
Ena would have felt lied to or betrayed if it hadn’t been for the pictures that the detective had provided to back up his story. It had been difficult to tell just how badly injured Julian had been under the layer of soot, but seeing him in the flesh today, she had no doubt that the identification had been correct. She’d passed the photos on to Tara, and the lawyer had smiled and nodded her head upon receipt.
Kelly bounced to her feet and quickly extended her hand. Ena fought back an urge to sneer at the clumsy manner in which the computer geek greeted the man, but looked on impassively as Kelly gestured first at her and then at Tara.
“Mr. Adler, it's so good to see you again. These are my partners, Ena O’Brian and Tara Grady,” Kelly proffered and then shuffled out of the way as Ena stepped up. Julian extended his hand, but Ena wanted to show the amateurs how a real pro worked. She walked forward, beaming a smile, her cherry-red lips forming a wide bow against alabaster skin.
“Julian, a pleasure to finally meet you,” she gushed. Ena followed this with quick pecks on both cheeks, leaning in so that her chest brushed the front of his extremely ugly purple shirt. She was pleased to see the man blush slightly, his own fair skin coloring and his eyes glancing down at her décolletage. She’d never slept with a client to win a deal, but it would have been stupid not to use every advantage available.
She watched as Julian, still blushing, stepped forward and made a show of extending his hand to Tara, avoiding any potential for further embarrassment. A sudden rumbling in her stomach made Ena wish that she’d stopped to grab a bite on the way to the meeting.
“Tara, a pleasure to meet you. I handle most of our initial contract evaluation, so if we take this relationship, uh…business relationship any further, I’m sure we’ll be spending time together. Umm…reviewing contracts,” Julian said in a rush. With that, the man turned on his heels and almost fled back to the elevator.
CHAPTER 23 1500–1525, Monday, August 3, 2015
***Julian***
I entered the elevator with the three gorgeous women from OMG trailing behind me. As the junior member of the team on-site, it had fallen to me, once again, to collect them from Reception. My nerves were shot going into this meeting, but I was grateful that I could use the kiss and brushup that Ena had given me to cover it. A man can never go wrong with a woman by acting like he’s been stupefied by her good looks, especially when it isn’t much of an act.
I kept quiet during the ride, and we arrived at the appropriate floor within thirty seconds. I was pleased to see Janice sitting in the glass-walled meeting room in front of me, her mismatched blue top and red trousers throwing me off for a moment. I’d rarely seen eye to eye with Janice, but while she was a fairly frumpy fiftysomething, she’d always dressed well for the office, especially when we had client meetings. Looking at her more closely, I could see dark circles under her hazel eyes. I wondered if she was sleeping well…
Richard from Accounting was also in the meeting, a stereotypically slender and unassuming-looking man with a receding hairline and a pocket protector; you could have pulled him out of a book of accountant caricatures. Fortunately for the company, he had an admirable track record of being tough minded and forceful in internal and external discussions, so he was an ideal fit for our department. Unfortunately, I had a feeling that made him a good fit for many other organizations. He’d been absent from the office frequently recently, and I thought he was probably interviewing for a bigger job somewhere else.
I introduced the OMG team to Richard and Janice quickly. Strangely, Kelly’s eyes lingered on Richard, looking him up and down. I would have sworn she was interested in more than pitching her company’s proposal. Shaking my head, I thought that perhaps it was my imagination running away with me after the scene downstairs. I dialed in Nick on the conference call number and started the meeting.
“It’s somewhat unusual to be meeting with only one party in a procurement exercise, but I appreciate the commitment that having all three partners here represents. We only have an hour, so if you could please begin?” I said. The table we were at was circular and only about three feet across, so the six of us in the room were a fairly tight fit, but it was easy to reach over and help Kelly plug the cord for the AV setup into her VGA slot (which isn’t as dirty as it sounds). While I was doing that, Ena spoke.
“We’re thrilled to be here today. We believe that adopting OMG’s proposal, to put you into the Swan Centre in Vauxhall, will change the perception of your business in the UK market and open up new opportunities for you in terms of influencing key governmental stakeholders…” The statement had started out very convincing, but Ena trailed off at the end as her eyes strayed to a plate of biscuits on the table. The woman wasn’t stick thin, but it seemed quite odd for her to be so distracted by a plate of Jaffa cakes that she’d interrupt a sales pitch; however, this entire job had been nothing if not odd.
Tara cleared her throat and shot an annoyed glance at Ena. “Our firm is so sure that your company will be happy with the new development that we’re willing to enter into a risk-reward contract. We understand that you’ll be using this center for media events, and we’ll guarantee that you’ll increase your net promoter score by at least ten percent in the first year and five percent year on year.” The brunette cleared her throat, and her head whipped around. “Ena—what the hell are you doing!” she yelled as the other woman shoved a biscuit into her mouth; the biscuit joined two others that already had her cheeks bulging.
“What? I’m sooo hungry…” Ena’s words were almost unintelligible as she talked around a cascade of crumbs; her hand already creeping back toward the near-empty plate.
“Do you need to take a short break?” Richard’s calm words cut through the byplay, and everyone stopped what they were doing to look at him. Everyone, that is, except for Kelly, who ran her hand surreptitiously along my knee underneath the table. I shot a glance at her, but besides the smallest smirk at the corners of her mouth, she gave no indication that she was doing anything of note.
“Yes—let me apologize. I think we do need a moment. Don’t we, ladies?” the lawyer said, biting off each word as she stared at each of her partners in turn.
“Yes,” both chorused in reply.
“Nick, I’ll put you on mute for now while the rest of us step into the hallway,” I explained while reaching for the phone. I caught a brief grunt of acknowledgment before poking at the mute button. Richard rose immediately, and I was almost at the door when we realized that Janice hadn’t moved at all.
“Janice, are you coming?” Richard’s surprisingly deep baritone cut across the room.
Her head swiveled toward him, and she smiled vacantly before replying, “Do you want me to come with you, Richard? That would be lovely.” Richard and I exchanged concerned glances and exited the room with Janice following us to the small staff tearoom. When we arrived, Richard beckoned me over and leaned in toward me.
“Julian, to be honest, I wasn’t sure whether you should be in this meeting or not given the events last Wednesday, but as far as I can tell, you seem okay. Do you have any idea at all what is going on in there? I’ve looked into this firm, and everything online and in their financial reports indicates that they are a top-notch organization.” He put a hand on my shoulder. I looked at Richard and tried to concoct a reply that wouldn’t get me lumped in with the loonies. Peeking back toward the conference room to buy a little time, I saw Tara gesticulating wild
ly, and I wondered what was going on in there.
***Tara***
“Can neither of you control yourselves?” Tara’s words came out clipped but, through an effort of will, at a normal volume as she glared down at the seated women. Leaning forward, she put her hands on the table and put her face close to Ena, whose only response was to finish a final mouthful of Jaffa cake and look down sheepishly.
“What? I wasn’t doing anything.” Kelly’s innocent words were given the lie by the obvious blush creeping up her pale skin as well as the wicked smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“Don’t bullshit me, Kel—I’ve known you for ten years, and the last few, you’ve been so cock hungry that it’s been embarrassing to go out with you. Now we have the company on the line, and you’re feeling up some stuffed suit under the table?” Tara was gesticulating wildly at this point, her hands clenching into fists and then unclenching of their own volition. “We have a plan. We have to get Richard marked, and we have to get Julian marked. We won’t be able to get Nick, obviously, but if we have three out of four, then I think we can push this through. Remember, if we don’t nail this in the next couple of days, we’ll lose everything that we worked for in the last few years,” Tara pronounced, forcing her hands to hang open at her sides; taking a deep breath, she looked around the table again.
“I don’t understand it, T. I knew we had a plan. I brought my pen. I was going to mark Julian when he went to help Kelly with the AV cable, but instead I was suddenly sooo hungry. I’ve been starving constantly lately, but this was crazy…” Ena’s eyes shimmered with barely restrained tears.
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