Chương 10
Instead she heard Adrian’s voice from the meeting.
It is exactly as large as it is.
She looked directly at the camera.
“I disclosed the memos because he asked a direct factual question.”
Martin said, “After he singled you out.”
“Yes.”
“After meeting you privately.”
“At an airport.”
“Where you embraced him.”
“Because my boyfriend dumped me.”
The sentence escaped with enough force that both of them stopped.
Eve took a breath.
Her eyes stung, which made her furious.
“I was crying in public like an idiot, and I asked the nearest person to hold me because I didn’t want to fall apart alone.”
Martin looked away.
Judith remained silent.
Eve continued.
“I did not know his name.”
Her voice shook now.
“I did not know he was connected to the client.”
She swallowed.
“And I am not going to let you turn one humiliating human moment into a professional scheme because it makes the rest of this easier for you.”
Martin’s face hardened.
Judith spoke before he could.
“Enough.”
The word was quiet.
Martin stopped.
Judith picked up her glasses.
“Eve, you are off the Sterling account temporarily.”
Pain struck beneath Eve’s ribs.
She nodded.
Judith continued.
“That is not disciplinary.”
Martin looked at her.
Judith ignored him.
“It is to protect the review, protect the firm, and protect you from accusations that your continued involvement is influencing the process.”
Eve hated that it made sense.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Nothing involving Sterling unless Legal asks.”
“And my job?”
“You still have one.”
Martin shifted.
Judith looked directly at him.
“She still has one.”
The message was not for Eve.
Martin’s mouth tightened.
Judith said, “I am also removing Martin from direct supervision of this matter pending our internal review.”
Now it was Martin’s turn to go pale.
“Judith.”
“No.”
“You’re treating ordinary client management like misconduct.”
“I’m treating it like something I haven’t finished understanding.”
“This is absurd.”
“Maybe.”
Judith put on her glasses.
“That’s why we investigate things before deciding what they are.”
The call ended five minutes later.
Eve sat motionless at the hotel desk.
Snow pressed against the window in soft white sheets.
Her coffee had gone cold.
Her slippers suddenly felt ridiculous.
At 8:31, an unfamiliar Boston number called.
She almost ignored it.
Then she answered.
“Eve Mercer?”
A woman’s voice.
“Yes.”
“My name is Elena Cho.”
Eve sat straighter.
“Sterling Legal?”
“That’s right.”
Elena’s tone was calm and unhurried.
“I’m reviewing the materials you sent yesterday.”
“Okay.”
“I need to clarify something about your notes from the call with Maya Torres.”
Eve looked toward her laptop.
“What?”
Elena paused.
“When Ms. Torres said they were going to make it look like tenants accepted the new terms, did she tell you how?”
Eve closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“She said the property office had been instructed to mark unsigned renewal offers as tenant-declined after forty-eight hours.”
Elena said nothing.
Eve continued.
“And then issue new offers at the higher rate.”
The silence on the line changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
Elena asked, “Who gave that instruction?”
“Maya said it came from Dennis Vale’s office.”
“Did she name Dennis directly?”
“No.”
“Anyone else?”
“She mentioned someone named Cole.”
Elena inhaled slowly.
“Cole Bennett?”
“I don’t know.”
Another pause.
Then Elena said, “Eve, do not contact Maya.”
“I won’t.”
“If she contacts you, do not discuss substance.”
“All right.”
“And if anyone asks you to delete, revise, backdate, or characterize your notes differently, call me.”
Eve’s mouth went dry.
“Elena, what is this?”
The lawyer was silent for long enough that Eve knew she was choosing every word.
“Something larger than a disagreement over rent assumptions.”
Then the call ended.
Eve stayed sitting at the desk after the call ended, the phone still pressed to her ear even though the line had gone dead.
The room heater clicked on beneath the window.
Outside, snow kept falling with the indifferent patience of something that did not care whether anyone’s career survived the day.
She put the phone down and opened her notes again.
Cole.
The name meant nothing.
She searched her client emails for it.
Three results appeared.
Cole Bennett was a regional operations vice president responsible for five properties in the pilot.
Two of the emails were scheduling threads.
The third was from Dennis Vale.
Cole, please handle these at the property level and keep unnecessary noise out of the committee materials.
Eve read the sentence once.
Then again.
The email was dated three days after her first memo.
Her pulse quickened.
She almost forwarded it to Elena immediately.
Then she stopped.
The email already existed on Sterling’s servers.
Legal had access.
Sending it might look like she was inserting herself back into an investigation she had just been told to stay out of.
She closed the message.
Her hands felt cold.
At nine twelve, Priya texted.
Are you okay?
Eve looked at the words for a while.
She typed, Define okay.
Priya replied, Employed, unarrested, not hiding in Canada.
Eve smiled despite herself.
Yes to all three.
Good.
Then a second message appeared.
Do not come into the office today.
Eve stared at it.
Wasn’t planning to.
I know.
That answer bothered her.
Before she could ask why, Priya added, Legal is interviewing people and Dennis is here.
Eve’s stomach tightened.
She set the phone facedown.
For ten minutes, she tried to work on another client deck.
At minute eleven, she found herself staring at the same bar chart while imagining Dennis in a conference room explaining that the entire problem had been caused by an emotionally unstable consultant.
She closed the laptop.
The minibar contained a seven-dollar chocolate bar.
Eve ate half of it while standing beside the window.
At ten thirty, Nora called.
“You sound weird,” Nora said immediately.
“I have eaten hotel chocolate for breakfast.”
“That explains nothing.”
Eve told her about Elena’s call.
Nora was silent for several seconds.
May you like
Then she said, “That sounds bad.”
“It sounds bad.”
