Mid-tier status comes with a private desk near the center of the floor instead of the crowded rows along the edge, and an in-tray already stacked with case files by the time I sit down the next morning.
"They don't waste time," I mutter, flipping through the folders.
"Never do," Talia says, dropping into the chair across from me with her own coffee. "New tier, new caseload, new expectations. Council wants to see if the promotion was earned or just handed out for good publicity."
I pull the first file toward me. Standard enough on the surface, a family loan gone bad, collection notices piling up faster than the contract terms should technically allow. I scan the lender information at the top, expecting Vantage's familiar logo.
Instead, I find a name I don't recognize.
"Halloway and Cre
