95

Michael Carter was seriously considering getting new office space. He had ended his fling with Beatrice. There was no drama, no fight; there were no speeches. He had just stopped asking her out. When she suggested they do something, his response was always that he was too busy. She had pouted for about two weeks. Her new tactic was to completely ignore him. This morning he had stopped at her desk to report that one of the overhead lights in his office was not working. She never looked up, pretending she didn’t hear him. I need this like I need a hole in my head, he thought to himself.

He opened his phone. He had put in place a Google Alert to flag any stories about REL News. The headline caught his eye immediately. REL News Executive Found Dead. He clicked on it, and his lower jaw dropped as he began reading.

Edward Myers was declared dead after police recovered his body from the Harlem River shortly after dawn this morning. Myers, fifty-three, had spent his entire career at REL News and was currently serving as the company’s Chief Financial Officer.

A jogger who was not identified called police to report a male body floating in the water. According to a department source, initial identification was made when a wallet was found in the deceased’s clothing. A family member, believed to be his wife, confirmed that the body was that of Myers.

An unnamed source at REL revealed that there was concern among top executives at REL that Myers had been despondent of late. The source suggested that the grueling hours Myers worked preparing the company for its IPO may have played a role.

Myers was last seen leaving REL’s midtown headquarters the previous evening. Police are reviewing security camera footage from buildings in the area. A department spokesperson stated that the cause and manner of death is pending further police investigation.

Many industry analysts over the years gave credit to Myers’s deft handling of REL’s finances, particularly in the early years, as having laid the groundwork for the company’s meteoric rise. REL is currently in the final stage of going public. It is not clear what, if any effect, Myers’s death will have on the IPO process or the value that institutional investors will ultimately assign to its shares.

In addition to his wife, Myers leaves behind a college-age daughter.

A media relations spokesperson at REL indicated the company will issue a statement later today.

Carter got up, walked over to the window, and stared down at the vehicles and pedestrians sixteen floors below. When my time comes, he asked himself, will it be an accident or a suicide? A vision of himself splattered on the pavement below filled his mind. He turned away from the window, fighting off a sensation of vertigo and a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Why Myers? he asked himself, but then it all made frightening sense. A CEO, even one as powerful as Sherman, couldn’t just wave his hand and have over $12 million of REL’s money sent to an entity such as Carter & Associates. Checks and balances were in place to prevent that from happening. Sherman needed Myers to sign off on sending the money. Who knew what Sherman had told him, or maybe he didn’t tell him anything and just bullied him into doing it.

How convenient for Sherman, Carter thought. Sherman would have been careful to ensure there was no paper trail linking him to the money. A waterlogged Myers was not going to shed any light on the subject. As far as Carter knew, Sherman was not aware that Junior was privy to what was going on. If all this became public, investigators would track down the money Carter had disbursed from Carter & Associates. No trace of Sherman there. So who was left as the only living, breathing person who could tell of Sherman’s involvement? “Moi,” he said, unconsciously putting a finger to his chest.

For the second time he thought seriously about calling a criminal lawyer. He was confident that he could explain—and a jury would believe him—that when he sent emails to Sherman about Cathy Ryan and Paula Stephenson, it was to report his progress toward settlements, not to give Sherman their locations so he could get rid of them. And that was the truth, if that mattered.

Could he somehow assure Sherman that he’d always keep his mouth shut, that he wouldn’t turn on him? The folly of that idea became clear to him as he tried to imagine the conversation. Hey Dick, don’t take this the wrong way, but if you’re considering ways to arrange my death, it’s really not necessary. You can trust me to be a good soldier.

He thought of the old Arab words of wisdom: The enemy of my enemy is my friend. He fished through his notes until he found the phone number Meg had provided for the nosy reporter, Gina Kane.