Free The Assignment 4 by Abby Weeks

trap,” Lacey said.
    “Why?”
    “I trust her.”
    “Claire Lally?”
    “Yes.”
    “Lacey, you don’t even know her.”
    “I feel like I do. I feel like she’s one of us.”
    “One of us?”
    “Wounded. Lost. Alone in the world with no one to turn to.”
    “I hope you’re right,” Chloe said.

X
    L ACEY WAS IMPRESSED BY THE interior of Claire Lally’s apartment building. The lobby was decorated with deco style marble and brass fixtures. It was classic New York. It reminded her of the Rockefeller Building.
    A doorman greeted her and she told him she was visiting Claire Lally in the penthouse. He said she was expected and directed her to the elevator. The elevator had an operator who wore the same uniform as the doorman. Lacey wondered what an apartment in this building would cost. She knew she shouldn’t be surprised that the Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange lived in a place like this but it was still impressive. The operator rotated a dial and the elevator sped upward to the top floor. The door opened.
    She stepped out and saw that there was only one door. Claire’s apartment must have occupied the entire top floor of the building. She knocked and waited. The door was made of solid brass, like the door of a vault, and Lacey thought it was strange. She would feel like a prisoner living in an apartment with a metal door like that.
    It swung open slowly on its heavy hinges and Claire was standing on the other side.
    “Lacey, come on in,” Claire said. She looked friendly, even glad to see her. Lacey was relieved that Claire was so welcoming.
    “I feel like I’m stepping into a bank vault,” she said as she stepped over the metal door seals and entered the apartment.
    “Mark’s a real stickler for security,” Claire said.
    Claire led Lacey through a fabulous looking hallway, decorated in the same deco style as the lobby. The hallway was so large it felt like a lobby itself.
    “You have the entire floor?” Lacey said.
    “Yes we do. Seven thousand square feet. We even have an indoor swimming pool up here.”
    “Holy cow.”
    “I know,” Claire said, slightly sheepishly. “I would say that it’s excessive if I didn’t love it so much.”
    “I love it and I haven’t even seen it,” Lacey said.
    “Well let me take you on a little tour.”
    Claire proceeded to take Lacey through a fabulous extravaganza of wealth and opulence. Brass fixtures and window dressings punctuated the marble walls and floors. The furniture and wood trim was of burr walnut. The wallpaper was hand-painted silk. There was a media room with electronic blinds over the windows and the biggest television screen Lacey had ever seen in her life. The color palette was dark, with lots of blues and grays and blacks. Many of the walls were mirrored with a tinted coloring.
    “Your home is amazing,” Lacey said.
    “Thank you,” Claire said to her, smiling. “And Lacey, thank you for coming over.”
    “Of course,” Lacey said. “Thank you for agreeing to help me.”
    “Would you like something to drink?” Claire said.
    “Certainly.”
    Claire brought her into a beautiful sitting room with wide vistas overlooking Central Park. Those views alone were worth a million dollars. They sat on a pair of sofas that were beautifully upholstered and enjoyed the view. A maid served them champagne in long-stemmed glasses and a tray of antipasti.
    “You’re the first friend I’ve had here,” Claire said.
    The words surprised Lacey. She wouldn’t have described herself as Claire’s friend. They’d only just met, and the reason for her visit was not personal but business. Lacey was trying to get information about Claire’s father so that she could run a story on him and ruin him. It was hardly a social visit. And Claire wanted her to seduce her husband. It was anything but casual.
    “Friend?” she said.
    “I know, I know,” Claire said. “We just met. We’re not really friends.”
    “We could be,” Lacey said.
    “In