Monahan 01 Options

by Rosemarie A D'Amico

  I took two and closed my eyes. It was dark outside when I woke up and discovered Jay sitting in my mother’s old rocking chair beside the bed. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was eight-thirty.

  To test the pain level, I opened and closed my eyes a few times. My head was still sensitive but the Tylenol 3’s had done their work.

  “Hey,” I croaked out. “You the night nurse?” I smiled at him.

  He smiled back at me. “Yup. I’ve got the midnight shift. At your service. How’re you feeling?” he asked.

  Bless his pointed little head. He was genuinely concerned.

  “I’ll be fine. It was just a migraine. Lie down beside me?” I asked him. He complied and gathered me in his arms. He stroked my hair and put his hand on my forehead.

  “No temperature. You’ll be fine,” he proclaimed.

  “Thank you Nurse Ratchet.”

  “Do you get migraines often?”

  “Couple of times a year,” I told him. “Brought on by stress. The funeral home was a little much for me today.” I paused. “The police were there, you know.”

  “I know. I saw them on the six o’clock news. Harold called. And so did Vanessa. This has been a busy place.”

  “You saw who on the six o’clock news?” I asked him.

  “The Detective who was at the funeral home. I saw him there but didn’t know who he was until I saw him on the news.”

  “Then you know?” I asked. “That Evelyn was murdered?”

  “Yeah. They said on the news they were investigating the death of Evelyn Morris as a possible homicide. They interviewed Danny. How did you find out?”

  “Constable Lofaro told me they were investigating it as a homicide. All of the food at the reception the other night was laced with peanut oil. Everything.” I told him.

  “Jesus,” Jay whispered. “Then it definitely was no accident. Who the hell would do something like that?”

  “Why did Harold and Vanessa call?” I changed the subject.

  “Vanessa called because she didn’t see you at Hillson’s. I told her you were in bed with a migraine. She was surprised that I answered the phone and I told her I had driven you home. Harold on the other hand, didn’t ask why I was answering your phone.”

  “Harold wouldn’t ask if the Queen of England answered my phone. He never asks personal questions. What did he want?”

  “Wanted to know what time you’d be in the office tomorrow after the funeral. He asked if I’d tell you to check your voice mail. He’d leave you a message.”

  “Fuck voice mail. I don’t check it after hours,” I declared.

  “Are you going to tell Vanessa about us?” Jay asked me.

  “Of course. I want to tell everyone and I’d love to get up on the top of the CN Tower and broadcast it to the world.”

  “Broadcast it to the world? I don’t think that’s such a good idea. I’m an outcast at TechniGroup right now.”

  “I know it’s only been a couple of days, but this feels right Jay. For me anyway.”

  “And you know how I feel. I told you last night. I love you.” He said that so easily. I wanted to say it back but the last time I responded quickly to someone when they told me they loved me, I ended up married to him.

  So I hedged a little bit and told him, “I feel the same.”

  The news that Evelyn’s death was being investigated as a homicide was a big item on the ten o’clock news.

  A reporter was interviewing Danny in front of his home. He looked scared and sounded mad.

  “I was convinced it was no accident,” he was saying to the reporter. “I had to go to the police and beg them to get involved.” The reporter removed the microphone from in front of Danny’s face and looked straight at the camera. Danny’s image faded away.

  “This news comes quickly on the heels of a press release issued by TechniGroup earlier in the week which detailed the resignation of Richard Cox, the company’s chief financial officer,” the reporter told Toronto. “Mr. Morris informs us,” she continued, “that Mr. Cox was his mother’s boss.” She finished her story with a brief description of the company’s business.

  Great. I couldn’t wait to see what the stock opened at in the morning.

  We were sitting in the dark and I was sipping a very hot Cup of Soup. One of the many gourmet delights I kept hidden in my kitchen cupboard.

  I asked Jay if he had heard what the stock had closed at today.

  “No change,” he said.

  “Well, that’s comforting for now. Tomorrow’ll be interesting. With that reporter reminding everyone about Rick Cox and now the news about the police getting involved, it’ll be like October 1987 all over again.” I thought about the possibility of Oakes jumping out of an office window and remembered that they were all sealed tight. “I wonder how much of a hit the stock’ll take,” I said.

  “As if I care,” I answered myself. “If one of those sons of bitches is responsible, I hope the stock goes to a negative. Can that happen?” I wondered out loud.

  Jay laughed. “Not that I know of,” he said.

  “Why’s Didrickson so hot about what time you’ll be in tomorrow?” Jay asked after he muted the sound on the television.

  I thought about the news that Harold had told me about the possible buy-out. I was sworn to secrecy and wasn’t supposed the share the information with anyone. I looked over at Jay and he was staring at me, waiting for an answer.

  “Confidentially? What I tell you goes no further?”

  Jay nodded.

  “Pinkie swear?” I asked him. He held out his baby finger and linked it with mine. This was an old ritual all the neighbourhood kids had. It was a stronger promise than swearing in blood.

  “We’re being looked at. Someone out there is interested in buying TechniGroup. Didrickson’s got me getting material together for due diligence. I imagine he’s heard from the other side now on what documents and material they’re going to want to look at. He needs me there to be his personal photocopy slave.”

  “Interesting,” he mumbled. Interesting? This was big news.

  “Hey,” I prodded. “Interesting? No other comment? Come on. Let’s speculate. Who do you think it might be? The Germans again?”

  “I don’t know,” he replied distractedly.

  “Hey. Earth to Jay. Over here.” I poked him on the shoulder. He looked at me.

  “What? Sorry. What’d you say?” he asked me.

  “Who do you think it might be?” I repeated. “The Germans?”

  “I don’t know,” Jay said. “But I do know this. Whoever it is, will get a nice price for the company. If the stock keeps dropping they’ll get the place for a quarter of what it’s worth.”

  I thought about that for a moment.

  “Maybe someone wants the stock price to keep dropping and that’s why everything has been happening. Maybe that’s why Rick got fired and Evelyn was murdered,” he said.

  chapter thirty-two

  “And that only happens in books,” I said. “You’re dreaming in Technicolor, Jay. Rick Cox got fired because he fucked up. And because they got him for fraud and sexual harassment too. Remember you asked me how I knew about the fraud? Well, I saw the charges in different memos from a couple of the regional vp’s. Oh, and by the way, the pinkie swear covers those memos too.”

  “Okay, I’ll give you that. On it’s own. Rick got fired because of apparently legitimate reasons. But why was Ev murdered? And I’ll go on the record right now. I agree that it was murder. You say they found peanut oil in everything?”

  I nodded.

  “Well, then,” he said. “Why would there be peanut oil in brownies? Or in a ham and cheese casserole? I’ll tell you why. Because someone wanted to make damn sure that whatever Evelyn ate, would kill her.”

  Jay continued. “Those two unrelated incidents will no doubt drive the stock price down. And then you hear that we’re a target of a takeover bid. And,” he pointed his finger at me, “tell me why the shares were down over
a buck and a half last week, before any of this news got out? Can you explain that?”

  I laughed. “No, Your Honour. I can’t. And I’d forgotten about that.” Less than ten days ago the shares had been over $11.00 and now they were trading around $7.00. And with the news on the street about Ev, the slide wasn’t about to stop.

  “You have to agree,” Jay said. “That the two events together are cause for concern. Once the police find out about Cox, and they will find out, they’ll want to know what the two had in common. I’ll tell you what they had in common.”

  “Stock options,” I interrupted him. “And, let’s not forget about the other variable in this formula.”

  “And that is?”

  “You. You got fired too. Because of stock options. The common element. I wonder if the police’ll be knocking on your door?”

  “Damn. I hadn’t thought of that.” Jay looked concerned.

  “But you’ve got nothing to worry about,” I reassured him.

  “You’re right. But no one likes being questioned by the police,” he said. “My mother definitely won’t be impressed.”

  “She won’t be impressed when she finds out you’ve been fired. Have you told her yet?”

  Jay shook his head. “I’ll tell her when I land another job. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

  The funeral the next day wasn’t a merry affair by any means but I did a lot better than the day before. Jay and I sat shoulder to shoulder in the chapel at Hillson’s and I held his hand tightly in mine. There were dozens of people from the office at the service and if they’d didn’t know about Jay and I by now, they’d soon figure it out when they saw how closely we were sitting together. I felt safe with his shoulder touching mine. I didn’t acknowledge anyone and stared straight ahead like a zombie. I blocked out everything and tried not to listen to anything that was said during the eulogy. It was a trick I learned as a child. Don’t listen and what they say can’t hurt you.

  “Midget,” they used to taunt me. “Shorty pants.” It was something to laugh about now, but as a kid, it used to hurt me through and through. I was very conscious of my size and when the other kids started to tease me, I just wouldn’t listen. I would sit on the curb with my hands over my ears, blocking out their taunts.

  Evelyn was buried at the Thorncliffe Cemetery. We stayed back from the crowd around the graveside and I hung on to Jay’s arm. When they started lowering her coffin into the ground I turned around quickly and started back to the car. The rest of the crowd soon followed us and when the front cars in the funeral procession pulled out, Jay quickly followed.

  “Do you want me to drop you at the office?” he asked me.

  “Sure, but my car’s still at Hillson’s. I’ll have to get it eventually,” I replied. I had no feeling in my arms and my neck felt like rubber. I wanted to lie down and go to sleep and never wake up again. My best friend had just been put in the ground and the sadness overwhelmed me. I wanted to go to the office about as much as I wanted to have a root canal without Novocain.

  “I’ve got some things I want to do downtown. I can hang around and take you back after work,” he offered.

  My mind wandered and I wondered if Evelyn was watching me, just like Sarah told me. My eyes looked up at the clouds. I’ve got a prince, I told her silently. You’d be happy for me, Ev. My eyes filled with tears for the first time that day and I quickly wiped them away with the back of my hand and turned to look at Jay.

  “Thank you. I’ll take you up on that offer.”

  We didn’t talk on the way back downtown and I gave Jay a quick peck on his cheek when he pulled up in front of the building.

  “I’ll be here at what time?” he asked me.

  “Is five-thirty too late?” I had no idea what awaited me upstairs.

  “Five-thirty it is. See you then.” I waved as he drove off and I made my way slowly in to the building.

  This is the last place I want to be, I thought as I punched the button for the elevator. When your best friend dies, you should be at the home of her relatives, participating in the grieving process. I had given my regrets to Danny before the service and he looked almost relieved that I wasn’t going back to his place after the burial. He probably didn’t want anything to do with any of us now that there was a full-fledged investigation going on.

  I caught a whiff of Vanessa’s perfume and turned around. She was standing behind me waiting for the elevator.

  “Why didn’t you say something?” I asked her.

  “Didn’t want to invade your personal space,” she replied. “You definitely had the walls up today. I noticed it at the funeral home and the graveside. You alright?”

  “Yeah. I guess so. I’m getting there.” We got on the elevator when it arrived and I punched our floor. I backed into the corner and watched the numbers of the floors flash by on the indicator.

  “You need to talk Kate, you know I’m here,” she said softly.

  “I know Vee. And I know I’m not the only one grieving for Ev. I know she was a good friend of yours too. If I drank, I’d say let’s go out and get drunk.” I grinned at her.

  “You could always start. I’d be glad to introduce you to my bedmate, Chardonnay. Hey, you wanna do that tonight after work? Ashley’s over at her dad’s place. I don’t have to go home. We could get something to eat, too.”

  “I’d like that Vee. But Jay’s picking me up after work,” I told her.

  “Oh,” she said.

  We arrived at our floor and got off the elevator.

  “I can’t get in touch with him because I don’t know where he is,” I told her. “But we could go as a threesome.”

  “No. That’s all right. Some other time,” she said.

  “Vee. Get serious. Jay doesn’t bite. And it’s not as if the three of us haven’t eaten together before,” I reminded her. We were standing in the elevator lobby and I steered her along the hall towards the back door.

  “We’ve eaten together before when you two weren’t so obviously a couple,” she said. “I don’t want to butt in.”

  “Shit Vanessa. This is stupid.” I flashed my security pass at the black box beside the door. It clicked and she pulled the door open.

  “So maybe we are an obvious couple. But you’re still my friend. We’ll hoist a few to Ev. Let’s meet at six at Bigliardi’s.”

  “Bigliardi’s?” she said. “That’s an old fogey’s place.”

  “Yup. And it was Ev’s favourite restaurant. And I’m sure they serve Chardonnay.” I went through the door ahead of her and waved over my shoulder. “Six. And don’t be late.”

  chapter thirty-three

  It was quiet in the legal department area when I got to my office. Everyone was probably still in traffic coming back from the funeral. So, I took the opportunity to check my voice mail. My friend, the voice mail lady, told me I had six new voice messages, one of which was urgent. Probably Harold, I thought. You could send someone a message and tag it urgent and the computer voice would intone, “Message Three is URGENT.”

  Everything was urgent in Harold’s book. And then I remembered I hadn’t listened to my messages last night after Jay told me that Harold wanted me to. I scrolled through the messages and got the urgent one. As I suspected, it was from Harold.

  “Kate, this is Harold. We’ve received the list from the other side. I’ll leave it in my basket. I’d appreciate it if you could start getting the documents together that they want as soon as possible.” Click.

  “Oh Harold,” I said out loud into the receiver, “you forgot to say thank you.”

  I got the keys to his office from my desk and retrieved the dreaded list. The letterhead was that of a well-established law firm who were renowned as the masters of the takeover bid. Scapelli’s often competed with them for business. As counsel to TechniGroup, Cleveland Johnson was probably rubbing his hands together, salivating at all the work about to come his way. Well, I thought, the miserable shit can rub his hands together all he wants. If we
get taken-over, his firm will lose our business to the Bay Street firm who were representing the company about to bid on us. Put that one in your pipe and smoke it Cleve. Ah, what goes around, comes around, I chanted. I was still mad at Cleve and was being bitchy.

  The list of what they wanted to look at was a long one. The total document was ten pages long and Harold had marked all over it. Harold had put a check mark beside most items but others had NO WAY written in capital letters beside them. I guessed that the other firm was on a fishing expedition and until they made us an offer, we weren’t going to show them our panties until they showed us their’s. The time to lift our kilts would be after we had a firm commitment of an offer in hand.

  I sighed as I sat down at my desk. It was eleven-thirty and I planned on being out of the office by five-thirty. I lit a cigarette and started going through the list. Most of the documents they wanted existed, but it was going to take some time getting it all together. I wondered how much time I had.

  I flipped to the last page of the document and saw that the lawyer who wrote the letter had indicated in the penultimate paragraph that he expected the documents by close of business next Monday. If that was going to pose a problem, blah, blah, blah. No problem, I thought. I’d gotten a good head start yesterday morning when Harold was decent enough to give me a head’s up.

  Some of the items would be trickier than others, though. The ones that stuck out immediately were the requests for information covering the last three years on stock option grants and the employee stock purchase plan. Not my responsibility, I thought. Harold had written “Finance” beside several of the items meaning that the finance department would be responsible for those items. Lists of customers. Accounts receivable. I wrote “Finance” beside the requests for information on the options and the stock purchase plan. They could whistle Dixie if they thought I was going to dig up all that shit. Evelyn, Jay and Rick were the keepers of that information. In a pinch and with the thumbscrews tightening, I could pull together the stock option stuff. But there was no way I could come up with the employee stock purchase plan information.