The tapping of Valera Dawson's fingers on the wooden work desk surface on the fifteenth floor was constant, competing with the ticking of the wall clock slowly crawling toward four in the afternoon. In front of her, the laptop screen displayed a spreadsheet containing hundreds of rows of financial transaction data from Valen Group's secondary accounts. However, the focus of her mind was not there at all.
Inside her blazer pocket, the black biometric access card with the golden eagle logo felt as though it radiated a cold energy that continuously tickled her palm.
Garrick Valentino's challenge on the fiftieth floor yesterday afternoon still echoed with extreme clarity inside Valera's head. The man had intentionally allowed the card to remain in her hands, making it both a bait and a test.
