Page 35 of Think Outside the Boss

“Of a sort. Tell me, Freddie, where do you see yourself at the end of this internship?”

“My ambition is the classified information?”

“Funny,” he says, but the deep baritone of his voice sounds like he’s smiling. “No. Do you see yourself with a permanent job here?”

“Potentially,” I say. “I don’t discount the possibility, and if I were offered, I’d most likely say yes.”

“That’s good to know.”

“Where is this conversation headed?”

“I have a proposition for you,” he says.

My brain short-circuits.

He can’t be saying what I think he’s saying, can he? I press a hand to my breastbone as the words flow out. “Tristan, I can’t do that. You can’t ask that of me. I’m not the type to—”

“Christ, Freddie, I’m not asking you for that. No.”

I relax back onto the bed, my heart racing in my chest. “Okay.”

“I should have worded it differently.” A frustrated sound, and I can see him in front of me, running a hand through his thick hair. “No, I wouldn’t ask that. This is about the Strategy Department.”

“It is?”

“I believe we have a mole.”

I frown. “Someone who leaks information?”

“Yes. Our competitors are learning about the business strategies we’re proposing for our clients, and it’s not just happened once, either.”

“How do you know?”

“I have my sources,” he says.

“And you’re sure it’s coming from Strategy?”

“I’ve eliminated the other possibilities. Strategy and management are the only people who deal with this information, and I know it’s not management.”

I turn over on my side. “You want me to keep my eyes and ears open?”

“Yes. You’re new, you’re a trainee. There might be many in your department who’d think to overlook you.”

“Thanks.” But I’m smiling.

“It’s their loss,” he says. “Not to mention that no one will suspect you to have the management’s ear. To the best of their knowledge, you and I have never spoken outside of the Thanksgiving meeting.”

The faces of my co-workers flash before me. Toby. Quentin. Eleanor. The three women working in our office who’d never given me more than a polite nod.

“It doesn’t feel good, knowing one of the people I’m working with isn’t on the same team.”

Tristan’s voice deepens. “I know. I’m paying one of them for the privilege of betraying my company.”

“I’ll do it. Of course I will.”

“Good,” he says. “I think it’s for the best that this stays out of the company altogether.”

“All right. What does that mean, exactly? I only report what I find to you over the phone?”

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