In Too Deep(159)

"So what's next?" Sophie asked, rubbing at her stomach.

I noticed she was looking a bit pale, and was concerned. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, her eyes tightening a little bit. "Yeah, just feeling a bit weird. I hope it's what we're wanting, and not that my smoothie I had for a mid-morning snack was bad."

My pulse quickened at the idea, and a silly little smile crept up my face. "You think it could be?"

"That my smoothie was off? It's a distinct possibility," Sophie joked, before giving me a kiss on the cheek. "Relax, my love. Let's just wait until I miss a period, then get a home test. It's only been a few weeks, you can't tell this fast, not that I know of anyway. We've got other things to think about anyway."

"Yeah, like how we're going to entertain our houseguest," I said, thinking of Tabby. Since finding her in such a depressed state, Sophie had insisted, although I couldn't argue, and besides, it was nice having another person around such a large home. While Sophie and I did have a cleaning service come by twice a week, it was a large house, and I honestly felt like we were rattling around in it half the time. "By the way, I like the new red. A bit more flamboyant than before, isn't it?"

"It was, but we both agreed that a bit of overcompensation would help her mood. You know, kind of the whole fake it until you make it sort of thing," she replied, flipping a page on the document she was reading. I had to give Sophie credit, perhaps it was because of all the years of reading complicated medical stuff, but she had picked up reading business contracts with an eerie speed. There were a few times at first that I'd had to explain a few of the legal terms to her, but after that she was off and running on her own. "Caught something."

"What?" I asked, looking over from my computer where I was focusing on the next steps of our end game plan.

"Just a number error. On page four it says that Tabby will be compensated with fifteen percent of net profit, while on page six it says that she would be compensated with twenty five percent. Which do you want?"

"Twenty five," I said automatically. "What did we decide was the low ball of her pay?"

"Two hundred thousand a year, plus the house, cars, and other stuff. Not that she'd even be close to it with the twenty five percent. She'll be rubbing elbows with the one percenters very quickly with this."

I nodded. "Good. I was thinking, when we come back into town, we're going to need new identities."

"Yeah, you mentioned that before. I know you have the documents ready, but what did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking," I said, typing a few words on my keyboard to adjust something in our plan, "that Tabby could use a butler and maid."

Sophie looked over at me, making sure I was serious before grinning. "I think she just might. After all, this property is large enough for a servant's quarters. It would most likely be a very luxurious servant's quarters as well."

"Damn right," I said. "Maybe we can tell her about it this evening. By the way, how was her return to work today?"

"Seamless," Sophie said. "Our cover story of having her do out of office business trips went over perfectly with her bosses, especially when I came in there and stuck my boobs in their faces along with a pile of contracts for three more businesses."

I laughed and looked over, admitting to myself that Sophie looked especially beautiful that day. "Okay then. And she knows to use the excuse of a business dinner to get out of there by six tonight, right?"

"Either that or you show up as the business peacock and start making a scene," Sophie answered.

"There are downsides to every plan."





* * *



That evening, Tabby was shocked into silence as we showed her the contract for her new position. She read it over twice, her jaw dropping in more than one place as details jumped out at her. "You're serious with this?"

"Dead serious," I replied, muting the television. "Tabby, it's not just a cushy little job, you realize. While there is a basement level compensation there, your job won't be about just the money."

"What will it be?" Tabby asked. "The details are pretty generic honestly."

Sophie took over for me, which I was glad for. "Once our plan goes down, the city is going to have some very gigantic power vacuums. The political one should be filled relatively quickly, there are too many politicians who are more than willing to step up into Owen Lynch's shoes. By using some financial pressure, we can guide them quietly. But the bigger and more dangerous area is going to be in those very businesses that Mark and I have invested in. Tell me, what do they all have in common?"

"Just like you told me to look for, all of them are physically located in areas that are normally considered gang areas, but are clean themselves. Most of them are also in fields of business that have had a high level of corruption from the Confederation."

"Exactly. What do you think is going to happen in those neighborhoods when the Confederation goes down, and Owen Lynch's corruption is rooted out?" Sophie sat forward, resting her elbows on her knees while I listened the intensity creep into her voice. It was a part of Sophie that had never changed from her days working in the hospital. She was a person who wanted a better world than the one we were living in.