Page 102 of Think Outside the Boss

Tristan’s shock on the other end of the line is profound. Mine, however, isn’t. I can’t keep silent as the suspicions bubble out of me. “Are you sure he’s not the mole?”

“Of course I’m sure,” is the response, but something about it sounds reflexive. Rehearsed.

“He’s been asking Toby, one of my co-workers, for information. Information about projects that Toby doesn’t usually report to him about. That last time I heard, it was regarding the Stanton case.”

“Ah.”

“And remember that meeting, over a month ago, where he couldn’t make it? You went in his stead.”

“I remember.” A hard note creeps into Tristan’s voice. “Yes, the pattern matches up. He was away that day for personal reasons, and a week later we found out that… Well. He could have been selling the strategy you pitched to our competitors.”

“So you believe me?”

“It’s plausible.” A rough sigh, and it’s everything I feel too. It’s a sigh of I can’t take any more of this shit. “Clive was with me from the very beginning. He was my right-hand man when I took over, the one person who seemed to welcome it when Acture Capital bought the company from the old management.”

“Maybe he wasn’t so welcoming after all.”

“No, maybe he wasn’t.”

“But, Tristan, he knows. About us.” My voice grows feverish. “He might use it somehow. It could cause some really bad publicity for you.”

“He won’t use it.”

“How do we know that? Can we stop him?”

“We will,” Tristan repeats, and this time there’s no mistaking the steel in his voice. It’s unbending. “If he’s the mole, the things this company can do… I’ll take care of him. No one will find out about us, Freddie. Your reputation is safe.”

“Okay.” I sink down on the edge of my bed. “But how?”

As far as days go, this one has been too intense for my liking. If I slept for a week, I doubt it would be enough.

“I’ll tell him you were my eyes and ears in Strategy. Give him one truth to keep his eyes off the other.”

I nod slowly. “Okay.”

“I’ll handle it, Freddie. Go to your family,” Tristan says. “I’ll keep you informed if anything happens, but it shouldn’t. Not after I’m done with him.” Perhaps the calm ruthlessness beneath his voice should scare me, the mixture of threat and reassurance. But I know him, and I know his values, and it leaves me with a sense of peace.

“Thank you,” I breathe.

“Are you in your apartment?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Thanks for calling me,” Tristan murmurs. “I understand that it was… difficult. I appreciate it.”

“Of course. You did ask me to find your mole, you know.”

His voice softens. “So I did.”

“And I always deliver.”

“You always do,” he agrees. “Sleep tight, Freddie.”

“I will, thanks.”

“And Freddie?”

“Yes?”

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