him. And I do. I judge him mortal. I judge him imperfect. I judge
him a man who was mulish and complicated and hard to love and forever
scarred by a history that left its mark on everything it touched.
“And I judge him a hero.
“I judge him a good man.
“And because he was hard to love, I loved him all the harder …”
Ben broke off, the words strangled in his throat. He could say no more,
and perhaps there was nothing more that needed to be said. He looked at
Anna’s face, saw her cheeks glistening with tears, saw her weeping for
them both, and he slowly walked away from the rostrum, and toward the
back of the hall. Soon Anna joined him, standing by his side while
countless guests shook his hand as they filed out through the hall and
talked among themselves in an adjoining room. There were words of
condolence and of affectionate reminiscence. Kindly old men squeezed
his shoulder, clearly remembering him as a child, one half of the
adorable Hartman twins. Ben steadily regained his composure. He’d felt
wrung out, but part of what had been wrung out of him was the heaviness
of grief.
Ten minutes later, when someone the head of the tax division at HCM told
a fond, funny anecdote about his father, Ben found himself laughing out
loud. Somehow he felt lighter than he had in weeks, maybe years. As
the crowd thinned, a tall, square-jawed, sandy-haired man clasped his
hand.
“We’ve never properly met,” the man said, and then he glanced at Anna.
“Ben, this is someone who has been a good friend to us both,” Anna said
warmly. “I’d like you to meet the new director of the Internal
Compliance Unit, at Justice David Denneen.”
Ben shook his hand vigorously. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said.
“And can I say thanks for saving our ass? Or is that just part of your
job description?” Ben knew that Denneen had been chiefly responsible
for clearing Anna’s name; the word had been artfully “leaked” that she’d
been working for a sting operation, those reports of her misdeeds faked
in order to draw out some genuine malefactors. Anna had even received
an official governmental letter of thanks for her “dedicated service and
valor,” although the letter discreetly left the circumstances of that
valor unspecified. Still, it served a turn in helping her land a job as
vice president in charge of risk-avoidance at Knapp Incorporated.
Now Denneen bent down and kissed Anna on the cheek. “The debt runs the
other way,” he said, turning back to Ben. “As you very well know.
Anyway, these days at the I.C.U I’m in the downsizing business. Someday,
when my mother asks me what I do for a living, I’d like to be able to
tell her.”
“And Ben?” Anna presented the diminutive, brown-skinned man
accompanying Denneen. “One more dear friend of mine I’d like you to
meet: Ramon Perez.”
Another vigorous handshake. Ramon smiled, showing very white teeth. “An
honor,” he said, bobbing his head a little.
He was still smiling when he and Anna drifted off to a corner to talk.
“You look like the cat that ate the canary,” Anna said. “What is it?
What’s so funny?” Her moist eyes gleamed with amusement.
Ramon just shook his head. He glanced at her france across the room and
then at her, and still he was smiling.
“Ah,” she said at last. “I know what you’re thinking. “What a waste,”
right?”
Ramon shrugged but didn’t deny it.
Anna looked over toward Ben until their eyes met. “Well, let me tell
you something,” she said. “He ain’t wasted on me.”
Afterward, Ben and Anna found a HCM Lincoln Town Car waiting for them in
front of the Metropolis; the driver, seeing them emerge, stood stiffly
in front of the car, ready to open the rear door. Ben held Anna’s hand
in his gently as the two walked toward the vehicle that would take them
away. A faint drizzle made the streets gleam in the evening dusk.
Then Ben started, felt a twinge of adrenaline: the driver looked
curiously youthful, almost adolescent, yet compactly, powerfully built.
A kaleidoscope flashed before his mind, nightmarish images from a time
not long in the past. Ben grasped Anna’s hand fiercely.
The driver turned to face Ben, and the glow from the arched windows of
the Metropolis illuminated his face. It was Gianni, Max’s driver for
the last two years of his life, a gap-toothed, boyish, high-spirited
fellow. Gianni took off his taupe cap, waved it.
“Mr. Hartman,” he called out.
Ben and Anna entered the car, and Gianni closed the door with an
efficient thunk before settling into the driver’s seat.
“Where to, Mr. Hartman?” Gianni asked.
Ben glanced at his watch. The night was young, and tomorrow wasn’t a
school day, anyway. He turned to Anna. “Where to, Ms. Navarro?” Ben
asked.
“Anywhere at all,” she said. “As long as it’s with you.” Her hand
found his again, and she rested her head on his shoulder.
Ben inhaled deeply, sensed the warmth of her face next to his, and felt
at peace. It was an odd, unaccustomed feeling.
“Just drive,” Ben said. “All right, Gianni? Anywhere, nowhere–just
drive.”
CHAPTER FIFTY.
USA TODAY
INSIDERS SPECULATE ABOUT
NEXT SUPREME COURT NOMINEE
Declaring that he “deeply regretted but fully understood” Justice Miriam
Bateman’s decision to step down from the U.S. Supreme Court at the
conclusion of the spring term, President Maxwell said that he and his
advisers would take their time and make a “considered, deliberate”
decision about who would be proposed as her successor. “Living up to
Justice Bateman’s probity and wisdom will be a heavy burden on any
nominee, and we approach this task with humility and with open minds,”
the President said in a press conference. However, insiders have
already produced a short list of names believed to be under active
consideration … THE FINANCIAL TIMES
MERGER TALKS BETWEEN ARMAKON, TECHNO CORP
In what would be an unusual pairing of two New Economy powerhouses,
officials at both the Vienna-based agricultural and biotechnology giant
Armakon and the Seattle-based software giant Technocorp acknowledged
that the corporations had entered into preliminary merger negotiations.
“Biotech is increasingly about computing, and software is increasingly
about applications,” Arnold Carr, Technocorp’s CEO, told reporters.
“We’ve been strategic partners in the past, but a more formal
consolidation would, we believe, ensure the long-term growth of both our
companies.” One prominent member of Technocorp’s board of directors,
former Secretary of State Dr. Walter Reisinger, said that the boards of
both companies fully supported management in the decision. According to
Reinhard Wolff, the managing director of Armakon, the merger would
obviate the need for costly outsourcing of programming and potentially
represent billions in savings. He credited the “truly wise and
distinguished directors” of both companies with having facilitated the
negotiations.
Large shareholders in both companies seemed to approve of the merger
talks. “There is strength in unity,” Ross Cameron, whose Sante Fe Group
holds 12.5 percent of Technocorp’s series A stock, said in a prepared
statement, “and we believe that together these companies have a
tremendous amount to offer the world.”
A joint press release issued by the companies said that the combined
corporation would be able to take a position of leadership in the health
sciences.
“Given Armakon’s record of extensive research in biotechnology, and
Technocorp’s enormous resources,” Wolff stated, “the merged companies
will be able to push back the frontiers of the life sciences in ways we
cannot simply foresee.”
On Wall Street, analysts had sharply divided reactions to the proposed
merger …