Part 24 (1/2)
”LC is a compet.i.tor to Hyperfn. Out of the blue they launched their own competing mobile business. We lost Hyperfn as a result.”
”I'm sorry to hear that. But no, I've never heard of LC.”
”What about Hyperfn? Was there anything about the account?”
”Rob and Matt handled it. We had team meetings, of course, but-” He shook his head. ”What the h.e.l.l is going on?”
”I can't go into details, Rich, but it looks like someone at Mantric may have stolen the Hyperfn information and sold it to LC.”
”Christ! Really? Is Christine involved?”
”I can't rule that out,” Heather said cautiously.
Rich leaned forward. ”Heather, nothing would surprise me about that woman. I've done a lot of thinking about it since I left. Did you ever hear about a company called Cendant?”
Heather shook her head.
”Check it out. It happened pretty long ago, but it was a huge scandal. It sounds similar.” He met her eyes. ”Seriously. Check it out. C-E-N-D-A-N-T.”
”Thanks, Rich. I will. And I'm sorry I've been out of touch.”
”That's perfectly understandable. Don't apologize at all.”
”All right. Let's make a point to get together again. Soon.”
He stood. ”Sounds great. Take care of yourself, Heather.”
”You too, Rich.”
May 16, 9:30 a.m. Boston Sarah opened the door and walked in. ”You're in late today, aren't you?” She looked at her watch.
”Yeah,” Dylan answered curtly. ”What's up?”
Sarah sat on the corner of his desk. ”I just wanted to quickly review your calendar today, but I can come back later if you like.”
”No, that's okay. Sorry to be short, but I just have lots on my mind. What's on the calendar?”
She shrugged off his indifference. ”Well, it's actually pretty light. You have a couple of calls to field, at ten and eleven, and then a video conference this afternoon at three.”
”Okay.” It hadn't escaped Dylan's notice that Sarah was trying hard to keep his schedule fairly open. He appreciated it.
”Oh-and you might want to spend some time going through your e-mails,” she added as she turned to leave. ”I've had a few people call wondering if you ever got them.”
He frowned. Ever since joining Mantric it seemed like he received at least fifty e-mails a day. He used to be pretty good about staying on top of it, but he had recently fallen behind. ”Okay, I'll do that this morning. Thanks.”
”You're welcome. Door open or closed?”
”Closed, please.”
She nodded and closed the door behind her.
Dylan turned back to his computer and called up his e-mails. He shuddered at the long list: over two hundred unread messages. As he started plowing through them, he noticed how many were a back-and-forth discussion of some particular problem. Most had been resolved without his involvement. It was as if he were already out.
He remembered his conversation with Matt and felt the anger rising in his mind. His thoughts wandered back to the weekend as he and Heather watched the videos over and over until they were almost memorized. He knew he would never receive Tony's e-mail. It was time to stop beating his head against that wall. He had secondary proof that Art and Christine were heavily involved in some scam, but no proof as to what it was. All he knew was that he would give anything to find it. He also feared they were involved either directly or indirectly in Tony's murder. Time to do some research. He opened up his web browser and Googled the Securities and Exchange Commission website: a vast archive of stock market history and data. In response to the great stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing Depression, Congress had established the SEC in 1934 to protect investors.
As he looked through its site, Dylan noted that the primary mission of the SEC was to protect investors and maintain the integrity of the securities markets. If he could find hard evidence that Mantric was cooking its books to fraudulently boost its stock price, the SEC would certainly be interested. He wrote down the address of their Boston office.
Dylan searched through the site looking for the Office of Internet Enforcement, commonly known as the ”Internet fraud squad.” It had been created to combat the opportunity the Internet had created for stock swindling schemes. Dylan added the Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., number of the director, Steve Markes, to the contacts list of his new Tracfone.
Then he went to pany called Cendant.”
”I vaguely recall something about that company, I think. I'll check. Anything else?”
”Nope. Just doing research in my new and very public office while I wait for my eleven o'clock.”
”Be careful.”
”You too.”
May 16, 10:30 a.m. Boston Back at his computer, Dylan popped open his c.o.ke and Googled Cendant. Over 100,000 hits. He read the detailed report about the company and its ”irregular accounting practices” over the course of three years. Once it was discovered, Cendant's stock dropped in market value by fourteen billion dollars in one day. It also triggered one of the largest shareholder lawsuits in history.
Dylan scanned the report until he reached the section that indicated that the CFO had kept a schedule the management team used to track the progress of the fraud itself. Dylan pushed back quickly from his desk, and his mind rushed over the details. ”Holy s.h.i.+t,” he said out loud. ”Schedule B!”
May 16, 11:30 a.m. Boston ”Hey, Heather.”
Heather, lost in her laptop, jumped when she heard her name.
”Whoa! Didn't mean to scare you!”
”Hey, Matt. Sorry. I guess I was pretty absorbed in my work.”
Matt sat down in the chair that Rich had occupied earlier. ”I like your new office. The decor. The staff. An upgrade.”
”Agreed.” She smiled. She had always liked Matt, and hated what had happened to him.
”Did you get booted too, or are you just playing hooky?” he asked with a lopsided grin.