Jeffrey Archer - Sons of Fortune

The only mistake he made was not to inform Bill Alexander immediately.

One of the many things Nat admired about Su Ling was that she never once said, ‘I told you so,’ although after all her warnings, she had every right to do so.

‘So what happens next?’ she asked, having already put the incident behind her.

‘I have to decide whether to resign or wait to be pushed.’

‘But Steven is the head of your department, and even Adrian is senior to you.’

‘I know, but they were all my positions, and I signed the buy and sell orders, so no one really believes they made any of the plays.’

‘How much did the bank lose?’

‘A few dollars short of half a million.’

‘But you’ve made them much more than that in the past couple of years.’

‘True, but the other heads of department will now consider me unreliable, and will always be fearful that it just might happen again. Steven and Adrian are already distancing themselves as quickly as they can; they won’t want to lose their jobs as well.’

‘But you’re still capable of making the bank huge profits, so why should they let you go?’

‘Because they’ll be able to replace me; business schools throw up bright new graduates every year.’

‘Not of your calibre, they don’t,’ said Su Ling.

‘But I thought you didn’t approve?’

‘I didn’t say I approve,’ replied Su Ling, ‘but that doesn’t mean I don’t recognize and admire your ability.’ She hesitated. ‘Will anyone else offer you a job?’

‘I don’t suppose they will be calling me as frequently as they were a month ago, so I’ll just have to start calling them.’

Su Ling wrapped her arms round her husband. ‘You’ve faced far worse than this in Vietnam and so did I in Korea, and you didn’t flinch.’ Nat had almost forgotten what had happened in Korea, although it was obviously still troubling Su Ling.

‘What about the Cartwright Fund?’ she asked as Nat helped her lay the table.

‘Lost around fifty thousand, but it’s still showing a small profit over the year. Which reminds me, I must ring Mr Russell and apologize.’

‘But you’ve also made them handsome returns in the past.’

‘Which is why they put so much trust in me in the first place,’ said Nat, thumping the table. ‘Damn it, I should have seen it coming.’ He looked across the table at his wife. ‘What do you think I should do?’

Su Ling considered his question for some time. ‘Resign, and get yourself a proper job.’

Fletcher dialled the number without going through his secretary. ‘Are you free for lunch?’ He paused. ‘No, we need to meet somewhere where no one will recognize us,’ — pause — ‘is that the one on West 57th?’ — pause — ‘see you there at twelve thirty.’

Fletcher arrived at Zemarki’s a few minutes early. His guest was waiting for him. They both ordered salad, and Fletcher called for a light beer.

‘I thought you never drank at lunch?’

‘Today is one of those rare exceptions,’ said Fletcher. After he’d taken a long draught, he told his friend what had taken place that morning.

‘This is 1976 not 1776,’ was all Jimmy said.

‘I know, but it seems that there are still one or two dinosaurs roaming around, and God knows what other bile Elliot fed to his uncle.’

‘Sounds like a nice guy, your Mr Elliot. You’d better keep your eye on him as you’re probably the next one he has in his sights.’

‘I can take care of myself,’ said Fletcher. ‘It’s Logan I’m worried about.’

‘But surely if he’s as good as you say he’ll be quickly snapped up?’

‘Not after a call to Bill Alexander asking why he left so suddenly.’

‘No lawyer would dare to suggest that being gay was a reason for dismissal.’

‘He doesn’t have to,’ said Fletcher. ‘Given the circumstances he need only say, “I would prefer not to discuss the matter, it’s somewhat delicate”, which is far more deadly.’ He took another swig. ‘I have to tell you, Jimmy, that if your firm were lucky enough to employ Logan, they would never regret it.’

‘I’ll have a word with the senior partner this afternoon, and let you know how he reacts. Anyway, how’s my kid sister?’

‘Slowly taking over everything in Ridgewood, including the book club, the neighbourhood swim team and the blood donors’ drive. Our next problem is going to be which school to send Lucy to.’

‘Hotchkiss is taking girls now,’ said Jimmy, ‘and we intend...’

‘I wonder how the senator feels about that,’ said Fletcher as he drained his beer. ‘How is he, by the way?’

‘Exhausted, he never stops preparing for the next election.’

‘But no one could oust Harry. I don’t know a more popular politician in the state.’

‘You tell him that,’ said Jimmy. ‘When I last saw him he’d put on fifteen pounds, and was looking badly out of shape.’

Fletcher glanced at his watch. ‘Send the old warhorse my best, and tell him Annie and I will try and get up to Hartford for a weekend soon.’ He paused. ‘This meeting never took place.’

‘You’re becoming paranoid,’ said Jimmy as he picked up the cheque, ‘which is exactly what this Elliot guy will be hoping for.’

Nat handed in his resignation the following morning, relieved at how calmly Su Ling had taken the whole debacle. But it was all very well her telling him to get a proper job when there was only one job he felt qualified to do.

When he returned to his office to remove his personal possessions it was as if there was a quarantine notice attached to his desk. Former colleagues walked quickly past, and those occupying desks nearby remained on their phones, their faces turned away.

He took a laden cab back to the apartment, and filled the tiny elevator three times before he had finally deposited everything in his study.

Nat sat alone at his desk. The phone hadn’t rung once since he’d arrived home. The apartment felt strangely empty without Su Ling and Luke; he’d got used to them both being there to greet him whenever he came home. Thank God the boy was too young to know what they were going through.

At midday, he went to the kitchen, opened a can of corned beef hash and tipped it into a frying pan, added some butter, cracked two eggs on top and waited until they looked done.

After lunch, he typed out a list of financial institutions that had been in contact with him during the past year, and then settled down to call them one by one. He started with a bank that had phoned him only a few days before.

‘Oh hi, Nat, yes sorry, we managed to fill the position last Friday.’

‘Good afternoon, Nat, that sounds an interesting proposition, give me a couple of days to think about it, and I’ll come back to you.’

‘It was good of you to call, Mr Cartwright, but...’

When Nat had reached the end of the list, he put the phone down. He’d just been devalued, and there was obviously a sell order out on him. He checked his current account. It was still showing a healthy balance, but for how much longer? He glanced up at the oil painting above his desk. Reclining Nude by Camoin. He wondered just how long it would be before he had to return one of his mistresses to the gallery pimp.

The phone rang. Had one of them thought about it and called him back? He picked it up and heard a familiar voice.

‘I must apologize, Mr Russell,’ Nat said. ‘I should have called you earlier.’

Once Logan had left the firm, Fletcher felt isolated and hardly a day went by when Elliot didn’t try to undermine him, so when Bill Alexander asked to see him on Monday morning, Fletcher sensed it wasn’t going to be a friendly encounter.

Over supper with Annie on Sunday evening, he told his wife everything that had taken place during the past few days, trying hard not to exaggerate. Annie listened in silence.