Page 112 of Hidden Ascent

“Do you mind?” Will said.

“What? Am I crowding you?”

“No, you’re distracting. Do you know how good you smell?”

Charlotte tsked and stepped back. But she was enjoying working with Will a lot better now that they didn’t have to pretend they hadn’t fallen for each other.

* * *

Sharpe’s phone rang while they were still driving.

“This is Sharpe.”

“Hi, Mr. Sharpe, this is Steven, the security guard at your building.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes, everything’s fine. I don’t mean to alarm you. I had a spare moment, and I wanted to call you as a courtesy.”

“In regards to what?”

“I spoke to your secretary when she returned to your office.”

“Beth?”

“No, the new one. Ms. Rochedale, after you dropped her off so she could finalize those details for you.”

“Right.” Sharpe looked at Maddy.

“She told me something had come up. Not the specifics, of course, but I wanted to make sure that you had everything you needed.”

“I appreciate the call, but I have everything under control.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Don’t hesitate to let me know if there’s anything you need.”

“Thank you. I will.”

“Everything okay?” Maddy asked when he hung up.

“Everything is excellent.” He pulled his briefcase onto his lap and opened it. “However, I’m a touch disappointed to lose your services.” He raised his gun from his case and pointed it at her. “Other than that, things are going well.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’d like to know who is accessing my office.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Who do you work for?”

“Today, I work for you. Last week, I was working at a paper manufacturing company. I thought you were happy with how I was doing my job. Is this how you treat all of your employees?”

“Only the ones who can be in two places at once. That was security on the phone. I was surprised to learn that he had let you back up to my office while you’re here with me in my car. So, unless you really do have a superpower, I’d like to know who is pretending to be you.”

“I don’t know anything about that.”

“No? I suppose you don’t know Jay Parker either? Never met him before today? Because I have a suspicion that it’s all connected.” He knocked a knuckle on the partition between them and the driver.

The screen dropped. “What can I do for you, sir?”

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