Chasing the Dime Read Online Free PDF Page A

I know you should have been told but because there were some personal issues involved I just ... I didn’t really want to talk about it. And to tell you the truth, I probably wasn’t going to call you tonight, because I still don’t want to talk about it.’
    â€˜Well, we need to talk about it. She was the intelligence officer of this company. She shouldn’t have been allowed to just waltz out the door at the end of the day.’
    â€˜All the files are still there. I checked, even though I didn’t need to. Nicki would never do anything like you are suggesting.’
    â€˜I am not suggesting any impropriety. I am just trying to be thorough and cautious about this. That’s all. Did she take another job that you know of?’
    â€˜Not as of the last time we spoke. But she signed a no-compete contract when we hired her. We don’t have to worry about that, Clyde.’
    â€˜So you think. What were the financial arrangements of the separation?’
    â€˜Why is that your business?’
    â€˜Because a person in need of finances is vulnerable. It’s my business to know if a former or current employee with intimate knowledge of the project is vulnerable.’
    Pierce was beginning to get annoyed with Vernon’s rapid questioning and condescending demeanor, even though it was the same demeanor he treated the security man with on a daily basis.
    â€˜First of all, her knowledge of the project was limited. She gathered intelligence on the competitors, not on us. To do that, she had to have a sense of what we’re doing in here. But I don’t think she was in a position to know exactly what we’re doing or where we are in any of the projects. Just like you don’t, Clyde. It is safer that way.
    â€˜And second, I’ll answer your next question before you ask it. No, I never told her on a personal level the details of what we are doing. It never came up. In fact, I don’t even think she cared. She treated the job like a job, and that probably was the main problem with us. I didn’t treat it as a job. I treated it like it was my life. Now, anything else, Clyde? I want to get some work done.’
    He hoped camouflaging the one lie in verbiage and indignation would get it by Vernon.
    â€˜When did Charlie Condon know about this?’ Vernon asked.
    Condon was the company’s chief financial officer, but more important, he was the man who had hired Vernon.
    â€˜We told him yesterday,’ Pierce said. ‘Together. I heard she’d made an appointment to talk to him last before she left today. If Charlie didn’t tell you, there is nothing I can do about that. I guess he didn’t see it as necessary, either.’
    That was a shot, reminding Vernon that he had been left out of the loop by his own sponsor. But the former FBI man shook it off with a quick frown and moved on.
    â€˜You didn’t answer before. Did she receive a severance?’
    â€˜Of course. Yes. Six months’ pay, two years’ medical and life insurance. She’s also selling the house and keeping all proceeds. Satisfied? I hardly think she’s vulnerable. She should clear more than a hundred grand on that house alone.’
    Vernon seemed to calm a bit. Knowing that Charlie Condon had been in the loop eased things for him. Pierce knew Vernon viewed Charlie as being the practical business side of the company while Pierce was the more ephemeral talent side. And somehow Pierce’s being on the talent side lowered Vernon’s respect for him. Charlie was different. He was all business. If he had signed off on Nicole James’s departure, then it was going to be okay.
    But then again, if Vernon was satisfied, he wasn’t going to say so to Pierce.
    â€˜I am sorry if you don’t like the questions,’ he said. ‘But it’s my job and my duty to maintain the security of this firm and its projects. There are many people and companies whose