Chapter 60
Chapter Sixty
Miranda Segura
Miranda sat in her office chair and stared out the window at the city outside.
The view in here wasn’t as good as the view from her father’s office, which remained exactly as he left it.
He said it was because when he did need to come in, he wanted it, and as the man who started and owned the company, it was rightfully his.
While she smiled and agreed and ate shit the way a dutiful daughter should, inside she seethed.
If anyone else gets that office, I’ll slit their throats.
A knock on her doorway caught her attention, and she swiveled around to find her executive assistant standing there.
“Yes?” Miranda asked him.
“Ma’am, your 10:00 appointment is here.”
She stood and smoothed her pantsuit. “Send him in and shut the door.”
She rounded her desk as the man entered, and she shook with him. “Thank you for coming, Marco. Please, sit.” She indicated one of the chairs in front of her desk before she retook her seat behind it.
He sat. “Ms. Segura, I will admit your call intrigued me. It’s been a while since your company employed my services.”
“I will get right to the point. You are a man with many contacts. With my father’s advanced age, it won’t be long before he passes.
I wish to begin the process of positioning this company internationally.
There are untapped markets we can take advantage of that my father opted not to exploit.
This will not be an overnight thing, obviously, but I wish to start laying the groundwork now. ”
He arched an eyebrow. “Internationally? I thought you already did business in South America?”
“We do, but I meant across the ocean. Not the United States, because of their ridiculous government and fickle tariffs. I was thinking more of markets such as, oh, Russia and North Korea.”
His other eyebrow followed the first. “Those can be…problematic trade partners.”
“But their money spends as well as anyone else’s, and they’re likely willing to cut corners, no?”
He slowly nodded. “They can be, yes. Russia more so than North Korea, because they’re easier to bribe. Plus, with their numerous political ties to the US, they don’t face the true scrutiny North Korea does.”
“Can you help me with introductions?”
He sat back in his chair. “It depends on the introductions you’re seeking.
If you’re looking for diplomatic introductions, the highest I can get you is perhaps a deputy clerk to an administrative assistant’s assistant.
I would have better luck introducing you to, say, someone in their security, or facility operations. ”
She smiled. “I’ll take what I can get.”
“This is highly irregular if you wish to seek an appointment with an official for business dealings.”
“As you very well know, sometimes it’s the least likely associates who can provide the most valuable connections. My attorneys will handle the traditional negotiations. What I wish to gain is information perhaps not available through official channels. As you yourself said, they are easy to bribe.”
“You want contacts who have dirt on the people you wish to do business with.”
She shrugged, smiling. “It always helps to have as much intel as possible. I am even comfortable if those contacts have, shall we say, dirtier business ties?”
He slowly nodded. “I will see what I can do, Ms. Segura.”
She stood and handed him a business card with her personal email address written on the back. “Message me there with the information.”
“I will.”
“Oh, and as a gesture of goodwill…” She opened her upper drawer and withdrew an envelope, handing it to him.
He peeked inside at the stack of cash, his eyebrows going up. “This is…overly generous.”
“I hope that our brief interaction will not make it to my father’s ears, yes? If you are asked what we discussed, you can tell him that I am looking for potential business inroads to Russian markets and sought your advice regarding potential contacts.”
He nodded. “Very well. And if I am asked about those contacts?”
She shrugged. “You can tell the truth, that you don’t have diplomatic contacts, and that if you were able to make any, you promised to pass them along to me.”
“And he’ll believe that?”
“Hopefully, he won’t even ask you. But if he does have eyes and ears reporting back to him, that is exactly what I shall tell him.”
She didn’t want to admit to him that she fully expected she would be questioned about their meeting. She definitely didn’t want to spook him.
He tucked the envelope inside a pocket in his blazer. “I certainly hope he doesn’t. I live a quiet life now and prefer to keep it that way.”
She saw him out and told her assistant to hold her calls. She returned to her office and closed the door, unable to stop smiling. Her father would learn about this meeting and ask her about it.
And when her story agreed with Marco’s, her father would possibly scold her for her initiative, but would not suspect anything nefarious. Obviously, since she held the meeting in her office, she wasn’t hiding anything.
But covering her ass was necessary if she didn’t want him closely focused on her private dealings. She needed a bottomless well of patience to set everything up properly.
And once she did?
The world could possibly be hers.
Later that afternoon, she checked her email on her personal phone and saw a brief message from Marco with a name and email address.
Smiling, she copied it into her phone’s contacts and settled back into her office chair.
Finally, progress.
After work, she headed straight to her father’s house, fully expecting him to ask her questions about her day. Almost hoping he would, knowing he would expect her to be put off by his knowledge of the meeting.
He was in his office when she arrived, and she walked around to kiss him. “Hello, Father.”
“Hello, sweetheart.” He stared up at her. “How was work today?”
“Oh, uneventful.” She sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. “How was your day?”
“Did you have any meetings today?”
Hopefully, she wasn’t smiling. That would look suspicious. “Yes, I called Marco to talk.”
His brow furrowed. Obviously, he wasn’t expecting her to fess up. “Marco?”
“Yes. The investigator we used to use? You remember him, don’t you?”
He leaned back in his chair, his hands templed over his stomach. “And why did you call him?”
Time to play the penitent. “You will probably scold me for this, Father, but I would like to explore other revenue streams.”
The furrow deepened. “In what way?”
“We don’t currently do business with Russia. I read an article that they can be very lucrative partners if one approaches the proper parties. I asked Marco if he had or could develop unofficial contacts for me with people affiliated with the embassy.”
Her father slowly rocked his chair. “And that is all?”
Her turn to look confused, only her confusion was feigned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, specifically, what kind of contacts are you in search of?” he asked.
“Well, you always taught me to look for pressure points. I figured perhaps if I can find someone who works there who can give me information I might find useful in a negotiation, it’s worth the extra work, no?”
He wasn’t letting it drop. In fact, had he, she would’ve been worried he hadn’t bought it. “What kind of information?”
“I mean, you always taught me to look for things such as addictions, or infidelity, perhaps secret illegal dealings they’re involved in—that kind of thing.”
His chair stilled. “And that’s all?”
She cocked her head. “What do you mean?”
He finally leaned forward. “You’re not, perhaps, expecting to find a new business partner for the cartel?”
Time for her to tread lightly. “Father, I am not involved with the cartel. You told me to stay out of that, and I have. Other than my relationship with Aunt Marciella, of course.”
“Of course.” His gaze narrowed. “Why don’t I believe you?”
“Call Marco and ask him. He doesn’t have any diplomatic contacts, unfortunately, but he will look for other helpful information that may be of use and pass along anything he finds.”
He softly grunted, a sound she knew meant he wasn’t happy, but he believed her. “Perhaps I will.”
She had exasperated down to a science with him and didn’t have to act.
“Then call him.” She stood. “If I wanted to hide this, I certainly wouldn’t have had him come to my office, would I?
” She turned and headed for the door. “I swear, sometimes I think you have no faith in me, Father. All I want to do is make you proud of me. I’m going to see what the cook—”
“Miranda.”
She hadn’t made it to the door yet. She turned, crossing her arms over her chest. “Yes, Father?”
“You wouldn’t go behind my back, would you?”
She took a couple of steps toward his desk, her arms still crossed over her chest. “You have groomed me to take over the business. Since I was a child. And when I make business decisions to try to give our business a profitable future, you accuse me of treachery?”
He’d leaned back again, studying her. “I’m sorry, love.” He let out a sigh, the tension draining from him. “You are correct—I should learn to let go.” He held his hands out. “What am I supposed to do? I am an old man and am set in my ways.”
She dropped her arms and walked around the desk to hug him. “I’m sorry I don’t run every decision past you first, Father. I didn’t think this would upset you.” She straightened. “Especially since this is just the first step in a very long path that will likely take years to come to fruition.”
He squeezed her hand, patting it, smiling up at her. “Forgive me?”
“Father, I love you.” She kissed the top of his head again. “If you want me to not pursue this line of inquiry—”
He waved it away. “No, it’s fine. Just keep me posted, please?”
“I promise to have our people thoroughly investigate any contacts before I approach them, is that fair?”
He nodded. “Very.”
She played with his shirt collar, straightening it. “Now, I’ll go see the cook and check on dinner.”
“Very good, my love.”
Abundio Segura
Miranda was out of the office no more than two seconds before his smile faded and he retrieved one of his burner phones to text his contacts in the cartel.
They each received the same message.
If my daughter mentions Russians in ANY context, alert me immediately.
They all replied they would, and he tucked the phone away.
If he confronted her with what he knew, she’d lie and deny it. Which would mean…
Well, he didn’t want to contemplate that.
If he could monitor her movements and step in before she did something terminally stupid, perhaps teach her a valuable lesson in loyalty, that would be preferable.
But if she was looking to betray him?
What are you up to, my child? And will you force my hand?