“It usually isn’t.”
She moved toward the exit.
Kyle leaned toward another salesperson and whispered something, assuming she had gone far enough not to hear.
“Twenty bucks says she was waiting for a bus.”
The other employee laughed.
Regina stopped.
She turned around.
Kyle’s face changed.
For several seconds nobody said anything.
Then Regina smiled.
“Make it fifty.”
Kyle blinked.
“What?”
“If you’re going to gamble on strangers, at least make it interesting.”
She left.
Outside, cold Chicago air hit her face.
Regina walked half a block before taking out her phone.
Her chief of staff answered immediately.
“How bad?”
Regina looked back at the brass Laurent sign.
“Move the announcement to eight tomorrow morning.”
A pause.
“Okay.”
“And have legal preserve every customer complaint tied to this location for the last five years.”
“Regina.”
“Also security footage.”
Her chief of staff exhaled.
“What happened?”
Regina looked toward the store windows.
“Prepare termination paperwork for Meredith Sloan and Kyle Bennett.”
Another pause.
“Anyone else?”
“Not yet.”
“You sure?”
“No.”
Regina thought about Elena.
“That is why everyone else gets an investigation before they get a verdict.”
Her chief of staff became quiet.
Then said, “I’ll have everything ready.”
Regina slipped the phone into her pocket.
The next morning, Laurent & Pierce learned what it had sold itself to.
Meredith Sloan arrived at 7:32 a.m.
She had managed the flagship for six years and prided herself on always arriving before staff. The front lights were already on, which irritated her immediately. She tried the door and discovered it unlocked.
Inside, two unfamiliar security professionals stood near the showroom.
Meredith stopped.
“Who are you?”
One stepped forward.
“Corporate transition security.”
“Corporate what?”
“You’ll receive information at the staff meeting.”
Meredith looked toward the conference room.
A printed notice had been placed on the door.
MANDATORY OWNERSHIP TRANSITION BRIEFING — 8:00 A.M.
She pulled out her phone.
No email.
No call from regional management.
Kyle arrived two minutes later.
“What’s happening?”
“I don’t know.”
He looked at the security professionals.
“Did we get robbed?”
Meredith glared.
“Would they schedule a meeting afterward?”
Kyle shrugged.
“I don’t know how organized criminals are.”
Under normal circumstances, Meredith might have laughed.
She did not.
By 7:55, the full staff had gathered outside the conference room.
Elena stood near the back, holding a notebook.
She had spent most of the previous evening wondering whether the woman from the store would file a complaint. Part of her hoped she would. Another part feared the complaint would disappear into the same management chain that had already taught everyone what behavior was expected.
At eight, the conference-room door opened.
Meredith walked in first.
Then stopped.
Regina Caldwell sat at the head of the table.
Today there were no jeans.
She wore a charcoal tailored suit, simple diamond earrings, and the expression of someone who had spent the previous twelve hours reading things that had confirmed exactly what she feared. Beside her sat Caldwell Holdings general counsel Serena Bishop, chief of staff Jordan Ellis, and Laurent’s newly appointed interim national operations director.
Kyle whispered, “You’ve got to be kidding.”