The Billionaire's Son(2)

“Yes. Mr. Thomas, I presume? Very nice to meet you.” His grip was strong and firm.

Mr. Thomas motioned for me to take a seat. “It’s nice to meet you as well. I have heard many wonderful things about your work. Please, help yourself." He gestured to the food.

He seemed to be eyeing the spread hungrily, so I started casually grazing, choosing a few items for myself. I studied him surreptitiously as I scooped some fruit into a bowl. He was tall and thin, mid-forties, not overly handsome but not bad looking. What surprised me the most were his hands. They stood out. They were well used to hard work, rough and calloused, not like the smooth soft hands of a high paid white-collar worker.

While I politely waited for him to finish piling food onto a plate, I asked, “Will there be anyone else joining us today, Mr. Thomas?”

“No, I’m afraid it’s just me today.” He grinned sheepishly. “I work directly for Jackson, er, Mr. Vaughn as a personal assistant of sorts. Mr. Vaughn is determined to keep your investigation completely hidden from anyone. As far as I know, we are the only three who know about it and Mr. Vaughn wants to keep it that way.”

I nodded, “Of course. I understand.”

“Mr. Vaughn has personally reviewed your background check, the one we conducted with your permission. He is also very impressed with your qualifications, Ms. Collins. He is friendly with several of your past clients and you have come to us highly recommended.”

He started stacking the loose papers on the table in front of him. “I have looked over the standard confidentiality agreements that you have signed and the lawyers have informed me that all is in order. I have just one more agreement for you to sign before we get started. This agreement will not go through our legal department, because it will pertain to this specific assignment for you. It is just one more precaution Mr. Vaughn is taking to ensure your investigation remains completely under wraps.” He slid the long document over towards me.

“Before you sign, Ms. Collins, let me explain what you would be getting yourself into.” I glanced at the document before me and then nodded for him to continue.

“Mr. Vaughn is very eager to get to the bottom of this problem before him. He would like you to work for him exclusively until you have solved the problem.”

I had already expected as much. Truthfully, it was the way I worked best. I liked to get fully immersed into the investigations without any outside distractions. “That won’t be a problem.”

Mr. Thomas continued, “Good. Also, because of the sensitive nature of the investigation, Mr. Vaughn would like you to work alone.”

Alone! Without my team? My team of various experts was the reason for more than half my successes. They saved me hours and hours of exhausting but necessary legwork. They could find the proverbial needle in the haystack when necessary. It freed me up to work on the higher-level complexities of a case. I couldn’t even begin to fathom conducting an investigation of 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.#p#分页标题#e#