Rian probed gently. “That’s it? Beautiful woman like you? One of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met, by the way. Your job and the law? Those are the sum of things in your life? No friends? No special friend?”

Harley let out a brittle laugh. “I have a checkered history in that area. And I guess you might say that friends are a luxury I just can’t afford right now…”

The cars up ahead suddenly started to jerk forward, so Harley stopped talking and resumed driving. Talk of work, and her avowed commitment to her job had snapped her thoughts and personality back into place, though. Rian studied her a bit longer as the redhead concentrated on driving, intent on making up for lost time as she changed lanes periodically, to get them into faster moving lanes. If she has a game face, this is probably the one…

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In contrast to the strategy of the law firm Harley worked for, the law firm of the man who’d suddenly come forward with a proposal to negotiate his purchase of a unique small-sized sculpture dated to the 4^th century BC from the collection that the board of the art institute had decided to put up for auction had chosen to send a team of lawyers to the meeting.

Rian glanced at Harley, who was coolly debating some obscure legal precedent with three of the lawyers that sat on the opposite side of the large conference table. She looks like Leonidas battling Xerxes in defense of Thermopylae. The difference is, Leonidas and his 300 soldiers lost the battle with Xerxes, overwhelmed by the thousands of men in Xerxes army. While she is destroying these guys all by her lonesome.

The three lawyers taking turns arguing with Harley, at times talking over each other simultaneously, were amongst the six that flanked a woman who said she was representing the buyer. The expert they’d hired to give them technical advice, and had flown from Egypt just for this meeting, sat next to her. He was now busy swiping the screen of his tablet, and rifling from time to time through a thick sheave of paper that he’d extracted from the roller that he’d brought with him. He imagines he can extract one more nugget of information that will help their cause, probably.