The Goldfish at the Pyramid's Peak

Elena swam laps in the hotel pool at midnight, the only time the corporate drones weren't cluttering the water. The pyramid-shaped Vegas hotel loomed above her like some ancient god of capitalism. She was running from something, maybe herself, definitely the board meeting tomorrow.

She'd been the company spy for three years, feeding proprietary algorithms to competitors while climbing from analyst to VP. The goldfish in the lobby fountain—their three-second memories, their endless circling—reminded her of everyone in her life. Including Marcus.

Marcus, who'd sent her to this conference with a USB drive and a kiss that tasted like desperation. "Just plant it on the CEO's laptop," he'd said. Simple. Clean.

She stopped swimming, treading water in the center of the pool. The silence was heavy, almost suffocating.

"You're going to do it anyway," said a voice from the darkness.

Elena spun. The CEO's assistant—what was her name? Sarah?—sat at the pool's edge, legs dangling in the water.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Sarah smiled, all teeth. "Marcus is my husband. He sent you the same drive he sent last year's woman. And the year before's." She took a sip from a flask. "None of them went through with it. Well, except one. She's in prison now."

The water felt suddenly cold. "You're running his game too?"

"I'm running the whole show, Elena. Marcus is just the pretty face." Sarah slid into the pool, fully clothed. "So here's my proposition: you plant that drive, I report you, you take the fall for corporate espionage while I collect the whistleblower reward. Or..."

"Or?"

"Or we flip the pyramid." Sarah's eyes gleamed. "Marcus thinks he's at the top. He's not even close."

Elena treaded water, considering. The goldfish, the spy, the endless running—from what, exactly?

"What's the split?" Elena asked.

"Seventy-thirty. But you get to keep your soul."

Elena reached for Sarah's hand. "Sixty-forty, and I want Marcus watching when it falls apart."

"Deal."

They shook hands underwater, two women who'd learned that in business, as in swimming, the only way to survive was to keep moving or drown.