The Golden Serpent Pt. 01: Juliette

"Keep an eye on?"

"Yes," Celia's smile dropped. "I suspect that someone in the company is a plant, a spy, and she has already stolen information from me. Financial data, business reports, and even personal information that her employer can use to blackmail me."

Tom leaned back in the chair, looking into Celia's eyes. She stared right back, unblinking.

"Okay. Right. So you want me there...as another spy?"

"As far as everyone else is concerned, you are there as a staff writer. But your position in the company is dependent on how much information you can get out of this woman. I want to know what she knows. And I need you to get that information by whatever means necessary."

"By any means? How far do I take this?"

"As far as you need to. As long as I own the company, you can go as far as you like without being fired. Engage in an innapropriate workplace relationship with her. Steal from her. Fuck her. Hack into her laptop. Hack her phone. As long as you report back to me, I don't care too much about your performance on the job."

Tom's eyes widened.

"So you're hiring me to get into her knickers?"

Celia leaned over the desk.

"I'm hiring you to get into her head, and drag out whatever it is that she has on me."

She leaned back into her chair.

"Just don't cause too much chaos. I don't want you to demoralize the other staff. Try and be discreet. How does that sound?"

Many questions were running through Tom's mind at this point. Such as: why him? Didn't she have someone else on her payroll for this sort of thing?

"It sounds great, but," replied Tom, "who is she spying for?"

"A city councillor, Gregor Davidovich, have you heard of him?"

Of course. Tom had seen him in the local paper, several times before becoming a counsellor. A prominent businessman and investor, he seemed to own half the City.

"Yes, of course. A pretty successful businessman."

"Yes, and corrupt as well. Our journalists found out that he has been paying the police to stay away from a brothel in Stonehouse, fronting as a massage parlour. Not all of his businesses are legitimate. And he doesn't like that I have leverage over him now. I could destroy his reputation. So now, he is trying to find dirt on me. And I need you to find out what this plant of his has discovered."

"Right. So how much would I be paid for this job?" Tom asked, as if it mattered. It was likely to be considerably higher than his shitty wage, and he suspected that she knew this.

"£25K a year, starting salary. Would you like to give this some more thought?"

Tom thought for two seconds about the other sad sacks at his data entry job, and having to trudge back into that office.

"No. When do I start?"

"How much notice do you need?"

"I'll need to give about four weeks notice."

"Okay. But one more thing, Tom. I suspect that this spy may have discovered things about me that are private. So I"m relying on your discretion. Is that understood?"

"Absolutely."

For that money, he could be very discreet.