Read Online Silent Partner by Stephen Frey - Free Book Online

price. “And that was all that mattered,” she murmured.
    “I’m sorry, Angela,” Lawrence offered quietly. “Perhaps I can assist you there.”
    She glanced up. “If you help me, I’ll help you” had been Lawrence’s words at the beginning of the meeting. “How?”
    “A man in my position can wield a certain amount of influence. And often these things come down to who’s got the bigger gun.”
    He didn’t have to tell her that.
    “Candidly,” Lawrence continued, “there aren’t many guns bigger than mine.”
    “Mr. Lawrence . . . I mean, Jake,” Angela interrupted herself, turning to face him. “That would mean a great deal to me,” she admitted, grasping the incredible opportunity that lay before her. “I miss Hunter so badly sometimes.” She hated begging but, when it came to her son, pride ran a distant second.
    “Let me talk to my people.” He patted her knee again and smiled.
    This time she smiled back, and slipped her hand into his. She hated herself for what she was doing, but Hunter needed her. And she needed him. “Thank you, Jake.”
    “I can’t promise anything. Just that I’ll look into it.”
    “I appreciate that so much.”
    “There’s another thing,” he said, sliding his hand up her leg a few inches.
    “What’s that?” She forced herself not to pull away.
    “Why haven’t you been promoted to director yet?”
    “Excuse me?”
    “You told me earlier that you were a vice president at Sumter Bank.”
    “Yes?”
    “Isn’t director the next title above vice president?”
    “Director, yes. After that it’s managing director, then senior managing director.”
    “Well, I’ve taken a look at your personnel record at Sumter, and it’s outstanding. You’ve generated a significant amount of business for the bank, and you’ve never been a discipline problem. Shouldn’t a woman with that kind of record have been promoted to director by now? My aides tell me that several of your peers who haven’t performed anywhere near as well as you have, including two women, are directors earning a good deal more income than you are.”
    Angela shrugged, trying not to show emotion. That issue was a constant and bitter source of frustration.
    “Did you know that human resources has put you up for that promotion twice?”
    She glanced up.
    “And,” Lawrence continued, “your boss has stonewalled the process both times.”
    Angela stared at Lawrence, trying not to show emotion.
    “Why do you think that is?” Lawrence asked.
    “I don’t know,” she replied, her voice raspy. She’d always considered her boss, Ken Booker, a friend. He’d always blamed her not getting promoted on human resources. Now Lawrence was telling her it was the other way around.
    “Could your background be a factor?” he asked directly.
    “I suppose anything is possible.”
    Lawrence hesitated, gently caressing her thigh. “But that explanation doesn’t seem entirely plausible. I mean, if you’re performing well, wouldn’t they be afraid to lose you to another bank?”
    “They don’t seem to be.”
    “Could your not getting the promotion have anything to do with the fact that senior executives at Sumter Bank perceive you as a troublemaker? Even though there’s nothing on your record to indicate that.”
    Angela’s eyes flashed to Lawrence’s. “What are you talking about?”
    “Any possibility that they suspect you are a certain newspaper reporter’s source of some very negative information regarding the bank’s poor record of service to minorities in its market areas? In the last few months the Richmond Tribune has turned up the heat on Sumter Bank about that poor record.” Lawrence hesitated. “There was one particularly damaging article written by a reporter named Olivia Jefferson that came out last week. That article led people to believe she might have a source inside Sumter.”
    Angela said nothing.
    “Do you know Ms. Jefferson?”
    “I think I may know of her.”
    “I’m not