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СКАЧАТЬ her findings in a closed briefing to the senior partners.”

      The whole scenario suddenly made perfect sense to Todd. Syler was a partner, but not a senior partner. If he could prove one of the senior partners was the leak, he would be in line for a promotion, as would his lovely daughter. The information she had obtained would cinch both moves.

      Oh, man. “I can assure you, sir,” Todd put in quickly, “no one will hear about her methods from me.”

      “The problem is, Mr. Thompson—” Syler rose from his chair as he said this “—I don’t like you. My daughter doesn’t like you. Let’s just leave it at that. When you’ve cleared out your desk, you can pick up your severance pay from the receptionist.”

      There was nothing else to say. Todd knew a brick wall when he hit one and he’d damned sure rammed headfirst into this one.

      Todd cleared out his desk and picked up his severance pay as instructed. All under the careful watch of a security guard. As hard as he’d tried to be out before the staff started to arrive, he ran into Dryer in the lobby. She smirked and gave him a universal hand signal that stated her position quite clearly.

      She’d won. The promotion was hers and he was out of a job.

      He tossed the box of odds and ends into the backseat of his car and then dropped behind the wheel. At least it was Friday. He’d have time to look over the classifieds and update his résumé before hitting the streets on Monday.

      The severance pay would cover the coming month’s rent.

      He swore as he twisted the key in the ignition. Maybe he should have gone to grad school. His folks had said he’d regret not pursuing a higher degree. But no, he’d been too on fire to get out there and dive into the world of investigations. It had been his dream since he was a kid.

      It should be simple. He was good. Just ask any of his professors. Hell, he’d even lived a double life for three whole months to write a thesis like no other. The plan had backfired a little, but he’d come out all right. His advisor had secretly told him he’d never read a thesis so compelling. So what if Todd had pretended to be someone he wasn’t to make it happen. No harm had been done, except to a few egos.

      Oh, well. Chicago was a big city. There had to be an agency that would appreciate his particular skills.

      He pulled over to the curb in front of the diner where he usually grabbed breakfast on Saturdays. Might as well eat and maybe scan today’s paper. Anything was better than going back to his studio apartment and walking the floors.

      He couldn’t call his parents. They would only plead with him to come back home to Alabama. What was a small-town boy like him doing in a big city? That was his folks’ way of looking at the situation. He couldn’t explain to them that there was a great deal more to life than being the star football player on the high school team and going on to teach at the same school as his father had. No offense. Todd loved and admired his father. But that life just wasn’t for him.

      He wanted—yearned for—excitement. The kind he wouldn’t find in Birmingham, Alabama. Chicago was the place to be. And even if Wellsly wasn’t the very top agency in this city, it had been a damn good starting place.

      But he’d blown that opportunity by being overzealous.

      Who the hell else would give him a shot without any real experience? Listing Wellsly as a previous employer might not be the best way to get his foot in the door someplace else, considering he’d just been fired.

      “Morning, Todd.” Anna, the waitress who took his order every Saturday morning, greeted him from behind the counter. “You want the usual this morning?”

      He dredged up a friendly smile. “You got it, pretty lady.” He winked and the older woman blushed. She reminded him of his mother. Gray hair tucked into a practical bun. Conservative uniform concealing every inch of her from the knees up and shiny pink lip gloss making her smile sparkle. A genuinely nice lady.

      Todd slid onto a bar stool and listened to Anna chatter about late April’s sudden cool snap as she poured him a cup of coffee.

      “Winter’s determined to hang on this year,” she said knowingly, then shivered visibly. “It’s almost May, it ought to be warmer than this.” She sat the carafe back onto the warming plate and snagged the nearest newspaper. “Here you go.” She studied him a moment, her expression suddenly serious. “Looks like you could do with something to occupy your mind this morning.”

      Yep, just like his mother. A mind reader.

      “Thanks.” Todd took the paper and turned the page without even surveying the front headlines. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about current events but he had his own problems today. Such as finding a job and pretending that his ego wasn’t stinging like hell.

      His gaze snagged on a large advertisement for this weekend’s job fair. He scanned the staffing agencies and firms participating, his hopes faltering with each name he read. The dead-last one had him sitting up a little straighter.

      The Colby Agency.

      He steadied his runaway imagination and reminded himself that he’d looked at their requirements once before. Minimum age was twenty-five with at least two years of pertinent experience. And, as good as he was at pretending to be someone or something he wasn’t, lying wasn’t going to work with the premier investigative agency. A firm like the Colby Agency would surely do an extensive background search.

      Just when he would have moved on, his eyes encountered three seemingly innocuous words that sent a broad smile stretching across his lips and a burst of adrenaline-driven anticipation through his veins.

      No experience necessary.

      “Well, I’ll be damned,” he muttered. Maybe he’d done something right lately, after all. Whatever had gained him the favor of the gods, he hoped it was enough to see him through the screening process.

      “Here you go, son,” Anna announced as she set the plate laden with eggs, bacon and toast in front of him. “Clean your plate, you’ll feel like a new man.”

      “Yes, ma’am.” Todd dug in. He would need every ounce of energy he could summon for today’s performance. And that was all any job interview was. The opportunity for a prospective employer to watch candidates perform to whatever music they played.

      And no one was better at that dance than Todd. He had every intention of dazzling whoever was in charge. It was what he did best.

      He could charm or talk his way out of practically anything, anywhere, anytime.

      Well, except for this morning. But then he hadn’t known he was taking pictures of his boss’s daughter. Even he wasn’t that good.

      Chapter Three

      When the elevator stopped, Todd hesitated before stepping into the lobby of the Colby Agency.

      This was definitely the floor on which security had instructed him to alight. But this wasn’t at all what he’d expected.

      The furnishings, chairs and tables, including what was clearly the receptionist’s desk, sat in one corner while three men worked quickly to install new carpeting starting at the opposite wall.

      “Mr. СКАЧАТЬ