Chapter Forty-Seven

After Hours

Ellen led Nora to Peter's office, turning to leave them in privacy as soon as Nora was through the door. It was definitely a swanky office, she had to admit. Peter was doing pretty well for himself in his pretend alternate life. She grinned at him as she stepped toward his desk. Peter spun around in his chair. "You are stepping up in the world," she mused.

"Well, it's not really my office."

She sank down into a sleek office chair opposite Peter. "Oh, can it be mine?"

"You already have a workspace."

"Oh, yeah," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "I get a cubicle. You get a palace." She tossed her bag down on the desk.

"I work harder," he teased with a shrug.

"Yeah."

He gave her a pointed look. "Purse." With a dark look, she snatched it back. "How's the marketing department?"

"Oh, a nice blend of smarmy and suspicious. I'll narrow it down later." She flashed a cocky grin. "I'm meeting everyone for dinner tonight."

"Oh," he mused before picking up a tiny mug and taking a sip. Her face fell, incredulous. "Espresso?"

"I've always liked espresso."

"No more ugly FBI mugs for you." He ignored her. "I think you missed your calling." Still, he said nothing, pursing his lips and waiting for her to get it out of her system. "Tiny cup, big office, expensive suits," she prompted, undeterred.

"Ugly mugs are fine," he huffed.

"Don't fight your instincts, Peter. Embrace your true self."

"You done?"

"I can keep going."

"You're done." It was fun while it lasted. His brow furrowed for a moment, and she got the feeling it was unrelated to her teasing. "What time is dinner tonight?"

"Nine," she said, leaning forward, suddenly very serious. "What are you thinking?"

"If we do have a mole, we might be able to bait him." He fixed her with a serious look. "You're pretty good at chit-chat, right?"

As if he even had to ask. "Want me to spread some gossip?"

"Tell everyone that you noticed I was looking into Hayes' files. Maybe I found something interesting."

She twirled a curl around her finger, picking up Peter's plan. "Let him think you found something on the dead guy. Our mole will want to poke around your office."

"Yeah. Make him want to come to us."

She smirked, drawing herself up confidently. "I'm on it."

The junior executives picked an expensive restaurant for their game of credit card roulette. Whoever lost would certainly have a hell of a tab to pay. They treated the menu like bets in a game of high-stakes poker, each person trying their hardest to one-up the last order. Nora played along; who was she to turn down a lavish dinner on someone else's dime?

"How much was the smoked squab?" Trent asked, curious.

"More than the lobster tartine, Trent," Andrew said dryly.

Trent shrugged. "Which is why I had to raise you with the Opus."

"Three bottles of Opus?" Jessica scoffed. Trent just smirked.

"No matter who loses," Nora injected, "someone's gonna have to answer to Accounting."

Trent turned to face her. "Or Kent himself."

"I haven't met him yet," she mused.

"Look, the only think you need to know about the boss is that he likes the high life almost as much as quarterly profits," Jessica explained helpfully.

"And," Andrew added, "he also likes his daily Armagnac." Peter had mentioned that, but Nora nodded along as if this was new and useful information. "Buying him a bottle every now and then will… help you stay on his good side."

"Thanks for the tip," she said graciously. She dropped her voice down low, picking up her glass and keeping her head down low. "So, um… what happened with Joseph Hayes?" Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Jessica turn to stare at her. Andrew's face took a hard edge, and Trent's eyes went a little wide. She took a sip and sat her glass down, taking in the faces around her, everyone now silent. "He was head of R&D, right? He was working on the quantum processor. I mean, someone told me he was murdered."

Jessica took in deep breath. "Uh, why do you care?" Her voice was tight, barely keeping steady.

Nora turned to her with innocent eyes. "Oh, when I was in the auditor's office, Hayes' file was on his desk."

Andrew's eyes narrowed. "Why is the auditor looking into Hayes?"

"I don't know," Nora lied with a shrug. "He had all your files, too."

"Are you serious?" Trent muttered.

"Yeah."

Jessica was stiff and uneasy next to her. She has something to hide. "Oh, here comes the bill," the woman said tightly, changing the subject.

Everyone was silent for a moment, recovering from the grim topic. Trent cleared his throat. "Well, alright." They all dug out their company credit cards from their wallets or purses. The waitress handed Trent the bill, and he hummed theatrically as he flipped open the bill fold.

"What's the damage?" Nora wondered.

"What is it?" Andrew muttered, trying to peer over Trent's shoulder.

"Ooh, ouch," Trent hissed, snapping the cover closed. "Two thousand." He rounded on Nora again. "So, miss cereal expert, in or out?"

"Oh, I'm in," she assured him.

"Alright." She held out her hand expectantly, and they all passed her their cards. She shuffled them expertly, like playing cards, mixing them up. She closed her eyes, turning her head away from the cards. "I'm not looking," she said. "I'm not looking." Even with her eyes closed, it was easy enough to keep track of her card – and Trent's. Satisfied, she fanned out the cards and held them out toward the waitress. "You do the honors?"

Trent grinned up at her. "Pick a winner, honey."

The waitress looked down at the cards as Nora brushed her thumb over them. Trent's card, she knew without needing to see, poked out just a hair in front of the rest. Nora let her thumb linger over it for just a second longer than the others. It was a subtle mental manipulation, but it had served her well in the past.

And, most importantly, it worked. As expected, she plucked Trent's card from the fan of cards, holding it up for them to see.

"Ooh, guess you win, Trent," Andrew said in a mock tone of pity, clapping him on the chest. Trent scowled down at the table, likely trying to figure out whether or not Nora had rigged it against him. The rest of the table laughed at their friend's expense as Nora passed the cards back to their rightful owners.

"That's great," Nora teased. "Yeah, I owe you. Hope that bonus comes through." They finished up, laughing and chatting idly, Trent giving her a scathing side-eye all the while.

The group parted ways outside the restaurant in good spirits, and Nora headed back toward Novice Systems. She loitered a couple blocks away for a while, giving their mole time to get in ahead of her before she made her move. The office seemed, at first glance, deserted when she stepped through the frosted glass door. The lights overhead cast everything in a dim yellow glow as she strolled silently inside.

She could see a reflection on the window of Peter's office, someone moving around inside, just out of sight behind the wall. "Gotcha," she muttered. Unsurprisingly, it was Jessica who stood, rifling through the drawers of a wooden filing cabinet. The woman caught sight of Nora out of the corner of her eye as she lingered in the doorway and jumped. "Jessica."

Jessica slammed the drawer shut and straightened up, flashing what was supposed to be an innocent smile. She had the look of a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Grace, hey. You surprised me."

"Really? You don't like surprises?"

Jessica huffed out a nervous laugh before dropping her smile. Her stance was rigid, eyeing Nora with cautious eyes. "What are you doing here?" There was accusation in her tone as she tried to turn the situation back on Nora.

"Working late," Nora lied smoothly. She glanced theatrically at the cabinet Jessica had been searching before meeting the woman's gaze again. "What about you?" Jessica pursed her lips. "What are you doing in the auditor's office?"

"You told me the auditor was looking into us. I don't like anyone looking into my life, personally or professionally."

Nora raised an eyebrow. "That's a little hypocritical, considering your current position, don't you think?"

"You said you were working late," Jessica mused, trying once more to get the conversation off of herself. "What is it you're working on, Grace?"

Nora had done her homework. "I needed to see R&D's field studies on the new product launch."

"Oh, those are in Records on twelve."

"Twelve?" Jessica hummed a confirmation. "Got it." Nora didn't move, and the two stood, staring each other down for a brief moment.

"So, uh, why didn't you call security?" the woman asked, still suspicious. "You could have reported me."

Nora shrugged. "I'm here after hours. I could be up to anything." A quick smile crossed Jessica's lips. "Which means you could probably report me, too."

"Well..." Jessica grabbed her purse off the cabinet and took a step toward Nora. "I won't tell if you won't." Nora nodded slowly, and the woman pushed past her and headed for the elevator without another word or even a glance back.