The Last Hedge (18 page)

“Did you get a copy?”

“I got the hell out of there as fast as I could.”

“Are you telling me the truth?”

“Why would I lie to you? You think this is fun for me?”

. “No,” she said.

“But this guy seemed to have some case files about me and my old job.”

“Like what?”

“There was an S.E.C. investigation, regarding my old colleagues. I quit before it went down, but what he said, and what the document said seemed to be real.”

“How would he have accessed the case files?”

“He says he hacked into a database. Is that possible?”

“I guess. I have no way of knowing.”

“Could you go to the S.E.C. and find out if what he showed me is real?”

“Uh, maybe, but I would need some reason. I can’t just start poking around with no justification.”

“Isn’t that what you’re asking me to do? Isn’t it?”

Vanessa shook her heard. Though what Dylan said was ostensibly true, Vanessa tried to frame it in a different light.

“Completely different things. White-collardcrime, especially with hedge funds, is rampant. We’re pursuing as many cases as is reasonable. That’s different than just looking at random individuals.”

“And I am the bait?”

“You are not the bait. Our boss, Dan Highland, doesn’t want you to quit just yet. He thinks that with all this Madoff stuff, that something else may be going on.”

“No shit. But I haven’t seen any fraud.”

Dylan exhaled and stared off into the distance. Another ferry had just passed in the opposite direction. A group of kids on board were doing the wave.

“Highland thinks the Corbin is money laundering. He’s trying to build a case that the Corbins are moving money through Antigua.”

“Do you believe it?”

“It doesn’t matter what I believe. Highland is making the decisions.”

“Okay, but I want your opinion.”

“I’ve already told you more than I should have.”

“Meaning?”

“I have my loyalty to the Bureau.”

“And none to me?”

“What does that mean?”. The ferry was picking up speed now, leaving the city in the distance as they sped towards Staten Island.

“I’m not asking you to tell me everything. Just, in your opinion, is this money laundering?”

“I think it’s possible that’s what this is, but the evidence is not clear. Could it be true? Yes. Could Highland be grandstanding? Possibly.”

“You think he and Conroy are full of shit?”

“I didn’t say that. I just mean that he might be a little eager to push this.”

“And I’m the guinea pig?”

“No, Dylan you’re not. If you quit, you quit, and you’re out. But it could all blow over. Besides, Highland will protect you. He’ll also pay you if necessary.”

“Pay me?”

“It’s part of the process.”

“What about my career? If I get implicated in something like this, I’m screwed.”

“I understand that. But you will get full immunity if you work with us. Besides, you’ve done nothing wrong. We’ll protect you as much as we can.”

Dylan looked out at the water. Manhattan was now shimmering in the distance, a huge piece missing where the Towers once were.

“What if these guys find out and whack me?”

“It’s not like in the movies;.I don’t think you need to worry about that. If you’re in danger, we’ll go back to Highland.”

“Highland? That’s funny. I was hoping
you
were going to say that you were going to protect me.”

Vanessa smiled as he took her hand.

“Is that a wish?”

“Yeah,” Dylan said. “Maybe. I wish we had met under these circumstances.”

“Under different circumstances, we wouldn’t have met.”

“I know.”

Dylan took Vanessa in his arms and kissed her. Afterwards, they turned away from each other and stared out over the water. They finished their beers just as the ferry was pulling into the station.

The trading day had just ended. Ray Corbin walked into his brother’s office and shut the door behind him. He did not bother to speak. Josh was in his usual position, reclined back in his Aeron chair, his feet propped upon his desk while he stared into three computer screens. Ray pulled up a chair and placed it in front of Josh’s desk. Josh kept working until his brother finally spoke.

“Josh,” Ray said. “I got your email. So what does it mean?”

Though Ray Corbin had not been up on his technology in recent years, he knew what a firewall was and its importance. He and Josh had barely communicated in the last week, so when he received an email marked urgent he knew that it was time for a chat.

“It means that there’s been a security breach.” Ray paused for further explanation. Josh Corbin slowly removed his heavy legs from the desk and planted them firmly on the floor in front of him. He swiveled his chair to face his brother.

“I’m not sure yet. But the firewall has been breached. And that’s not a good thing.”

“The firewall, huh?”

“Yeah, and that’s just the tip of it.”

“What else has been breached?”

“I’m not one hundred percent sure.”

“Meaning?”

“I just realized in real-time that this was happening. I haven’t had the time to do a complete assessment.”

“What are you waiting for?”

Josh’s face turned red. Ray watched him as his breathing increased and his words slowed down.

“I wanted to speak with you before I took action.”

“Okay, I’m here. We’re talking. What exactly was hacked into? Can you at least tell me that?”

“Server NYC1102.”

“Do I look like R2D2? What the hell is that?”

“It’s where we store confidential client and trade data. I’m still looking into it.” Josh’s nostrils were flaring. Ray got up from his chair and began to pace the room. For a moment he stopped and peered out onto the trading floor. After a minute or so, he sat down in the chair and placed his head into his cupped hands.

“Who did it? Any ideas?”

“I think it was probably one of those two geniuses you hired.”

“Who? Dylan and Binky?”

“Yeah,” Josh said, “Batman and Robin. I’m not sure which one. We haven’t had any issues like this until they got here. And they pressed me to grant them access to everything. Which you forced me to give them.”

“Do you know which one?”

“I don’t know. Whoever did it was smart enough to suppress their IP address,

leaving no trace of which machine it came from. If I had to guess, it was probably the little one. He seems to be pretty bright. However, I would guess that he wasn’t acting on his own.”

“So you think Dylan had him do it, huh?”

“Yeah,” Josh said, bobbing his head up and down like a piñata. “I would guess so.”

Ray stared at the mess on Josh’s desk. There were open books, stacks of papers in no particular order, and even several half-eaten meals. For a man as a fastidious as Ray, even being in such a place disgusted him beyond measure.

“Why don’t you clean this sty up? How can you even think in here?”

“I manage to think, even while this place is sinking faster by the day.”

“Sinking?”

“Ray...The P and L. We lost over two hundred million dollars last week, and you’re complaining about my desk.”

“Do you at least have any idea how they gained access?”

“He’s bright. He placed some type of worm in the operating system to capture passwords. But I don’t mean keystrokes, I mean, down at the processor level. He’s a programming genius.”

“Josh,” Ray said, “I am not here to watch you fall in love with some programming geek. I am here because you called me over some security breach that your incompetence has created.”

“MY incompetence?”

“You’re sitting there like the pasha. Give me some answers. What did they gain access to? For how long? Figure it out, pal!”

“King almost put us out of business last week. Another margin call, and we are done!”

“It won’t happen. We have enough cash to weather any market! ” Ray was breathing heavily. After several seconds, he began to laugh. He then got up from his desk and turned his back towards Josh. He looked out Josh’s glass window looking out onto the trading floor.

“So what are you going to do?” Josh asked.

“I’m still thinking about it.” Without turning, Ray wheeled and left.

Ray returned to his office. Confined within his own space, Ray picked up his phone and summonsed Dylan towards his office. When Dylan entered the office, Ray was standing in his usual position, staring at the city down below. Dylan walked in and took a seat in his chair.

“Dylan” Ray said, “Just the man I wanted to see. How’s the trading?” Ray asked.

“We’ll we are 98percent allocated. We’ve made several million so far.”

“That is fantastic.”

“I’ve gotten a little bit lucky.”

“Luck is not part of it. You are truly a fantastic trader. You know that.”

“Thanks, Ray. I appreciate it.” Ray got up and went to his desk. He reached in and pulled out a manila folder. He walked around to the front of his desk and sat down. He was almost touching Dylan.

“Do you know what this is?” Ray asked.

“No,” Dylan asked.

“I will tell you in a moment, but first I want to explain something. Dylan, I was greatly impressed when you talked to me about loyalty. My old man came to this country with less than $100 dollars in his pocket. He came not knowing what the future held for him. He was from a country where loyalty was espoused. He felt this the moment he set foot on American soil. Loyalty was an inalienable right.” Ray then turned and looked at Dylan, his eyes were distant and glassy.

“This tradition of not knowing where we stand as men. I find that highly disaffecting. Is that a word? Do you understand this tradition? That is the question I am asking you?”

“I don’t understand.”

Ray turned away and towards the window. He got up from his chair. Without saying a word, he began to sing.

Come, they told me,
pa rum pa pum pum
A newborn King to see,
pa rum pa pum pum
.”

Ray had begun to use his hands to drum the beat of the tune, as if Bing Crosby was standing next to him.

“Ray!” Dylan shouted.

Ray continued to sing, and to drum.

“To lay before the King,
pa rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum
.” 

Dylan was alarmed. He stepped towards Ray and grabbed him by the arm, using his voice to bring Ray back to reality. “Ray!” Dylan shouted again.

Ray stopped singing and turned towards Dylan. His eyes were glassy and distant. His mouth was open and mouthing imaginary words.

“Ray, what are you telling me?”

Ray seemed to snap out of his fog. He turned towards Dylan with complete lucidity. He moved towards his desk and held up the manila envelope, “I will ask you again. Do you know what this is?” Ray asked. Dylan said nothing. “It’s your employment contract.” Ray took the document from the folder and ripped it in half. Ray let the shreds fall to the floor. He then reached into his breast pocket and handed Dylan a white envelope.

“What is this?” Dylan asked.

“It’s a check. A bonus check.”

“I wasn’t due a bonus.”

“ That is beside the point. But before you open it, I want to ask a question. Have you been stealing proprietary information from this firm?”

Dylan tried hard to prevent the panic from registering on his face. He reeled in horror as he attempted to mask his lie. “No, Ray. Why would you think that?”

“Are you lying to me!” Ray had slapped his hand down on the desk so hard, that the thud reverberated throughout the room.

“Ray, why would I lie?”

“People lie all the time! That is what they do when they are confronted with this type of thing! Josh says you and Binky were tampering with files. Was he downloading information?”

“He was working on stuff at home. Maybe he needed a file or two! But that’s it!”

“Are you lying to me, Dylan? I will not tolerate liars. I promise you, liars are not tolerated!”

“”Ray, I swear! Loyalty is my priority! I would not lie to you or to Josh. If I do, I would resign!”

“Good,” Ray said. “Then open the envelope.”

Dylan looked inside the enveloped and found two checks. The first check was for one-hundred thousand. The other check, written to Binky was for fifty-thousand. Ray was now beaming at Dylan from ear to ear.

“Enjoy it. You deserve it. Martha will have a new and improved employment contract for you tomorrow.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Thank you, maybe. Or let’s just leave it at goodnight. I have to run out of here. But I will see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, sure.” Still dazed, Dylan walked back to his desk where Binky was waiting.

Dylan stared at his friend sitting next to him. Binky was so focused he had not looked up in hours. Dylan tapped him on the shoulder and Binky turned towards him. Dylan stuck out the envelope and handed it to him.

“Here,” Dylan said as he handed him a check.

“What’s this for?”

“It’s a bonus from Ray.”

“Huh?” Binky asked distractedly, as he turned towards Dylan. Binkey’s eyes were bloodshot red, and his hair was in a big bush on one side, like a raccoon. His shirt was completely wrinkled and unbuttoned at the collar. He had pulled a string of all-nighters putting the trading system back together, but the principal work was finished. Dylan wondered what he was working on that had him so engrossed.

“What are you working on?”

“This,” Binky said as he pointed to the screen. Dylan could see a large meter bar that seemed to be about 25 percent finished. Underneath, it said “Elapsed time 8 hours”.

“Well, I wasn’t able to break all of the encryption, but I was able to break some of it.”

“What is it?” Dylan asked.

Binky looked around the trading floor. Though it was empty, clearly he was uncomfortable.

“Maybe we need to go downstairs and talk.”

“Let’s go,” Dylan said. “We could both use some air.”

He waited as the slow-moving Binky got up from his chair. Soon, they were in the elevator headed towards the first floor.