A nurse walked Henrietta back into the
waiting area and Derian got to her feet. “Tired out already?”
The nurse looked aghast, but Henrietta merely
laughed. “I could go a few more rounds but my therapist called it quits.” She
thanked the nurse and took Derian’s arm. Her grip was strong and firm. “Are you
taking me to lunch? That’s within the bounds of the program, isn’t it?”
Derian laughed. “It’s not a prison sentence,
HW.”
“You should try it sometime and see what you
have to say after a few days.”
“Point taken.” She’d ordered up one of the
company cars and it was waiting in the entranceway when they walked out.
“Anyplace special you’d like to go?”
“Fortunately, I’m still allowed to eat. Let’s
do Junior’s.”
“I’ll call and get us a spot.”
They arrived at the diner a little before the
lunch hour and secured a booth in the window. After they’d ordered, Henrietta
sipped her orange juice and regarded Derian with a speculative gaze. “I think
it’s time for you to tell me what’s really going on at the agency, don’t you?”
Derian swallowed the mouthful of coffee she’d
just taken and tried not to cough. Somehow, HW always knew what was really
going on. She’d known about Derian and Aud getting involved in high school almost
before Derian had figured it out, and had merely told them to exercise caution
around Martin, who had a remarkable penchant for narrow-mindedness.
“I guess there’s no use in my trying to bluff
my way out of this, is there?” Derian said.
“See the bet or fold your cards.”
Derian laughed. “Everything at Winfield’s is
fine. I wasn’t lying about that. There have been some…incursions from the enemy
camp, but we’re handling that.”
Henrietta tapped her glass with a nail, a
thoughtful expression on her face. “Donatella Agnelli.”
“How the hell did you know that?”
Henrietta smiled thinly. “Because Donatella
is Martin’s hatchet woman. When he wants something nasty done, quickly and
lethally, he sends Donatella. Did she try to gut the place?”
“She might have, but we put a stop to it.”
Henrietta’s eyebrow arched up. “We?”
“Emily and I have kept her out of your
office.” Derian grinned, feeling the same thrill she did when she’d just won
big on a long shot. “Donatella has been overseeing an audit, but nothing is
coming of it. Your books are good, and your bottom line is well within range of
other agencies.”
“But nothing like what your father would like
to see.”
Derian lifted a shoulder. “It’s not Martin’s
business, is it.”
“No, but he’d like it to be. Actually, he’d
like to destroy it just for spite, because it was what I always wanted and
something our father valued.” Henrietta sighed. “What Martin can’t control, he
seeks to destroy.”