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the size I expected this one to be
without my team.
    Mr. Thomas must
have seen the look of incredulity on my face because he held up his hand,
stopping the words from tumbling out of my mouth. “Wait. Mr. Vaughn knows this
is a highly unusual request, but he only fully trusts you to do this job.”
    I flashed him my
best persuasive smile, “Mr. Thomas, my team consists of the utmost
professionals in the field. I can assure you…”
    He interrupted me
before I could fully get my pitch going. “I’m sorry, but this is a deal breaker
for Mr. Vaughn. You must do all the work in this investigation without any
help. Mr. Vaughn has anticipated your very understandable reluctance and he is
willing to compensate you for your cooperation on this matter. I have been
authorized to triple the wage and completion bonus that you were originally
offered.”
    My mouth about hit
the floor. The original offer was beyond generous. This new offer was too good
to be true. I saw Mr. Thomas’ wry smile. He knew he had me. “But, if I work
alone, depending on the situation I run across, it could take months and months
of continuous work to uncover the truth. It could even take up to a year, I
just don’t know. My team would cut that time by more than half.”
    Mr. Thomas nodded.
“Mr. Vaughn was expecting that answer. He is more concerned with uncovering the
truth and keeping everything confidential. He is prepared to wait the
additional time.”
    I felt my head
spinning. I loved my job and loved digging into the nitty-gritty world of number
crunching. I felt my brain responding to the challenge before me. I would be
alone, doing all the dirty work myself, like in the old days. Except this time,
I had a feeling the case would be much more stimulating.
    “Well, then, I
accept.” I spent some time reviewing the contract, while Mr. Thomas chewed
heartily on his breakfast, before signing.
    “Congratulations, Ms.
Collins and welcome to the team. Now, let me get down to the basics.”
    He rummaged
through his files and located a manila envelope.  He reached into the
unmarked envelope and produced a key dangling from a silver key chain. "This
key will get you into an office located in Mr. Vaughn’s private local
residence. Mr. Vaughn has been making copies of files that he thought might be
related to the issue and he has been sending them to his residence for months
now. Also, you will be able to connect into his server through the computer in
his office. All security passwords will be left for you there. You are to have
complete access to all the many companies’ electronic records. Paper records
are filed in boxes located in his residence. If there are any other paper
records you find that you need, you are to contact me. Please do not make any
contact with any other employees at his companies.”
    Mr. Vaughn dropped
the key back into the envelope and passed it to me. “Also in the envelope are
the security codes to open the estate’s gate and to enter the residence through
the side service doors. The staff will be told that you are working on a
project for Mr. Vaughn. Your presence will not be questioned. Mr. Vaughn would
want you to make yourself at home at his house. The staff will provide any
meals that you should wish, please let them know of any preferences that you
have. You have free access to the pool, the grounds, the media room, the
kitchen – any common area. You may set your own hours and come and go as
you wish. If you would like to stay at the estate during any part of your work,
let the staff know and they will prepare a room for you. I suggest you do so,
even if you plan to return home every evening, just so you have a private place
you can go to or a place to sleep if you decide to work late. Do you have any
questions so far?”
    “No. Everything
sounds great so far. But I still don’t know what I’m investigating exactly.” The
perks of this job were sounding great. Jackson was certainly one man I wanted
to leave a