Brian Haig - PrivateSector

Anyway, I said, “What’s happening, Cy, is corporate graft. Without Grand Vistas, Morris Networks would be vulture bait. Come to court and you’ll hear about it.”

“Hear me out, Sean. Morris is a very profitable and honest company.”

Yes, and Cy was working overtime to establish his ignorance, and, along the way, his innocence.

“Prove that in court.”

“Look… don’t do anything till we get a chance to talk.”

I replied, “Tomorrow, 10:00 A.M.,” and hung up.

For some reason, I recalled the old joke: What do you call a lawyer who’s gone bad?-Senator.

I went into the kitchen and fixed a pot of coffee. Charlie was stringing electronic security systems around the windows. My door had acquired two new deadbolts and my bedroom dresser was shoved against it. Spinelli and Bill were seated in front of the big screen, watching a rerun of NYPD Blue, Spinelli scratching his nose with one hand and cradling a pistol with the other. Just another hum-drum day at the Drummond homestead.

I had just poured a cup of coffee when the phone rang again. I rushed back to the bedroom and caught it on the fourth ring.

“Sean, it’s Jason.”

“Oh. Well, I hope I’m not keeping you from something important.”

“Not at all. What the hell’s going on here?”

“What’s going on is, I was brutally assaulted in your office building, by an attorney representing your firm, who was being pressured by Jessica Moner.”

“That’s outrageous. I’ll fire him.”

“That won’t cure my nightmares.”

“Oh, come on.” He chuckled. I remained silent.

He stopped chuckling and said, “Sean, you’re a businessman. Think like one.”

“No, I’m an Army officer.”

“Then… try to think like one.”

“Gee, I’m a fish out of water here, Jason. How do you businessmen think at moments like this?”

“You ask yourself one question-what’s the most advantageous thing for you right at this moment?”

“Oh… Well, help me out here. What would that be?”

“A settlement. That’s how you lawyers handle these things, isn’t it?”

“When the offer’s sweet enough, yeah.”

“Okay. Let’s see what that takes.” You could hear the confidence and thrill in his voice. This guy made his living off deals; I was a fattened calf of the public dole. He was just tickled pink that some novice thought he could joust with him over money. Was this going to be fun, or what?

To get the ball rolling, I asked him, “What terms are you proposing, Jason?”

“I hadn’t really thought about it.”

“Well… suggest something.”

“How about ten million?”

“How about thirty?”

“Get serious.”

“Serious? Fifty million.”

“I… look, that’s a lot of money.”

“Ooops… seventy million. Keep flapping your gums, Jason, and it’ll hit a hundred. In fact, that’s the number in our civil suit. It could be that’s an unrealistic figure, but compounded by the sweet satisfaction that you personally will lose a few billion in stock value, it works out okay for me.” I couldn’t resist adding, “ You think like a businessman, Jason.”

There was another long pause. I mean, this guy experienced no qualms about throwing away a few hundred grand for a fine piece of ass. Blow this deal, and thousands of lawyers and stockholders would scramble to get a piece of his ass. Also, he had to be thinking about all those recent corporate chieftains being led away in Fed bracelets.

He suggested, finally, “Seventy million is possible. I’d have to find a way to structure it, though. I can’t just hand over a check.. . taxes, SEC filings, notification to my board… I have to consider these things. The money, I need a way to explain it. Maybe if… well, maybe if we worked it as a stock transfer…”

While Jason rambled on, I contemplated the stakes and sums here. I mean, seventy million big ones.

This was a dangerous number, an intoxicating number, and I knew if I thought about it, I mean really took a moment and thought about it, everything it could buy… I slapped myself and interrupted him. “Jason, I’ve reconsidered.”

“Good, Sean. I don’t like this, I really don’t, but I’ve got eight thousand hardworking employees to consider. Wall Street is a treacherous place these days. I’ve done nothing wrong, but these days, a rumor of impropriety… Christ, stockholders pull the trigger over a whisper.”

I was tired of this guy, and I was really tired of this game, and I said, “I mean I changed my mind about the money. See you in court, pal.”

I hung up on him.

I called Janet on her cell. When she answered, I said, “How’s it going?”

“Lousy. I feel left out.”

“Don’t. You did your part, and it’s working.”

“Tell me about that.”

“Jessica Moner called, then Cy, then Jason. We’re up to seventy million to drop the suit.”

Janet was a cool cookie, but I heard a sharp intake of breath.

I added, “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but as my attorney, I was going to cut you in for half.”

“Well… That’s very generous.”

“I have a soft spot for lawyers. Of course, we never would’ve lived long enough to spend a dime.”

“That’s a consolation.” She paused a moment, then asked, “Sean, what’s going on here?”

“I still don’t know. More than just bookkeeping sleight of hand, though.”

“You’re right. That much to hide a simple financial impropriety?”

I suggested, “So, let’s start back at the beginning.”

“Good. What happened in the beginning?”

“It begins with Lisa, like me, being assigned to work on the Morris Networks account.”

“And they probably chose you two because of your lack of competence in corporate finance.”

“A good assumption.”

“Because they’re lawyers and because Barry definitely-maybe Cy, possibly Bronson, and perhaps others-knew that Morris was cooking its books. None of them wanted their fingerprints on it. They wanted a patsy to take the fall, in the event a fall ever needed to be taken.”

Following that line of thought, I said, “And if it came to light, the firm could shovel the crap in our direction. The partners would say they had patriotically volunteered their services for this Army program, and never realized how stupid and incompetent JAG officers are.”

“But like you, Lisa probably discovered it, and she had to be eliminated.”

“Right.”

“But how did they get onto her?”

“Well, when I became curious, I faxed the audit to my brother, who’s a business wizard. He interpreted the spreadsheets and told me what I should worry about.”

“Back to Lisa, please.”

“We’ve never left Lisa. The other victims, what were their jobs?”

“A TV news personality, an accountant, an SEC attorney… oh, shit.”

“Right. Lisa stumbled onto something suspicious, something she didn’t understand, and she gave financial data to Julia Cuthburt, an accountant, and Anne Carrol, an SEC attorney, for inter pretation.”

“But how did the firm find out?”

“Hal Merriweather, I think.”

“Why?”

“Hal gets printouts from the server twice a day. I’d guess that when Lisa e-mailed Cuthburt and Carrol, Merriweather recognized the SEC and Cuthburt’s accounting firm from their Internet addresses.”

“What about Fiorio?”

“Maybe Lisa was using her to expose this thing. I don’t know what her role was, or why she was murdered.”

And of course, Janet then asked, “And me? Lisa and I never discussed a word about this.”

“Well, I’ve thought about that.”

“Go on.”

“In Lisa’s e-mails to you, Cuthburt, and Carrol, she mentioned packages. I think the packages were the audit, and I think Merriweather presumed you got one, too.”