Riddles at Sunset

Elena sat at the edge of the hotel pool, her legs dangling in the chlorinated water. The corporate retreat had been her husband's idea—something about "reconnecting." But David had spent the evening at the bar, talking shop with the very colleagues he claimed to need a break from.

A stone sphinx guarded the pool's far end, its face worn smooth by decades of sun and rain. Riddle me this, Elena thought. When does a marriage become a monument instead of a living thing?

She touched the cool water, watching ripples distort her reflection. The answer came in the form of Marcus, David's division head, who appeared at poolside with two drinks in hand.

"David's still going on about the merger," Marcus said, sitting beside her without invitation. "He's good at what he does. But he's not the only fox in this hunting party, is he?"

Elena looked at him sharply. Marcus had been gunning for David's position for months.

"The merger that was supposed to happen next quarter?" she said quietly. "The one David hasn't mentioned to me?"

Marcus's smile was all teeth. "Word travels. Especially when someone's been negotiating behind closed doors."

The sphinx seemed to mock her from across the water. Here was the riddle: her husband was either being pushed out or plotting something without her. Maybe both.

"What do you want, Marcus?"

"Information. You have access to his home office. His computer. Find out what he's really planning, and I'll make sure you're taken care of when the dust settles."

Elena stood, water dripping from her legs. The pool lights flickered on, casting everything in an artificial glow.

"I've been married to David for fifteen years," she said. "I may not know everything about his business deals. But I know he'd never make one that doesn't include me."

Marcus's expression faltered.

"Unless," Elena continued, "you're trying to smoke out whether I know something you don't."

She walked back to the hotel room, where David sat on the bed, his laptop open.

"Marcus approach you?" David asked without looking up.

"He offered me a deal."

David finally met her eyes. "And?"

"He thinks he's the fox," Elena said. "But he forgets that sphinxes eat those who answer wrong."

David closed his laptop and smiled for the first time all weekend. "That's my girl."