Rebecca Flanders - Wolf In Waiting

“I love what you’ve done with the place,” I murmured, glancing around.

He ignored me, and walked across the room to the two chairs. “Come and sit down. I’ve called a meeting for two o’clock, and we have a lot to discuss before then. You might want to inform your human friends, by the way, that the white-noise screen only works one way. From inside this office I can hear everything that goes on outside.”

I had noticed the absence of the white noise the minute I entered the office, of course, but I hadn’t registered its significance until now. So, he had heard the comment about Mr. Gorgeous. I wondered whether he had been flattered or offended and decided, from the expression on his face, that it was the latter. I was disappointed. I had expected, for some reason, that my idol would have had more of a sense of humor.

I said, “You’re spying on them? Why?”

“That’s one of the things we have to discuss.”

He picked up his laptop from the hearth and sat down with it in one of the chairs, tapping on the keyboard. I followed him slowly, listening to the sounds from outside the room that were no longer screened from my sensitive ears.

“It’s not just humans,” I observed, “but werewolves, too. Why would you want to spy on your own team? Unless you enjoy hearing Stillman whine about how badly he’s being treated. It’s not as though I asked for his office, you know, and I really don’t need any more enemies here.”

Noel looked up in surprise. “You can hear him?”

“Can’t you?”

“But he’s in the cafeteria. That’s six floors away.”

I thought it best not to respond to that. I had always known that my hearing was above average, even for a werewolf, but thought it best not to advertise the fact. There were some advantages to being consistently under-estimated by one’s co-workers—and enemies—and I had not yet decided which one Noel was.

He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment. Then he said abruptly, “There is a traitor in our midst. Over the past four months, the formulas for five new Clare de Lune products have ended up in the hands of the competition. We believe the leak is coming from this office.”

My knees folded and I sank heavily to the chair, staring at him. “Tango and Cobalt,” I said softly. “I wondered why they were pulled at the last minute.”

Again he looked surprised, but his tone was brisk and matter-of-fact. “Just so. Sanibel beat us to the market by three weeks with both of them.”

My eyes grew wider, betraying my own astonishment—and horror. Sanibel! Jason Robesieur handled the Sanibel account. Jason, with whom I regularly lunched; Jason, who less than an hour ago had offered me a job…

I was beginning to understand why I had been singled out for attention from Castle St. Clare. And it was worse than I had imagined.

I braced myself for the accusations, but Noel went on, “Obviously this situation has to be handled as quickly and as quietly as possible. Recent events…” And he hesitated only slightly there. “…have made the matter of morale a top priority.”

I couldn’t help wondering which “recent events” he might be referring to. The battle for succession, Michael’s defection, the insanity in New Orleans? Perhaps all of them? One thing was certain, if it became common knowledge that the company was being threatened and that the threat came from inside our ranks…well, it was unthinkable. Chaos would erupt. Morale would grow too low to measure. It was bad enough that such a thing could have happened, but it must never, ever become public knowledge.

“It almost has to be a werewolf, doesn’t it?” I said, thinking out loud. “The humans are watched closely, and one of us would have been sure to overhear something before now. And no one but a werewolf would have access to formulas—ad campaigns, maybe, facts and figures and lower-level material, but formulas…” And I gave a slow, disbelieving shake of my head. “It has to be one of us.”

Noel looked both surprised and annoyed at my quick grasp of the situation. “That would seem to be the case, yes,” he said. “Although it never pays to eliminate the obvious. I should point out, by the way, that in my experience it’s not a good idea to associate too closely with one’s inferiors.”

At first I bristled, and then I understood. He had overheard my conversation with Sara, and he disapproved of our friendship.

“Then why are you associating with me?” I asked.

His expression, perfectly bland, showed not a hint of apology. “I thought I had made that clear.”

“Because you were ordered to?”

“Yes.”

My lips compressed tightly; I did not trust myself to speak. I barely trusted myself to think, but Noel must have read my thoughts anyway because he said, “I’ve studied your personnel file. I’m aware that you have had a singularly undistinguished career here at Clare de Lune, with no particular talent that qualifies you for this assignment. I’m also aware of your friendship with Jason Robesieur, and the fact that he is the account executive for Sanibel’s new products division. It might interest you to know that I’m aware he offered you a position with his company and yes, you are high on my list of suspects.”

He held me with his gaze for a moment, allowing that to sink in. Then he went on, “I don’t know why Sebastian appointed you to work with me, although I have my suspicions. Blood is thicker than water, after all, and I would be a fool to assume that, while I’m tracking down a spy, I’m not myself being spied upon. That, after all, is the essence of the espionage game.”

He paused then, ran his long, slim fingers through the silky fall of his hair and added, “Having said all of that, I came prepared to work with you and work with you I shall…until you give me reason to change my attitude.”

I could barely keep myself from gaping at him. I pressed the palms of my hands against my crossed knees and spoke very deliberately, “Let me make sure I understand. You don’t like me. You don’t trust me. You suspect me, at best, of being a St. Clare spy, at worst of being the very traitor I’m supposed to help you find. You don’t think I’m qualified for the job. And yet you are prepared to take me into your confidence regarding the most sensitive matter that the company has faced in decades?”

He regarded me steadily. “I didn’t say that. I said I would work with you.”

I swallowed back a hot retort. “Do you mind if I ask exactly what you expect me to do?”

He returned with no hesitation whatsoever, “Whatever I tell you to.”

My hands pressed down more tightly on my knees. “I see.”

With only the slightest evidence of capitulation in his voice, he added, “I expect you might be useful as a liaison, of sorts, between myself and this office. You know the people and the routine. I’m sure you’ll be able to serve some function as an adviser.”

He could hardly have chosen a less propitious person for that job, as he would know if he had taken the trouble to find out anything about me that was not listed in my personnel file. No one confided in me here—no one of any importance, anyway—and no one knew less, or cared less, about the people in this office than I did. However, I was not about to enlighten the great Noel Duprey, who knew so much and saw so much and who was obviously never wrong. Let him find out for himself.

He glanced at the gold watch on his wrist and said, “Now, if we could move on…?”

I leaned back in the chair. “By all means.”

Noel tapped a few more keys on his computer. “We’re in the first stages of developing a new fragrance. If all goes well, we expect to introduce it by Christmas. Here’s the timetable.”