The Closers Read Online Free PDF Page A

with on a daily basis.
    T~>
    "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.
    "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.
    "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.
    "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.
    "You didn't answer before. Did she receive a severance?"
    "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.
    "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 investment must be safeguarded."
    He was alluding to the reason he was there. Charlie Condon had hired him as a showpiece. Vernon was there to placate potential investors who needed to know that the company's projects were safe and secure and, therefore, that their investments would be safe and secure. Vernon's pedigree was impressive and more vitally important to the company than the actual security work he performed.
    When Maurice Goddard had made his first trip out from New York to be shown around the place and receive the initial presentation, he had also been introduced to Vernon and had spent twenty minutes talking about plant security and personnel with him.
    Pierce now looked at Clyde Vernon and felt like screaming at him, letting him know how close they were to running out of significant funding and how inconsequential he was in the scheme of things.
    But he held his tongue.
    "I understand your concerns perfectly, Clyde. But I don't think you have to worry about Nicole. Everything is cool."
    Vernon nodded and finally conceded, perhaps sensing the growing tension behind Pierce's eyes.
    "I think you're probably right."
    "Thank you."
    "Now, you said you were selling the house."
    "I said she's selling it."
    "Yes. Have you moved yet? Do you have a number where you can be reached?"
    Pierce hesitated. Vernon had not been on the A-list of people who had gotten his new number and address. Respect was a two way street. While Pierce viewed Vernon as capable, he also knew what had gotten the man the job was his FBI pedigree. Of his twenty-five years in