Conspiracy Theory(121)

But then, he thought, he didn’t have to. Even if he was eased out at the bank, even if he made such an utter disaster of the Price Heaven fiasco that he would never be hired by another financial institution anywhere, he still didn’t have to. He had money in the bank, and money in investments, and a decent severance package that wasn’t quite a golden handshake, but came close. He didn’t care what people said about the virtues of ordinary life or the deep inner nobility of the common man and woman. He liked living the way he lived.

He got his cell phone out and punched in a number. The sound system was working, but the radio was tuned to NPR and the announcer’s voice was so low, David couldn’t make out the words. The police had discovered the dead body of an FBI agent who had gone undercover to infiltrate one of the conspiracist organizations. David wasn’t worried about it. It was the kind of thing FBI agents undercover were likely to have happen to them. He was worried about the deaths of Tony and Charlotte Ross, but that was entirely natural. Tony had been his friend. Charlotte had been, if not a friend, an acquaintance of long standing.

Adele picked up on the other end. He must have gotten her at home. She sounded sleepy.

“Adele?” he said. “Sorry to wake you.”

“You didn’t wake me. I’m having coffee. Where are you?”

“On the road back from Philadelphia.”

“You’re spending a lot of time on the road.”

“I’ve been going home, that’s all. And Tony and Charlotte—”

“Yes,” Adele said. “Do they know anything about that yet? Everybody is upset. Tony was bad enough, but with Charlotte on top of it, people are getting paranoid.”

“I think they think it was one of those conspiracist groups. You know the kind of thing I’m talking about.”

“Yes, I do, and I don’t understand why you think that’s going to make me feel better. Or make anybody feel better. Those people are nuts.”

“I agree.”

“They’re dangerous nuts.”

“I agree with that too, but at the moment they’re beside the point. We’ve got to make some decisions on Price Heaven today. I’ve been over all the paperwork a million times. How could they possibly lose thirty million dollars in eighteen months and not notice it?”

“Think of Enron,” Adele said solemnly.

“Enron was fraud. This was not fraud, at least as far as I can tell. This was sheer stupidity and incompetence. Except you know what the regulators are like. They won’t like that. They’d prefer fraud. It makes them feel safer.”

“Maybe you ought to do what you were talking about doing. Shut them down and close them out and stop throwing good money after bad.”

“If we do, we’ll sink dozens of pension funds and hundreds of four-oh-one K’s. And Tony didn’t want to shut them down. Did you get the notes for the refinancing schedule I left on your desk?”

“Absolutely.”

“Good, let’s work with that. Let’s get copies of that out to everybody concerned by noon today, and then let’s call a meeting for tomorrow morning to go over it. Only I want to talk to Mark Corvallen before that. He was Tony’s closest ally on the board. Maybe I can convince him to back me on this so I’m not fighting an uphill battle against a bunch of vice presidents who are all scared to death that they’ll get tarred and feathered with a meltdown. Somehow or the other, there’s got to be a way to keep this company afloat.”

“If you say so.”

“I say so. It’s either that, or the bank takes a loss in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Which would you prefer?”

“I’ll get Mr. Corvallen for you. But, David? Try to get some rest, will you please? You’re beginning to sound very tightly strung.”

“I’ll calm down when this is over.”

“You’d better calm down before noon, because you’re supposed to go on television at a press conference about all this. And don’t complain. They all want you to do it, so you’re going to have to do it.”

“Hell,” David said. “All right. Never mind. Get Corvallen. Get copies of the rescheduling out to everybody who needs them. I’ll be in in another half hour.”

“Right,” Adele said.

David switched off. Any minute now, he knew, they would begin to see the small houses and low warehouse buildings that announced the approach into the city. Ages ago, he had been able to look out and see the twin towers of the Trade Center in the distance. If there was one thing he wished for, it was that he could go back to before that date and rethink everything he was doing in the six months that preceded it. He had no idea if he would change any of it. Nothing was ever that simple.