more than I did before—and had a totally rearranged set of goals. I felt like I was about to attack a fortress, to penetrate and destroy it from the inside. Maybe I was being a bit overdramatic.
I walked back into my office —I couldn't help but feel like I was clad in an expensive Marisa disguise — and set down my purse. The whole building suddenly looked so different to me. Did any of these people really know what they were up to? I assumed some did and others did not. It was a place that had been totally redefined for me. Two hands gripped my shoulders and startled me. I turned around with a scream.
"Frederic!" I said, exasperation in my voice. "God, you scared me!"
He was grinning from ear to ear. "Feeling better? Where'd you go for lunch?"
"Huh?" I said. "Feeling better?"
"Your family dog," he said with a frown . "I hope you didn't already forget about it.
Shit. Had I already blown it? "Yeah, yeah," I feel better. "I just met a friend for coffee at some place downtown."
"You didn't meet Ramón , did you?" His expression was cold.
I felt my legs weakening at once. I dropped to the chair as if it was intentional. Get yourself together, Marisa. " Ramón ?" I asked. "Why the hell would I see that scumbag?" What did he know about the real Ramón ?
"Are you sure?" He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
"Yes! You really think I'd go see him?"
"He's always after our secrets —and he's smart . I'd hate for you to wind up involved with such a loser. I won't say anything... "
"No! " I said. "I didn't see Ramón and that's that." I felt a lot better after he continued with the whole former partner business. That was obviously the image that Ramón was trying to portray.
"Relax!" He kissed my cheek. "I was just teasing. Don't sweat it."
"Yeah, it's just the dog thing," I said.
"Sure. Losing a pet is no good." As usual, he looked at his cell phone and then prepared to leave. "I've got to be on my way though. I'll see you later."
I gave him an awkward wave and turned back to my desk. There were piles and piles of manifests. As I'd noticed before, some items vanished during the week and were replaced by the final shipment days. It was suspicious—this was probably exactly where illegal transactions were taking place—but I didn't know how far I should dig into it here since Frederic had already noticed my snooping the first time. I would have to give it some thought.
By the end of the day, I didn't want to leave. I was nervous about facing Roland, nervous that he somehow tracked me. Ramón claimed that the metal detector would have picked up any chips that could have been implanted under my skin to track my whereabouts, but still I was weary. There was no choice, however. The car awaited me.
I shut off the lights in my office and headed outside. As usual, my ride was there. I climbed inside and once again braced myself to head directly back into Roland's world. When I arrived in the driveway, there was a silver BMW parked there, one that I hadn't seen before. Honestly, Roland knew so many people that it was nearly impossible to keep track of them.
When I stepped onto the porch, a bald man in a leather jacket stepped out and walked past me like I wasn't even there. He hopped in his sports car and drove off before I had even stepped inside. This was my big moment, the time when the show really began.
"Who was that?" I asked as I walked in. Roland was standing there in the living room in actual clothes for the first time since the big company event. As usual, he didn't look surprised to see me.
"Curious, are we?" he asked. "That's my friend Lukas." He crept toward me and wrapped his arm around my waist.
"How do you even keep track of all of them?" Oh shit, my heart was pounding . This was all so normal, but now that I knew what I knew, I felt like I was on stage in front of half of the world. Stay cool.
"Pet, you're a little worked up, aren't you? Relax." Roland spun me around and started to massage
I walked back into my office —I couldn't help but feel like I was clad in an expensive Marisa disguise — and set down my purse. The whole building suddenly looked so different to me. Did any of these people really know what they were up to? I assumed some did and others did not. It was a place that had been totally redefined for me. Two hands gripped my shoulders and startled me. I turned around with a scream.
"Frederic!" I said, exasperation in my voice. "God, you scared me!"
He was grinning from ear to ear. "Feeling better? Where'd you go for lunch?"
"Huh?" I said. "Feeling better?"
"Your family dog," he said with a frown . "I hope you didn't already forget about it.
Shit. Had I already blown it? "Yeah, yeah," I feel better. "I just met a friend for coffee at some place downtown."
"You didn't meet Ramón , did you?" His expression was cold.
I felt my legs weakening at once. I dropped to the chair as if it was intentional. Get yourself together, Marisa. " Ramón ?" I asked. "Why the hell would I see that scumbag?" What did he know about the real Ramón ?
"Are you sure?" He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
"Yes! You really think I'd go see him?"
"He's always after our secrets —and he's smart . I'd hate for you to wind up involved with such a loser. I won't say anything... "
"No! " I said. "I didn't see Ramón and that's that." I felt a lot better after he continued with the whole former partner business. That was obviously the image that Ramón was trying to portray.
"Relax!" He kissed my cheek. "I was just teasing. Don't sweat it."
"Yeah, it's just the dog thing," I said.
"Sure. Losing a pet is no good." As usual, he looked at his cell phone and then prepared to leave. "I've got to be on my way though. I'll see you later."
I gave him an awkward wave and turned back to my desk. There were piles and piles of manifests. As I'd noticed before, some items vanished during the week and were replaced by the final shipment days. It was suspicious—this was probably exactly where illegal transactions were taking place—but I didn't know how far I should dig into it here since Frederic had already noticed my snooping the first time. I would have to give it some thought.
By the end of the day, I didn't want to leave. I was nervous about facing Roland, nervous that he somehow tracked me. Ramón claimed that the metal detector would have picked up any chips that could have been implanted under my skin to track my whereabouts, but still I was weary. There was no choice, however. The car awaited me.
I shut off the lights in my office and headed outside. As usual, my ride was there. I climbed inside and once again braced myself to head directly back into Roland's world. When I arrived in the driveway, there was a silver BMW parked there, one that I hadn't seen before. Honestly, Roland knew so many people that it was nearly impossible to keep track of them.
When I stepped onto the porch, a bald man in a leather jacket stepped out and walked past me like I wasn't even there. He hopped in his sports car and drove off before I had even stepped inside. This was my big moment, the time when the show really began.
"Who was that?" I asked as I walked in. Roland was standing there in the living room in actual clothes for the first time since the big company event. As usual, he didn't look surprised to see me.
"Curious, are we?" he asked. "That's my friend Lukas." He crept toward me and wrapped his arm around my waist.
"How do you even keep track of all of them?" Oh shit, my heart was pounding . This was all so normal, but now that I knew what I knew, I felt like I was on stage in front of half of the world. Stay cool.
"Pet, you're a little worked up, aren't you? Relax." Roland spun me around and started to massage
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