Chapter 9: The Winning Bid

The bid committee chair cleared his throat into the microphone, and the ballroom turned toward him.

Nobody wanted to look at us anymore.

"The Tolland rail-yard contract," he read, "is awarded to Danforth Systems."

Applause broke out at the Danforth tables.

Darius shot to his feet and punched the air.

I felt Danielle go still beside me.

Claire stood up slowly.

She held the signed bid proposal in one hand, and she walked around the table until she stood in front of Danielle.

She was smiling.

"Danielle, I won," she said. "What are you going to do about it now?"

It was the same voice she used on the board.

Her thoughts came back all at once, bright and fast, and I heard every word.

"Did you see that, Nate? I'm so much better than she is. Come back to me now. Don't let her trick you."

I stared at her.

An hour ago she had stood in front of me and gone blank.

She had needed less than ten minutes to find her voice again, and it said exactly what it always said.

That told me something I did not want to know.

The committee chair was reading the final figure aloud.

It was a number I knew very well.

I had built Danforth's cost model for the Tolland yard, line by line, over four months. I knew what every crane and every mile of track would cost.

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