'Then what?'
'The SEC reports directly to Congress so they have oversight powers, which means that regardless of what the NYSE finds, the SEC will review it and make their own decision.
'If they think there's evidence of probable wrongdoing, you'll be subpoenaed to appear at a hearing before an administrative law judge of the SEC. If the SEC judge rules against you, he'll turn it over to the federal courts, and you'll probably be subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury. There's no way of knowing what they'll try to charge you with—
'Tell me something,' Cole said in a low, furious voice, 'don't you think the last part of that recitation is a little premature?'
Nederly looked down at his suit and flicked a speck off his trouser leg. 'Maybe I was showing off my superior knowledge,' he tried to joke.
'Or?' Cole snapped.
Nederly sighed. 'Or maybe I don't have a good feeling about this, Cole. The NYSE investigation is moving forward at an unusually fast pace, and I've already heard a rumor from a semireliable source that the NYSE investigation is just a routine formality. The SEC already thinks there's reasonable cause to subpoena you before their own judge.'
'What 'reasonable cause'?' Cole said scornfully.
'One week, Cushman's stock is selling at twenty-eight dollars a share and rising because they're working on a new microprocessor. The next week rumors start circulating all over Wall Street and the media that the new chip is unreliable. The stock drops to fourteen dollars, and you offer to buy the whole company. It looks suspicious as hell!'
'Let's not forget I paid nineteen dollars a share, not fourteen dollars.'
'Which you had to do in order to buy the entire company. I'm not denying that Cushman's shareholders got a good deal when you exchanged their stock for ours. They got an even better deal because you arranged a tax- free exchange.'
'Then what the hell are they bitching about?'
'I said, it looks bad on the surface.'
'I don't give a damn about how things look—'
John shook his head, his expression solemn. 'I think you'd better start.'
'Is that your best legal advice?'
'There's nothing else you can do right now.'
'Like hell,' Cole said in a savage voice; then he pushed his intercom button. 'Shirley, get me Carrothers and Fineberg in Washington on the phone. I'll talk to either one of them.'
The name of the most expensive and most influential law firm in Washington made John smile a little. 'I've already got them working on your behalf. Maybe they can persuade the SEC in advance that they're acting recklessly.'
Cole instructed his secretary to cancel the call. Satisfied that a combination of expensive legal talent and lack of proof would cause the SEC to drop the whole thing, he leaned back in his chair again and subjected Nederly to a thoughtful scrutiny.
'Anything else you want to talk about?' the lawyer asked.
'Your tie,' Cole said blandly.
Nederly seemed to be as alarmed by the potential slur on his perfect appearance as he'd been by the various threats to Cole and Unified that they'd just discussed. 'What's wrong with my tie?'
'It's very conservative.'
'You always wear conservative ties, too.'
'Not anymore,' Cole said, amused by the discovery that the immaculately groomed lawyer had apparently been imitating him.
Chapter 42
Although it was nearly seven-thirty, several of Unified's executives were working late, and Cole could hear them moving around outside his office door. He still had another hour's work, and he wanted to call Diana, but from his house, where he could talk to her at leisure. He'd left her less than eight hours ago and he was already looking forward to talking to her again. The fact that he reminded himself of an infatuated teenager was amusing to him, rather than disturbing.
Cal had called early that afternoon, when he heard about Cole's marriage on the news, and demanded that Cole's secretary get him out of a meeting to talk to him. Instead of being thrilled, Cal had been furious that Cole had 'actually gone right out and married just anybody' so he could get Cal's signature on the stock transfer. To Cole's amused astonishment, the elderly man had announced that such an act was a violation of their agreement, since the intent of it—in his mind—was to see Cole settle down with a mate. It had taken several minutes to calm him down and make him understand who Diana actually was.
On the coming Wednesday morning, Cal had an appointment with his heart specialist in Austin, and Cole intended to fly him there and hear what the doctor had to say himself. He'd hoped to be able to pick Diana up in Houston after the appointment, but she had an impossible schedule that day and couldn't leave until Thursday, which meant he had to wait another day to see her—another day before they could be together. In bed. Thinking of taking her to bed—sober and willing—was enough to make him rigid, and he forced his attention back to the contract he was reading.
He'd just signed his name on the bottom line when Travis walked into his office wearing a polo shirt and a pair of casual pants. 'You're here!' Travis burst out, closing Cole's door. 'Thank God!'
In his early forties, Travis had a face that was pleasant when he didn't look worried—which was not often —and the athletic body of a man who exorcised his anxieties by running six miles every morning before dawn. He was a hard worker, and although he wasn't the intellectual giant that many of the scientists who reported to him were, he was a good choice for head of research and development. He had common sense and a tight fist, usually at appropriate times, when it came to spending the corporation's assets, and he was extremely loyal. For that reason, Cole trusted him more than anyone else who worked at Unified.
'I'm here,' Cole agreed with a wry smile and watched Travis walk restlessly over to the bar. 'But if you have to thank something for that fact, then thank the preparer of this contract, because it's taken me nearly an hour to wade through it.'
Travis stared blankly at him as he splashed bourbon into a glass. 'Oh, that's a joke, right?'
'Evidently not a good one,' Cole replied dryly, tossing his pen aside. 'Now, what's wrong?'
'I don't know. That's why I'm here, and that's why I'm having a drink.'
Even for Travis, this degree of uneasiness was unusual. 'I thought maybe you were celebrating my marriage.'
Travis turned with the glass in his hand and walked over to Cole's desk looking like he'd been punched. 'You got married and you didn't even
Touched that Travis was actually hurt by that, Cole shook his head. 'It was completely unplanned. We decided to do it on Saturday evening, and we flew to Las Vegas—before she could change her mind,' he added truthfully. 'Now, what has driven you to drink?'
He took two deep swallows of the bourbon. 'I'm being followed.'
Even though logic told Cole that was extremely unlikely, he couldn't suppress the vague feeling of disquiet that trickled through him. 'What makes you think such a thing?'
'I don't think it, I know it. I noticed the guy yesterday when I left the house. He was parked down the street in a black Chevrolet, and he followed me all the way here. When I left tonight to go home for dinner, I spotted the car parked on the side of the highway outside our main gates. He followed me home. So I changed clothes tonight
