“That’s all I asked her.”
Wharton shook his head sadly. “Oh, I see. Well, I know when I spoke
with her she was devastated. Poor thing. Such a shock, right out of
the blue like that. And–”
Wharton broke off speaking as Gamble stood up and went over to the
window behind the lawyer’s desk. He studied the Washington landscape in
the late morning sunlight. “It occurred to me, Henry, that further
questioning might better come from you.”
Gamble put one big hand on Wharton’s narrow shoulder and gently
squeezed.
Wharton quickly nodded. “Yes, yes, I can understand your thinking on
that point.”
Gamble strolled over to peruse numerous diplomas from prestigious
universities neatly lining one wall of Wharton’s expansive quarters.
“Very impressive. I never finished high school. I don’t know if you
knew that or not.” He looked over his shoulder at the lawyer.
“I didn’t,” Wharton said quietly.
“I guess I did okay for a dropout.” Gamble shrugged his thick shoulders.
“Quite the understatement. Your success is unparalleled,” Wharton said
quickly.
“Hell, I started with nothing, probably end up that way.”
“I hardly think that.”
Gamble took a moment to straighten one of the diplomas. He turned back
to Wharton. “Getting to particulars, it was obvious to me that Sidney
Archer knew her husband was on that plane.”
Wharton started. “You’re saying you think she lied to you? No
disrespect, Nathan, but I can’t believe that.”
Gamble returned to his chair. Wharton was about to speak again, but
Gamble fixed the lawyer with a gaze that froze him. Gamble resumed
speaking. “Jason Archer was working on a major project for me.
Organizing all of Triton’s financial records for the CyberCom deal.
Guy’s a friggin’ computer genius. He had access to everything.
Everything!” Gamble slowly pointed a finger across the desk. Wharton
nervously rubbed his hands together but kept silent. “Now, Henry, you
know that CyberCom is a deal I have to have–at least everyone keeps
telling me that.”
“Absolutely brilliant matt,” Wharton ventured.
“Something like that.” Gamble pulled out a cigar and took a minute to
light up. He blew smoke in Wharton’s general direction.
“Anyway, on the one hand I’ve got Jason Archer privy to all my stuff,
and on the other I’ve got Sidney Archer heading up my deal team. You
following me?”
Wharton’s brow collapsed in puzzlement. “I’m afraid, no, I’m–”
“There are other companies out there who want CyberCom as badly as I do.
They’d pay a lot of money to get their hands on my deal terms. Then
they’d come in and screw me. I don’t like to get fucked, at least not
that way. You understand?”
“Yes, certainly, Nathan. But how–”
“And you also know that one of the companies who’d like to get their
hands on CyberCom is RTG.”
“Nathan, if you’re suggesting–”
“Your firm also represents RTG.”
“Nathan, you know we’ve taken care of that. This firm is not rep
resenting RTG on their bid for CyberCom in any way, shape or form.”
“Philip Goldman’s still a partner here, isn’t he? And he’s still RTG’s
top gun, isn’t he?”
“Of course. We couldn’t exactly ask him to leave. It was merely a
client conflict and one that has been more than adequately compensated
for. Philip Goldman is not working with RTG on its bid for CyberCom.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive,” Wharton said quickly.
Gamble smoothed down the front of his shirt. “Are you having Goldman
followed twenty-four hours a day, his phone lines tapped, his mail read,
his business associates shadowed?”
“No, of course not!”
“Then you can hardly be positive he’s not working for RTG and against
me, can you?”
“I have his word,” Wharton said curtly. “And we have certain controls
in place.”
Gamble played with an elegantly shaped ring on one of his fingers.
“Much the same, you can’t know what your other partners are really up
to, including Sidney Archer, can you?”
“She has the highest integrity of anyone I’ve ever met, not to mention
one of the sharpest minds.” Wharton was bristling now.
“And yet she’s completely ignorant of her own husband climbing on a
plane to Los Angeles, where RTG happens to have its U.S.
headquarters. That’s quite a coincidence, don’t you think?”