to herself. When Quinn returned, she quietly prepped herself. Having a man consumed with her the way Quinn was carried its share of burdens.
Twenty minutes later, after surrendering once more to his ardor, Quinn lamented, “I wish I could stay here with you forever.” He was half lying and half telling the truth. “But tomorrow I need to spend some time with my family.”
“I’d love to stay too, but I understand,” she said, placing her arms around his neck and stroking the back of his head. “Your family needs to celebrate with you too.”
Quinn kissed her gently. They both stood under the large shower head in the steam room, feeling relieved as the cool water washed over them. Quinn’s relief was spiritual, having reclaimed his integrity by going to the FBI and now preparing to face the inevitable consequences. For Vargas, the relief was mostly physical, since her body was now in pain from their long weekend together. But she was determined to make sure that Quinn never knew. Little did she know he’d already slipped away.
31
Wilson — Boston, MA
Wilson’s purpose for conducting the whirlwind tour was twofold, one stated and one unstated. Aside from the much-publicized official purpose, the unstated reason for the excursion was, of course, to climb into the minds and hearts of the six vice presidents, planting seeds of trust and baiting those who were part of the secret partnership.
The kick-off meeting began at precisely eight o’clock in the morning with all 161 consultants and 64 staff from the Boston office seated in the stylish auditorium on the ninth floor of the Fielder Building. After a brief but generous introduction of Wilson and his years at Kresge amp; Company by Human Resources VP Joel Spivey, Wilson reviewed Fielder amp; Company’s illustrious twenty-five-year history. He spoke about his father’s basic philosophies of rigorous analysis, creative solutions, and exceptional results. Then he presented five initiatives that he promised to begin implementing in his first ninety days as Chairman and CEO of Fielder amp; Company. Embodied in his five point plan were two initiatives intended to make the secret partnership very uncomfortable. They would serve as Wilson’s bait:
After Wilson finished his hour-long presentation, the six vice presidents each took twenty minutes to review the firm’s performance in their areas of responsibility, while elaborating on their own initiatives. The presentations gave Wilson the opportunity to see them in action and assess their loyalty to him and Fielder amp; Company. Some of their acclamations of allegiance seemed more natural and true than others. Wilson took note of every nuance. Following the three-hour block of presentations, they held an hour-long question-and-answer session. Most of the questions dealt with the initiatives and were easy to answer, but some went deeper.
A stern-looking consultant in her late twenties, who had joined the firm out of business school nine months earlier, asked, “What new information do you have about what happened to your father in Sun Valley?”
“We have no new information,” Wilson said, “but I don’t believe he was responsible for anyone’s death.” Wilson had anticipated the question, but decided not to dwell on it. He quickly moved on to the next question.
A senior consultant in his early forties who’d been with the firm for more than ten years asked, “The publicity campaign in your initiatives seems to be a break from your father’s policy of letting our clients do the praising of Fielder amp; Company. Could you comment?”
“Given our current circumstances, I believe it’s what my father would recommend. More exposure is vital to our firm’s future growth and most of it will come from you, through articles, interviews, and books. My commitment is to make sure that what you write gets placed with the most respected publications and publishers. As you know, I started my career at Kresge amp; Company, and we all know how publicity-conscious they have become. We can do it better. Leigh, you used to work for BCG; would you like to make any comments?”
VP Leigh Tennyson seemed happy to reply. “I agree one hundred percent with what Wilson has said. The right kind of publicity has to be one of our strategic priorities, especially now with a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the firm. Word-of-mouth praises from our clients have served the company well in the past, but the world has changed and so have we.”
Wilson smiled to himself, thinking that she couldn’t possibly be part of the partnership, unless she was an exceptional poker player. The last thing the secret partnership needed was unnecessary publicity.
The most difficult question came from a thirty-something consultant who said he’d been with the firm for three years. “What was the reason for the moratorium on corporate restructuring engagements, and where do things currently stand?”
Wilson decided to give the question to John Malouf, VP of the corporate restructuring practice. “John, would you like to handle this one?”
“Supply and demand,” he said in his usual arrogant, enigmatic way. “Too few staff for too many clients. We simply had to slow things down. We should be ready to take on new clients by May.”
He handled the question skillfully, if not truthfully, Wilson thought. The real reason for limiting corporate restructuring engagements, according to Daniel, had been to stop the growing abuse of Fielder amp; Company’s methods and practices. Although a part of Wilson liked John Malouf-perhaps because he reminded him of his father- it seemed more and more likely that Malouf was a member of the insider’s club.
After the Q amp;A session was over and everyone was mingling around a lavish luncheon buffet, a recent recruit from the Wharton Business School asked Malouf why Fielder amp; Company had been dubbed the most secretive consulting firm in America. Wilson couldn’t help overhearing the conversation and Malouf knew it.
“Secrecy sells,” Malouf said.
“What about the new marketing and publicity initiative?” returned the recruit.
“Publicity also sells,” Malouf said.
“You don’t consider the two of them mutually exclusive?”
“Not if you publicize Fielder amp; Company’s furtiveness the way Kresge publicizes its mystique,” Malouf said, more talkative than usual.
“Is that what we’re planning to do?”
“That’s what I’m planning to do,” Malouf said as he glanced over at Wilson.
Wilson held Malouf’s eyes for a moment to let him know that he’d heard his response. Then, a man about Wilson’s age and height tapped him on the shoulder and informed him that they should be leaving for the airport. It was Hap Greene’s man, Mike Anthony, who was also serving as one of their pilots for the whirlwind tour. The game was afoot.
32
Tate — Sorrento, Italy
Bob Swatling fought down his mounting panic as he called Wayland Tate on one of the disposable encrypted phones. It was three o’clock in the morning in New York, nine o’clock on the Bacchus in the Bay of Sorrento.
Tate answered the phone from the upper deck where he was enjoying coffee with his lady friends. “What is
