Off Limits
I strode through the minimalist, white-on-white reception area, my heavy leather boots leaving tracking smears of wet gravel and dark harbor mud across the pristine, hand-woven silk carpet.
Peter’s executive secretary, a flawless, severe woman named Cynthia who had been trained to screen out senators and tech billionaires without blinking, stood up so fast her ergonomic chair rolled violently back into the mahogany paneling.
"Mr. Lawrence, you can't be back here," she stammered, her hand hovering over the silent panic button beneath her desk. "Mr. Ambrose is in a restricted operational review. The network is locked down. No one is permitted on the floor—"
"He's permitted for me," I said, my