Investigating 101. Debra Webb

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СКАЧАТЬ the ladies pushed automatically into place. “And you are?”

      The pretty lady’s cheeks turned pink, but she managed a shaky smile of her own. “Elaine. The receptionist.” She glanced around the spacious lobby. “Sorry about the mess. They were supposed to have finished last week, except something went wrong and…” She shrugged. “May I get you a cup of coffee?”

      After leaving the job fair, Todd had spent the entire weekend walking the floor of his one-room apartment. The call from Victoria Colby herself this morning had dragged him from the closest thing to sleep he’d gotten since. A quick shower and about a dozen cups of strong black coffee had followed that much anticipated call. He definitely did not need any more caffeine.

      “No, thanks.” Somehow he managed to keep his smile in place. The receptionist’s blush deepened and for a moment she seemed completely flustered.

      “This way, Mr. Thompson,” she said finally, with a gesture toward the corridor to the left of where her desk likely sat under normal circumstances.

      “Call me Todd,” he insisted as he followed Elaine to what he presumed would be Victoria Colby’s office.

      His guide took him to the far end of the long corridor and another, smaller lobby. This one had already been dressed in the new, no doubt expensive gold carpeting. He wasn’t that knowledgeable about decor, but even he was impressed with the lush ambience he’d encountered so far. But then, this was the Colby Agency, the very top of the tip top of the private investigations heap. He expected nothing less.

      “Mildred, this is Mr. Todd Thompson,” Elaine announced to the older woman behind the desk. “Victoria is expecting him.”

      Elaine flashed him a shy smile then headed back to her own domain. Todd watched her for a second longer than he should have, but she had a nice walk. In fact, she was very, very nice. He liked this place already.

      “This way, Mr. Thompson.”

      The stern tone tugged him back to attention. Though he felt confident the gesture was wasted, he gifted the lady—Mildred Parker, according to the name plate on her desk—with a flash of pearly whites that generally charmed most of her gender. As he suspected, she wasn’t buying it. Despite the firm expression, she had a pleasant face and looked to be well into her fifties. This, he decided, was a woman on whose good side he definitely needed to stay. She might not be the boss, but she was damned close.

      “Mrs. Colby-Camp is ready to see you now.”

      “Yes, ma’am.” Taking note of the addition tacked onto Victoria Colby’s name, Todd followed the all-business Mildred through a set of double doors and into a lavish office that made him think of royalty.

      “Good morning, Mr. Thompson.”

      Victoria Colby-Camp stood near a small conference table to the left of her impressive desk. She looked exactly as he had expected, extremely classy and completely unreadable.

      “Thank you, Mildred,” she said, her tone soft, polite and yet commanding somehow.

      Todd took the hand Victoria offered and shook it firmly. Behind him he heard the door close with Mildred’s exit.

      “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Colby-Camp.” He wondered if she had any idea just how sincere those words were. He wasn’t entirely sure it was possible to relay with a mere sentence how much it meant for him to be here.

      Victoria indicated the chair closest to him. “Let’s sit and talk, Mr. Thompson.”

      “Todd,” he suggested as he waited for her to take her seat first. She acknowledged his suggestion with a nod and settled into the chair at the head of the oval table. He pulled out his own chair and got comfortable. At least as comfortable as he could with his whole future hanging in the balance. He wasn’t generally a guy who got nervous about much of anything but this was the most important moment of his life—he had to make this happen.

      “Nicole and I reviewed the video of your interview and considered the results at length.”

      Todd wasn’t surprised that the interview had been videoed. Agencies this high profile didn’t leave anything to chance. If he was hired it would likely be by committee.

      “I assume your conclusion was favorable,” he offered. His confidence level rose significantly. He’d known he had impressed Nicole Reed-Michaels. Unlike this lady, Nicole had been somewhat easier to read. And gorgeous. Was everyone who worked here beautiful? Whatever Victoria’s age, she was still an attractive woman.

      Life at the Colby Agency would certainly be easy on the eyes, at least if the rest of the female staff lived up to what he’d seen so far. Beautiful, intelligent. Very cool.

      He’d been somewhat surprised that Nicole had conducted the interviews alone. He’d expected at least three interviewers and that a minimum of two would be male. But the Colby Agency appeared to know exactly what they’d been looking for. He’d watched with interest as Nicole had weeded out literally hundreds of applicants. Only twenty had moved on to the written exam. A mere twelve had survived that portion of the extensive interview. Less than half of those had remained once the intense one-on-one portion concluded. Nicole Reed-Michaels was a hell of a looker, but that hadn’t kept her from being as hard as nails. She was one tough lady.

      But not nearly as tough as the one analyzing him just now.

      “Favorable yet cautious,” Victoria allowed. “This is the Colby Agency, Todd. We don’t take chances with our reputation.”

      He experienced a glimmer of worry, but he didn’t flinch. “Understandable.”

      She assessed his response for three seconds. “Of the five recruits Nicole selected, only three received a call this morning,” Victoria informed him, her eyes still gauging his response.

      Todd held his ground, didn’t let her see him sweat. “I’m flattered to be among those three.”

      “Considering the number of applicants, you very well should be.” That dark gaze that gave away nothing remained pinned to his, waiting, watching for him to make his first mistake…for him to falter.

      The next ten seconds ticked by with excruciating slowness. He gave himself a mental pat on the back when he managed not to squirm.

      “You did extraordinarily well on the written exam,” she said eventually, tossing out that bone with scarcely any inflection in her tone.

      “Thank you.” He’d known he’d aced the test. He was particularly good at giving the answers people wanted—which weren’t even always the correct ones. Because folks had certain expectations of success as well as failure and he’d met each one as if he’d designed the test himself. No one was better in that arena. Every professor whose class he’d taken at the University of Alabama had said the same: Todd had his own personal guardian angel when it came to test taking…either that or he was the luckiest bastard on the planet.

      “My single hesitation, Todd,” Victoria went on, instantly snapping him back to the present and putting him on edge, “is with your somewhat overlarge ego.”

      Uncertainty streaked through him. For the first time in his life he wasn’t sure how to respond. Though he felt confident Victoria wasn’t the first to think as much, she was definitely the first to say so.

      “Not СКАЧАТЬ