Monkey Business Read Online Free PDF Page A

I’m calling you, Erica. To remind you about my coffee.’
    â€˜Of course.’
    I hung up and my phone rang again straightaway. It was Celia, John Degraves’ PA, saying that JD wanted an update on the annual report.
    â€˜Should I bring it up?’ I asked her.
    â€˜Yes, he wants to see you.’
    I took tremendous juvenile delight in telling Rosalind I had to go see JD, the big boss, and suggested I show her where the kitchen was. She said she’d get someone else, and that was pretty satisfying too.
    I pulled my annual report work-in-progress folder from my drawer and headed for the lifts, pushing the button for the sixty-fifth floor, the Grand Poobah’s den.
    Before I joined the Team, John Degraves didn’t even know my name. Well, he did, but had no real reason to remember it. That was until he decided to recruit me. JD is not only the CEO of Dega Oil, he’s also the brains and money behind the Team, having decided a few years ago that Australia’s defence forces needed help, especially its anti-terrorism department. So he recruited Jack Jones – ex-SAS, special ops or something – still hurting and vengeful after the loss of his wife and parents in New York on September 11. And Jack recruits all the other Team members – some ex-military people for the scary business and some civilians, like me, to help out with other stuff. It was JD’s idea to get me because, at the time, it appeared I was pretty much available at the drop of a hat, had no social life, few friends, hardly went anywhere except to work and my parents’, and would probably do anything for money. Oh, and I seemed trustworthy. And there was the minor fact that the Team had targeted my ex-husband, who was, and probably still is, a scumbag and the reason I was in such serious debt (which is no longer a problem, thanks to the Team’s generous hourly rate).
    I walked across the cavernous foyer of the executive floor, trying not to make footprints in the thick rugs or dints in the soft parquetry with my heels. Celia sent me straight in to JD’s office. He looked up from his desk and indicated the seat opposite, which I took.
    He smiled broadly. ‘It’s a beautiful day,’ he said.
    I glanced out the window, nodded. ‘Yes, it is.’
    JD’s got a reputation in business for being pretty laid-back and easy to get along with. Originally, this made it hard for me to understand how he could have even considered employing a bunch of mercenaries to do secret nasty things. But he’s also a corporate leader, one of the most admired in Australia, and I guess you need to be pretty tough to survive in that world.
    I opened my file and showed him where we were up to with the annual report, but he didn’t seem all that interested. He knew we were doing a good job on it. Or rather,
I
was doing a good job and Rosalind was taking the credit.
    He said suddenly, ‘My wife and I are having a small cocktail party on Saturday night. We wondered if you’d like to join us.’
    I blinked at him.
    He said, ‘There’ll be people there you know.’
    â€˜Rosalind?’ I said before I could stop myself, knowing that if she was going I’d rather spend an evening with my mother.
    He smiled. ‘No. It’s a work-related function, but not Dega.’
    â€˜Oh.’ It was a Team cocktail party. Which meant Jack would be there. ‘I’d love to. Thanks, Mr Degraves.’
    â€˜Very good,’ he said. ‘Six-thirty. You remember our address?’ Yes, I remembered where John Degraves lives, in one of Toorak’s poshest streets. How could I forget last New Year’s Eve and all the cars that blew up in front of his house?

    I waited until after work before I called Jack, in case someone overheard me. Most people at work think I’ve got a new boyfriend, which is kind of what we want so people don’t wonder about my real