Jack double-clicks on Westview Ltd. and requests an LP1 statement, which lists the general partners.
A James Johnson, a Benjamin Khafti and an Orange Coast Ltd.
Another limited partnership.
Jack requests an LP1 statement for Orange Coast Ltd.
A Howard Krasner, a Grant Lederer, another limited partnership.
CrossCo Ltd.
Jack requests an LP1 for CrossCo.
And on and on and on.
Every hit gets him a couple of hypothetical people and another limited partnership.
The ownership shell game.
Find the moving owners under the shell.
Jack keeps playing.
He's twelve layers deep when he hits on Jerisoco Ltd.
Bingo.
General partners: a Michael Allen, Kazimir Azmekian and something called Gold Coast Ltd.
Gold Coast Ltd.
Back to the shell game. He pops it for an LP1 and gets another meaningless name and two more limited partnerships. Those two get him three more.
And so on and so on and so on and then he hits it.
Great Sunsets Ltd.
Jack's head whirls.
Great Sunsets Ltd. — the company that's trying to develop Dana Strands.
And it's hooked into Kazzy Azmekian and Nicky Vale.
Holy God.
Jack sees two security guys and Cooper, the ex-cop from SIU, coming down the aisle.
Jack requests an LP1 for Great Sunsets Ltd.
The computer hums.
Come on, come on, Jack thinks.
They're fifty feet away.
Come on, Jack thinks.
Because he can feel the paranoia crawl up his back like a hot wave.
Jack looks around and feels like the walls are closing in on him.
They are.
109
He's just managed to turn the computer off when Cooper lays a hand on his shoulder.
'You've been suspended, Jack,' Cooper says, 'pending an investigation.'
'Fuck you, I quit.'
'Better,' Cooper says.
Goddamn Billy comes up.
'What the goddamn hell is going on here?'
'Mr. Wade has been suspended.'
'Who says Mr. Wade has been suspended?'
'SIU has uncovered some information involving kickbacks-'
'Bull-fucking-shit!'
'You'll have to take that up with Ms. Hansen,' Cooper says.
'You bet your goddamn ass I'll take it up with Mizzz Goddamn Hansen!' Billy yells. 'This ain't over, Jack.'
'It's over, Billy.'
You don't know how over.
They're walking him out, Jack can see Sandra Hansen watching him from the corner. He waves at her.
Hansen's not happy.
She's thinking what a brainless, dumb stud Jack Wade is. She's thinking that Jack's surfboard has landed on his head once — make that twice — too often.
But he's a good honest claims dog and it's too bad he's so damn stubborn. Out this morning still chasing the Vale file.
But she has three years and God only knows how much of her budget sunk into ROC and she's not going to let one stubborn M-4 of an adjuster flush it down the toilet.
Not now.
Not when the deal goes down tonight.
So Jack Wade has to go.
Phil Herlihy's watching the whole thing up on Mahogany Row on the security camera.
Phil's gripping.
Seriously.
He's been monitoring Wade's computer screen, saw what he was working on.
Jack Wade has to go.
110
Jack feels like his head's going to blow off his shoulders.
Nicky owns the Strands.
With SIU taking his back.
Very sweet.
Face it, you don't stand a chance.
They beat you. Any move you make they'll find a way to jam it.
They have the execs and the cops and the lawyers and the judges.
And face it, you don't know who else Nicky owns.
So fuck it.
Sorry, Pam.
Sorry, Letty.
Nicky Vale will get richer.
On his wife's body.
And his kids' heartbreak.
And fuck that.
He looks for a place to turn around. Can't, because there's a big black Caddy coming up on his ass.
111
It's a big humping old black Caddy and it's right on his ass.
The 'Stang is a nice car but it doesn't have the weight to stand off the souped-up Caddy this doofus is pushing at him.
The Caddy's on his tail through a tricky S-curve, which breaks open into a short straightaway that bends into a huge outside turn, and Jack taps the brakes because you do not want to go into this curve too fast unless you
