Page 99 of It Starts With A No

“Should I buy lunch for you?”

Clary grabbed her bag and took out her wallet. “Mr. E gave me this card for office expenses.” She handed the credit card over to Andrea. “You can hang on to this until I get you one of your own.”

“What if I just go on a shopping spree?”

“Go right ahead. I’m sure there’s no limit on that card.” Clary took her bag and laptop over to the desk. “Oh.” She rattled off the six-digit code for the lock. “So you can get in any time.”

Andrea stuffed the card into the back pocket of her jeans and headed toward the door. “What are you going to tell your current assistant?”

“She’s Mr. Eolenfeld’s assistant. I’ll send her wherever he wants me to. Until then, she can stay.” Clary glanced over at the coffee table. “Are you okay with having that as your desk for now? It’ll be easier to discuss things with you too.”

Andrea shrugged. “See you later, boss.” She paused at the door. “Oh, we found the man’s car. It was stolen, and—” she rolled her eyes “—it wasn’t a Nissan. I know witness testimony is always riddled with mistakes, but it always annoys me.”

Was it a mistake, though? Clary shoved that question out of her head.

How could she even think that?

“I guess Mr. Anderson must’ve been too concerned about you.” Andrea stopped in front of the door. “Can I show off the credit card when I quit?”

“Have fun.” Clary sighed heavily as the door closed.

Should she tell Andrea what Mr. Eolenfeld told her? It wouldn’t concern her since she wouldn’t be a detective anymore.

But what if Andrea insisted Clary let the new detective-in-charge know? Would that get Seth into trouble?

Clary pinched the bridge of her nose. “Ugh. Why did you have to tell me that, Mr. E?”

Chapter 19

“We have to do it all in one day.”

Clary tipped her head to the side and kneaded her neck. “I think that’s our best bet.” It would catch the boys’ club off guard, giving her and Andrea an advantage to kick-start their plan.

Andrea stretched her arms over her head. “This is more draining than all the tactical strategy planning I’ve taken part in.”

Tactical strategy planning. Yes, this was exactly that.

And it was exhausting.

Planning what they had to do, heading off anything that could go wrong, and setting up back-up plans took way more energy than she expected.

Her stomach growled, and she realized she and Andrea barely touched their lunch.

She turned when she heard the beep of the digital door lock.

“Mr. Anderson’s here,” Tamara said, then turned and let the door swing closed.

Andrea stared at the closed door. “She’s really unhappy.”

“I thought I was respecting her by letting her know.” Clary thought Tamara would appreciate a heads-up. “I don’t know why she’s so upset. She was Mr. E’s secretary. She’s just going back to doing what she’s done for the last four years.”

“Maybe she didn’t like being Mr. E’s secretary.”

Clary shrugged and pounded the heel of her hand against her temple, trying to ease the ache in her head. “That’s something she’ll have to deal with. I have enough on my plate.”

Andrea flipped through the few pages of notes she’d taken. That was their plan.

No more floundering. No more fighting the boys’ club. She was the CEO. She was taking up her authority.

---