The Dog Knew

Marcus's hair was silver at the temples when she'd first met him three years ago. Now, at fifty-two, the gray had marched across his scalp like an invading army, and Elena wondered if she'd loved him or merely the idea of occupying the space beside him.

The corporate retreat sprawled around the infinity pool, its surface mirror-smooth under the Mexican sunset. Elena sipped her gin and tonic, ice melting like her resolve. In thirty minutes, she'd upload everything from Marcus's phone to the servers of Veridian Dynamics—the competitor she'd been spying for since before their first date.

"You're quiet," Marcus said, slipping into the chair beside her. His cologne smelled like expensive lies and sandalwood.

"Just thinking."

"About us?"

About how you never asked why I never talked about my childhood. About how you trusted me with your passwords. About how easy it had been.

"The merger," she lied. "Is it true what they're saying about the pension fund?"

Marcus leaned closer. "Where did you hear that?"

Fuck. She'd slipped. The pension fund hemorrhage was Veridian's whole reason for hiring her—information Marcus hadn't shared with anyone. Or so she'd thought.

His golden retriever, Barnaby, trotted over and pressed his wet nose against Elena's hand. The dog had hated her from day one, growling whenever she touched Marcus's phone, barking at 2 AM when she'd crept to the home office. Animals sensed deception. Barnaby knew.

"Elena?" Marcus's voice had changed. "I need to tell you something."

The pool's reflection distorted their faces—her expression carefully neutral, his unreadable.

"I know why Veridian sent you," Marcus said quietly.

Her drink trembled in her hand.

"I've known since our second date. I hired you myself."

Barnaby rested his head on Marcus's knee, watching her with eyes that understood everything.

"The information you've been sending?" Marcus smiled thinly. "We've been feeding it to you. Veridian acquired our pension liabilities three hours ago. They just bought the collapse they thought they'd exploit."

He stood, the dog following. "I loved you anyway. That was my mistake."

Elena sat alone by the pool as other executives laughed nearby, her career drowned in still waters, while somewhere behind her, Barnaby finally stopped barking.