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“See,” Taylor said, trying to reassure her husband and pretend her heart wasn’t trying to beat out of her chest. “It will be fine,” she said giving Derrick a small smile.
Taylor watched Derrick’s jaw tense. “I don’t like it,” he said.
Taylor laid her head on his chest. “Me either,” she admitted. And they drove the rest of the way in silence.
* * *
When Taylor returned from her “lunch”she felt a little jumpy. Did Todd know something? And why was he hiding it? She had to work overtime to push her mind onto something else, the darker thoughts just too much for her to handle.
“Ready?” a voice came from the doorway and Taylor let out a little shriek of surprise. She turned to Todd and felt her pulse heighten, but he just scowled at her. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked.
Taylor shook her head a little too fast. “Nothing,” she said in a high-pitched voice, “you just startled me.”
“You seem off,” Todd said, ever the eloquent gentleman.
Taylor heard Henry’s warning in her head to keep a up a front, to behunky-doryin his words. So Taylor cleared her throat, looked at her armed security at the door, and focused on her meeting. “I’m ready,” she said, grabbing her iPad and striding out of her office.
Taylor and Todd made their way down the hall in silence, the way she preferred him. When they made their way into the conference room, Charlie was setting up the presentation monitors.
“I just spoke to Mr. Goldfried and they have hit some traffic so they are running a bit behind schedule,” Charlie explained to Taylor.
“Traffic is a nightmare at this hour,” Taylor remarked, setting her things on the table. The sound of the news station brought her head and attention up to the monitor.
“Apparently someone was using the monitors for viewing pleasure,” Charlie remarked hotly as he searched the remote for the button which would switch it to presentation mode.
“Wait,” Taylor said before he could change it. A name in the news report had caught her attention.
“Detective Jasper Watts, an eighteen-year veteran of the LAPD was pronounced dead today,”the news anchor announced as crime scene video and Watts’s department photo were spread out across the screen.
“Watts was shot after he attempted to apprehend a robbery suspect while off duty, the department announced.”
“Holy shit,” Todd said. Taylor turned and looked at Todd, who looked shocked as he watched the images.
“I can’t believe it,” Charlie said, as he too watched in disbelief.
“Isn’t that the detective who investigated Derrick’s shooting?” Taylor asked, attempting to play dumb. Both Charlie and Todd nodded, their eyes not leaving the screen.
Taylor took the opportunity to grab her phone and text Ian, her tail for the day.Tell Henry I want to speak with him after my meeting, it’s urgent,she sent and got the thumbs-up response she was looking for from Ian’s position at the door.
“Good afternoon, so sorry we are late,” Mr. Goldfried announced leading his crew in. “Your new security measures did make us a little later, too,” he added in agitation.
Taylor was nervous and upset and frazzled, but Oscar Goldfried was such a slimy bastard that he was a good distraction for her while she waited for news from Henry. Goldfried was like a billionaire used car salesman and Taylor was eager to put him in his place today.
“Yes, well someone tried to kill me twice, Oscar, so one can never be too careful,” Taylor quipped back to his snotty remark.
“Oh yes, of course, safety first absolutely,” he stammered, clearly embarrassed by his lack of tact. Taylor had found that in the business world, which was dominated by men, they were often unsure what to do with a forward-thinking woman. And now that good old Oscar and his crew were uncomfortable, Taylor had the upper hand.
“So Oscar, this contract,” Taylor said tapping her iPad, “this is our third meeting about this thing. You know what they say about three times, right?”
“Oh yes, it's a charm, for sure,” Oscar said as he took a seat at the long boardroom table.
“See, I am more of a sports girl. For me it's likethree strikes and you're out,” Taylor said smiling, and Charlie chuckled. “So why don’t you go ahead and take me to where I will have issues with it and we can fix them right now. Because Oscar, I don’t need this deal,” Taylor said leaning into the table towards him, “but you do.” This was not true either, but Oscar didn’t know that.
Oscar played it cool, but Taylor watched the sweat bead at his hairline.It’s what their body says that gives them away, her father had told her one time. Of course, they were watching a poker tournament and her mom had chewed him out for exposing her to gambling, but it was a life lesson that Taylor felt could be applied here, too.
“You know, I think this is where we both want it to be, for both our companies Taylor,” Oscar replied, tapping his iPad.
“I’m giving you one last shot, Oscar,” Taylor reminded him.