Chapter 1 - THE SPLASH
“Did you just push her?”
The question cut through the rooftop party a second before Maya Reed hit the pool.
Water swallowed the music, the laughter, and the sharp little gasp she had made when Claire Whitmore’s foot caught hers. Maya surfaced beneath a row of white lights, her blazer dragging at her shoulders. Around the pool, Chicago’s most powerful executives stood with drinks in their hands and watched a twenty-three-year-old intern struggle toward the edge.
Claire laughed first.
“That’s where interns belong.”
A few people gave uncomfortable smiles. Most looked away.
Maya pulled herself out. Her shoes squelched against the stone. Claire’s father, CEO Richard Whitmore, stood near the bar, his face tight with embarrassment.
“Claire,” he said quietly.
“What?” Claire lifted her glass. “She tripped.”
Maya knew exactly what had happened. She had seen Claire’s foot move. So had the server holding a tray five feet away.
Maya retrieved her phone from the shallow end. The screen was wet but still lit. Eleven weeks ago, she would have been furious. Six weeks ago, she would have been scared. Tonight, she had been waiting for one final answer before deciding what to do.
She looked at the message that had arrived while she was underwater.
FOUND IT. SAME ACCOUNT. — ELI
Maya pressed a contact on her phone.
A woman answered immediately. “Maya?”
“Pause the merger.”
“Are you sure?”
Maya looked up at Claire. “Yes.”
Across the rooftop, phones began to chime.
Richard checked his. His face drained of color.
Three other executives reached for their pockets at once. A banker near the railing stepped away from his guests and began dialing. The music kept playing, but nobody seemed to hear it.
Claire’s smile faded. “What did you do?”
Richard crossed the rooftop fast enough to make people move out of his way.
“What is your last name?” he asked Maya.
“You know my last name.”
“Say it.”
“Reed.”
Richard closed his eyes for a moment.
Claire looked between them. “Dad, why do you care what an intern’s name is?”
May you like
Before he could answer, every screen on the rooftop flashed with the same subject line:
MERGER REVIEW SUSPENDED — EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.
