The Competitor's Call

“Two hundred thousand for the initial phase, four-week engagement, and I’m authorized to go higher if the scope needs it.” Adrian Mercer said it across a café table three blocks from Reyes Maritime, in the flat, pleasant tone of a man who had learned early that money sounds more serious when it isn’t shouted. “Continental Pacific is building a diligence file on a potential acquisition. We’d want your read on the restructuring — what’s real, what’s cosmetic, what breaks if the covenant slips even a week past the deadline you already know better than anyone alive.”

Mercer was younger than she’d expected for the number he was carrying — mid-thirties, gray suit, a watch too plain to be cheap. He hadn’t opened a folder. He didn’t need to; the number was the whole pitch, and he knew it.

Nora set her coffee down without drinking it. “You’re asking me to…