Yes. Victoria absorbed this. She was a brilliant strategist that was not in question. Had never been in question. She could read the architecture of a corporate situation the way other people read facial expressions instinctively and quickly and almost always correctly.
She was reading this one now and the picture that was forming was one that she did not want to look at directly. "Get me Amanda," she said. Amanda Pierce had been expecting the call. She arrived at Victoria's office within 4 minutes, which meant she had been close by, probably waiting, probably running the same calculations that Victoria was running and arriving at the same terrible answers. She closed the door behind her.
Victoria looked at her for a long moment without speaking. Amanda was good at managing silence. It was one of her professional skills. She had used silence as a tool in HR settings for years, understood how to let it stretch until the other person couldn't bear it anymore, and filled it with things they hadn't planned to say. But this was Victoria's office.
And the silence was Victoria's. Tell me exactly what you know about him, Victoria said. I reviewed his file again after you. Amanda paused. After this morning, standard background check cleared.
No red flags. Howard Undergrad Chicago MBA. Previous employer was a small logistics consulting firm. What firm? Meridian Group Consulting.
Victoria picked up her phone and typed something into it. She looked at the result. Then she looked at Amanda Meridian Group Consulting. She said Delaware registered LLC principal officer listed as she turned the phone so Amanda could see the screen. On the screen was a registration document and in the field marked principal officer C.
A Thompson. Amanda stared at it. That doesn't necessarily mean Amanda. Victoria's voice was very quiet. Stop.
Amanda stopped. "Who is he?" Victoria asked. Not rhetorically this time. With the specific urgency of someone who needs information and needs it immediately.