“Correct.Father built our house by staying a step ahead.Fashion has always been war disguised as glamour.This shouldn’t surprise you.”
“And now one client’s greed has reached Capitol Hill.You think I can simply ask that storm to stand down?”
“No.Obviously Alicia Morgan also needs to be handled.But that’s not why I was sent here.”
“You’re here to handle me.”
“The sexual footage is noise, not currency,” she says, studying her nails.“Conversations are what sell.My guess is they were stretched for something of value on this particular guy.Typically it’s conversations in your restaurants and meeting rooms—that’s what’s of value—or that’s what I’m told.Now I happen to know that this Thorne guy is making a nice mint feeding The Magpie, so that might be a conversation worth having with him.”Done with examining her manicure, she lifts a cue ball from the billiard table and rolls it in her palm.“But you can’t fire him.Or if you do, you need to replace him.We risk losing our source of information if you fire him.If you keep him in place, we get a discounted price moving forward.I’m willing to share with you the difference, although I know money isn’t a likely motivator.But I’m hoping your love for our father, for our family’s legacy, will be sufficient motivation.”She drops the ball down onto the felt and it lands with a thud.“For me, your little sister.And what do you really care?It’s better for you if this whole incident stays secret.”
“The photos used as blackmail to the senator were clearly taken here, on site.”
“And the senator won’t say anything because to do so would expose his infidelity.You’re safe.Magpie will be careful with what they share.”
“It must be lovely, that simple world of yours.”KOAN won’t just walk away because I ask nicely.If anything, I’ll be drawn in.And Brie already is.“What about the extortionist?What’s to stop him…or them…from sharing the photos?”
“If the senator meets the demands, no photos are shared.”
I run my fingers through my hair as I debate sharing with my delightful sister how many people are a part of this investigation, that this black-ops group doesn’t just go away.But she’s clever.She’s always been clever.
“How many are a part of your investigative team?”
“I don’t have all the names.”And I sure as hell am not about to tell my sister that Brie’s on that team.I wouldn’t put it past Moira and this Magpie group to see eliminating them all as a viable solution.
“You run a loose shop, do you?”
“It’s not my investigation, Margot, remember?You asked me to take the meeting with Alicia Morgan.And when I did, do you know what I discovered?An entire room in my building I didn’t know existed.And I’m going to assume a similar operation exists in all five locations, am I right?And let’s see, since Edward Thorne only oversees two locations, that means I’ve got complicit employees in three other locations to be concerned with.”
“All you need to do is look the other way.Let it continue.You’ve owned it for three years and haven’t had any issues.”
“Dad’s friends with Moira Kelly.Isn’t he?I was shown a photograph of her—she’s familiar.I’ve seen her in the past.Seen her in photographs with our father at events.Was she more than an acquaintance?”
It’s no secret our parents haven’t always been faithful.I believe now they are, but they’re also in their eighties.
“That’s not something I would ever ask Dad.”On that score, I believe her.
“Is this the reason Father was so against me buying The Sanctuary?”He’d actually tried to halt the bank from underwriting my investment.
“Maybe.Again, you’d need to ask him.”She rolls the cue ball around then sends it rolling into the side of the table.“I’m here to ask you to stop what you can.Keep this Edward Thorne on.”
“Thorne’s vanished.He hasn’t been seen since yesterday.”
“He knows you’re onto him.He relayed back to Moira.He’ll resurface when cleared.That’s what I need to get from you—his clearance.If you still plan on firing him, I suppose I won’t blame you.He’s been essentially skimming revenues if you want to think about it that way.I can tell them you refuse to keep someone you can’t trust on.But you’ve got to stop your part in any investigation.”
“And Magpie will ‘handle’ Alicia Morgan?”I ask, testing how deep she’s in.
Her nod is small, self-satisfied.“Now—this woman.Your mystery lover.Tommy says you’re quite taken.Should I get to know her?”
“No.”The word comes out too fast.
She hears the crack in it and smiles.“You’re protective of her,” she says.“Tommy’s right.It’s not just a fling.”
Damn Tommy for telling my sister the woman from Monaco surfaced.“She gave me a false name in Monaco because she planned to ghost me.”My sister tilts her head back as she laughs.“I met her by chance in Manhattan.”
But even as I speak, cold spreads beneath my skin.Margot may be satisfied with half-truths, but Magpie won’t be.Brie’s already a target.
“I think I like her,” Margot says sweetly, detonating calm as if she hadn’t just confessed duplicity.She draws her handbag closer, as if shielding something fragile, and strides to the sofa.“One more thing.If Moira Kelly is touched—arrested, disappears, anything—a dead man’s switch triggers.Hundreds of files, names, scandals.Your club, our brand, the whole bloody pantheon.It all burns.”
“What does that mean?”
