24

SEVENTEENTH HOUR

If she's anything like you told me, then I think Grey's met his match

Taylor texted as he trailed behind the quiet couple.

She will have him eating out of her palms

Sawyer replied instantly. They were discussing the plan for the day since, for the first time in forever, the Boss wanted to live a little. This conversation though, and to be conducted via their personal cells, since their work ones were heavily monitored and none of them could risk losing their jobs over indiscretion.

He's going to go apeshit when he tells her stuff and she's not even surprised cuz she already knows

Taylor replied. They knew Anastasia would probably get the latest information way faster than Grey, but since Grey didn't believe her connections, Taylor honestly had no idea where he should be looking at and what he should aim to find.

He personally would prefer exchanging the information with a picture, because pictures could be fake but updates from this pap wouldn't be. He and Anastasia were both firm believers that if politicians could blatantly lie on the TV in front of the entire nation, then what was so bad having a photo taken. It wasn't like they were fabricating a press conference.

Taylor had evaluated the security risks over releasing the photo, but in comparison to the potential of making an advancement on the Morton case, a few days of bothersome paparazzi could be tolerated. He wouldn't admit it to Grey but he loved Anastasia's handy network of friendship because it was where rumors spread the quickest. Even if Anastasia wasn't interested in gossips, she would be one of the first to know the latest bag bought by the Kardashians. He admired the respect Anastasia paid another person, because he was sure if it was the other way around, Grey wouldn't be so patient and easily persuaded when her idea got knocked off.

Of course, Anastasia had other means to fish the information out of Miles, but with him spilling the beans to her, knowing him, he would definitely want something in return. She had already planned out a way to get him talking, but she had yet to come up with an appealing enough favor she could offer him in return.

Under normal circumstances, Taylor would strongly advice against a public image being taken, but this was them racing with the time to eliminate a threat. Morton, as coward and irresponsible as he was seen, was determined to get his revenge on the Steeles. He had the means to dig just like Ray and Grey, but he didn't have the people to do his dirty work for him.

Anastasia had suspected that him reaching out to Jessica was a desperate act, because with his company sold, he would be living on a fixed amount of money. He would lose even more assets if he didn't hire people to overlook his investments since there were a lot that he couldn't just pull away from. However, he wouldn't have enough money to sustain his luxurious life with all the hired helps, so Anastasia thought perhaps it had something to do with his recent decision to call off the acquisition with GEH.

She didn't like to admit it, but she was every bit a social butterfly. It wasn't that she would purposely befriend someone because of their status in the society, but the way she presented herself in public appealed to a lot of people. They didn't know her well enough to know what exactly her attitude was like, but the impression that she gave strangers were that she was carefree, laid-back and down-to-earth, friendly and kind-hearted, which was what everyone would anticipate in someone who was constantly attending social gatherings. People who were closest to her, Kate and Sean, knew otherwise. She may appear to be a social butterfly, but she would make no effort at maintaining those friendships. She'd never ask them for favors and she'd rarely been asked for favors, the mere existence of those friendships were to make sure that she didn't feel awkward or left out when she were at places. To her it was just a social technique that she thought was crucial even if she absolutely loathed socializing.