Lost in thought, Harold was caught off guard when Sophie suddenly dumped a heap of The Silent Shadows badges from her bag onto the table.
The sight left him speechless.
"Is this enough? If not, I've got more," Sophie teased.
"You..."
Harold just gawked at the pile, words completely failing him.
Sophie carried on, "These are from overseas, and some from Summerfield. Which ones catch your fancy?"
"Wait a second, I can see you having the overseas ones, but how on earth did you snag ones from Summerfield?"
"I don’t have them just yet, but if you want them, I can make it happen," Sophie replied with a sly smile. She then pulled out a USB drive. "This has all the juicy secrets the Mintons have gathered on Summerfield's entrepreneurs over the years. Summerfield's quite the mixed bag, and we suspect it's crawling with members of The Silent Shadows. With this dirt, we can get them to play nice and cooperate with our investigation."
"Odie gave this to you?" Harold asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Who else could it be?" Sophie shrugged. "The Mintons' evidence is really coming in handy. I used to think these tactics were a bit underhanded, but now I see them as the only way to deal with those types. Fight fire with fire, right?"
Harold paused, then asked, "Sophie, don't you think Odie is being a bit too generous with you?"
After saying it, he felt it was unnecessary, so he switched gears, "But this makes things a lot easier. You’ve only scoped out overseas, and while The Silent Shadows might keep a tight leash on their accounts, Summerfield should be a bit more relaxed. I'll head there when I have a chance."
"No, you can't go," Sophie insisted, frowning. "Devonport needs you. If anyone's going, it's me."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Revenge is best served cold