Ingrams & Assoc 1: Double Bluff Ch. 04

They looked at each other again for a moment and April said, "Well, I supposed you are right. So, is that it? Are we done? Meeting adjourned?"

Silverano grinned and said, "Sure. We're done, but Mary, one thing. If you ever get tired of...whatever it is you do, come and find me. There'll always be a position for you here. Despite my suspicions, I think you've been extremely helpful, both professionally and personally. I owe you. That's why we are having this talk at all."

April sat, wanting to say something. In the end she just smiled back and said, "It's nice to be wanted, Paul. I have to run. It's been...interesting."

She got up walked to the door, and turned just as she left and said, "It was all there, right on your desk, wasn't it? Pictures of your family. All of them. Right in front of everyone. You have a good life, Paul. Don't hurt Lara. Share and be nice."

And with that, she was gone.

Epilog

April sat in her office at Ingrams, staring at the screen as she tried to finish her report. She'd made the preliminary result report required on the first day back, but was now working on the in-depth report. In this she would give her opinion of the mental states of each of the targets, what the situation was, how it was left, why she had made the decisions she'd made and so on.

She'd written down her conclusions – what she believed had happened, overt or covert. All her suspicions, conclusions and theories were there. She was just unsure about how it would all be taken – she had no concrete proof yet, but she was sure in her bones she'd got it right. Hell, Paul Silverano had all but confirmed it.

Ultimately though, she figured, it didn't really matter. The relationship between Paul and his wife was back on solid ground again, and getting firmer by the day. If and when revelations were to come to light, they could take it. Lara gave them both a fixation, one they could share, and express their desires the way they needed to, to make their relationship work. And Lara was as happy as she could be.

The negotiations with the Chinese had gone off without a hitch, and a major signing had occurred. As an act of goodwill, the Chinese had even provided the source code for one of their major virus intelligence gathering applications.

It was, she mused, about as satisfactory a conclusion as could really be expected.

When the report was done, she printed it and sent it via email to all the major department heads. After it was stapled, she took the printed copy to Jessica's office.

Surprisingly, Jessica's door was closed. Angela, sitting and looking efficient and brainy with her big spectacles and pouty lips, looked up from her computer monitor as April arrived, saying, "She has someone in there. I don't think she'll be long, if you want to wait?"

April did – she sat in the long easy couch outside the office, looking through her report and listening to the clack clack of Angela's hellaciously fast typing. She insisted on using an old IBM style keyboard – which were getting harder to find and she was famous for demanding it from the IT group. As she typed, she giggled. April was absolutely consumed to know what she was typing, - was it jokes? A novel? A comedy script? What? - but it would be rude to ask, so she didn't.

Jessica's door opened and she appeared in the door, flanked by a tall bald man April had never seen before. They were still engrossed in conversation as they walked out the door.

"Well, I think we've got you covered, Jess," the man said. "We've beefed up security encryption and requirements, and we've added a honey trap set of CPU's, as Tina suggested. We've set them up with deliberate tunnels, so anyone probing around will find those and find these machines. There's also a database, and created some fictional case studies, so if anyone does get in, they'll think they've got the real deal." The man chuckled. "I got our poor unpaid intern to type of the top forty stories from Literotica as your case studies, carefully reformatted."

"HowisChloe doing?" asked Jessica. April could tell she was genuinely interested.

"Oh, you know. Complaining a lot about the kids. But good. We're good. Thanks, Jessica."

It hit her then, who this man was, and who Chloe was. This was the case that got away. Jessica's one failure, where she'd been caught.

April stood up, report in her hand, as Jessica and Jace noticed her.

Jace stopped and looked at her. "Is this the newbie that Tina wouldn't stop talking about?"

Jessica looked at April, then at Jace and nodded, smiling. "She is that. Just had her cherry popped, too. Very satisfactory conclusion. She's a keeper."

April stood there as Jace gave her a shrewd once over. Neither said anything for a moment as they sized each other up to the quiet clacking of Angela's typing.

"Right, well, if we are done with the psyching out bullshit, April, do you have something for me?" Jessica asked.

April moved forward to give her the report when Jace said, "Yeah, I think she'll do, Jessica. Treat her well, ok?"

Jessica nodded and took the document from April. Jace nodded at April and said, "Good luck, April. You'll do ok here. Keep your nose clean, or as clean as is possible"

She nodded back, curious and desperate to ask questions, but said nothing.

Jace gave a quick grin, gave Jessica a peck on the cheek and walked away.

-----

The only other thing of note of the whole operation was a note that April found on her car three days later. It was tucked under the windscreen wiper of her car, which was parked in her apartment's underground lot. She almost just threw it away, imaging it was some kind of advertising flyer. It was only when she noticed that no other car had one that she opened it up and read it.

The note read, "You stole from us. We'll let it go this one time, since we know why, but don't do it again. We'll be watching you. Don't imagine we'll let you interfere with us again. Just a friendly warning."

She had no idea what it meant – some kind of threat? -, and was tempted to throw it away, something told her to keep it around. You never know what the future might bring.

Authors Note – Well, there are lots of threads left hanging there, aren't there? I wonder if any will get followed up in future stories? Time will tell.

April Carlisle and Ingrams & Assoc will return in story #2 – Retreat.