Fare Game

by Cade Haddock Strong

  “Poor Kay. To have her reputation tarnished for something she didn’t even do. Is she doing okay?”

  Riley rested her elbows on her desk and leaned forward. “She’s doing better than okay. She’s moved on to the next phase in her life.”

  “Good for her. I always liked Kay. She just seems like a good person and she’s so crazy smart.”

  Riley couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, she’s pretty awesome.”

  “You know what else I don’t get?”

  “What?”

  “It seems like this ‘earnings management’ or whatever they call it, all happened right under our noses.” Jill gestured between her and Riley. “I can’t believe none of us had any idea what was going on.”

  Well, some of us did… Riley thought back to what Kay had told her when they first uncovered the falsified SEC financial filings, back when Riley had asked a question very similar to the one Jill had just posed. “People above us, senior executives, did a masterful job of covering it all up. They fooled us, deceived our investors, and screwed our passengers.”

  “I hear what you’re saying, but I still find it so hard to believe this went on for as long as it did, and that so many people were willing to go along with it.”

  “Howard Rome was a snake. He built and cultivated a corporate culture at Logan that was based on fear and intimidation. My guess is that most people were too afraid to speak out about what was going on.”

  “Well, based on the news about the SEC investigation and the settlement, it sounds like someone was finally brave enough to speak out. I wonder if we’ll ever find out who that courageous person was?”

  Riley bit back a smile. “Yeah, I wonder.”

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Right after she saw the press release about Logan’s settlement with the SEC, Kay called Fred Archie. He said he didn’t know much more about the settlement than what was being reported in the news, but Kay’s conversation with him had been enlightening nonetheless, and she couldn’t wait to tell Riley what he’d had to say.

  Kay had planned to drive back to Asheville that afternoon, but given the snowstorm and the bombshell news about Logan’s settlement, she decided to stay in Atlanta with Riley for at least one more night. She puttered around the tiny apartment while she waited for Riley to get home from work. She had so much pent-up energy, a mix of anxiety and excitement, and she was crawling the walls by the time Riley walked in the front door.

  “How’d it go with Fred?” Riley asked while she wriggled out of her winter coat. “What did he have to say about the settlement?”

  “You’re going to think I’m nuts,” Kay said as she peeked out the window. The sun had come out mid-afternoon and melted most of the snow that had fallen that morning. It was starting to get dark and the lights around the neighboring park were flickering to life. “But how about I fill you in while we run in the park?”

  “I suppose I could rally although a glass of wine sounds a lot more appealing.”

  “Come on. I’m going to go crazy if I don’t get out of this apartment. A run will feel good and I promise, the wine will still be here when we get back.”

  Twenty minutes later they were out trotting around the park.

  “So, tell me about Fred,” Riley urged.

  “Well…he had some interesting things to say.”

  “Really, like what?”

  “He said he’d be reaching out to the SEC very soon.”

  “What do you mean, why? I thought the thing with Logan was a done deal now that they’ve agreed to settle?”

  “It is a done deal except for one thing. Now that the airline has agreed to pay a $50 million penalty…” She paused for effect. “He’s going to apply to the SEC for our whistleblower award. Apparently, there’s some form we need—”

  Riley stopped in her tracks. “Holy shit! Does he think we’re eligible for a reward? I know he said there was no guarantee.”

  “Sounds like it,” Kay said, pausing alongside Riley. “He seemed very confident and he’s got a lot of experience with these types of cases.”

  Riley smacked her hand on her forehead. “If I recall correctly, Fred said the whistleblower rewards were typically between ten and thirty percent of—”

  “Of whatever amount Logan ends of paying to the SEC.”

  Riley’s eyes grew wide. “Even if we only get ten percent, that’s a boatload of cash.”

  Kay brushed the hair out of her face and gave Riley a broad smile. “Guess paying for the house in Asheville won’t be such a big deal after all, huh?”

  “Ha, guess not.” She pointed toward a nearby bench. “I need to sit down for a minute. I feel like I might pass out.”

  Kay jogged in place. “Fred Archie said it could take weeks or months before Logan actually pays the settlement.”

  Riley sat down and put her head between her legs. She let out a muffled, “But they’re definitely going to pay it, right?”

  “Yes, of course. Logan has to pay, that’s part of the settlement agreement, but still, these things don’t happen overnight. Fred thinks the SEC will push to get the deal done before summer. Soon after the SEC receives the settlement from Logan, they’ll pay out our reward, assuming they determine we’re eligible for one.”

  Riley lifted her head and slowly stood up. “So, we might get a seriously awesome housewarming gift, compliments of Howard Rome and his cronies,” she quipped.

  “Fingers crossed. You feel any better?”

  Riley nodded and took off running again.

  Kay sprinted to catch up with her.

  They ran in silence for a while before Riley asked, “How will the SEC determine the size of the reward we should get?”

  “I don’t know for sure how they decide what percentage a whistleblower gets, but according to Fred, they’ll weigh a whole bunch of factors. Ultimately it will come down to the value they place on the evidence we provided.”

  “Sounds like it’s sort of objective. Kind of a wildcard.”

  “Sort of. Fred said, if he had to guess, he thinks we’ll get twenty percent, and remember, he’ll keep a pretty good chunk of the reward. It will be his fee for representing us in all of this.”

  “Makes sense,” Riley says, “but God, I still can’t get my head around the size of the reward. In the back of my mind, I always knew there was a possibility we’d get something for putting our necks on the line, but I never ever thought we might see a payout in the millions.”

  “Yeah, I’m with you on that,” Kay replied. “I certainly didn’t expect it to be this big either.” They were nearing the end of their fourth lap around the park. “Up for going a little further today?” Kay asked. “I’m still feeling kind of wound up.”

  “Sure. I’ve probably got one more lap in me.” She paused briefly to take a pull from her water bottle. “Did Fred say anything about our identities? Like, will they be made public now that a settlement has been reached and the investigation is basically over?”

  “Well, if you believe what Fred Archie says, and I guess I do, our identities will not be made public.” Kay blew out a long breath. “Unless, of course, some asshole at Logan thinks it would be fun to expose the identity of the whistleblower.”

  “But no one at Logan can prove you or I blew the whistle,” Riley protested.

  “Well, we don’t know that for sure. The SEC would never reveal our identities, but we have no idea what kind of evidence Howard Rome’s covert investigation turned up.”

  Riley let out a low growl of frustration. “I guess I hadn’t thought about that. By the way, mind if we walk for a bit. I feel a cramp coming on.”

  Kay slowed to a walk and glanced down at her running watch. “Wow, we’ve gone almost six miles.”

  “No wonder I’m cramping up.”

  “Anyway,” Kay said as they approached their temporary apartment, “even if neither of our identities is actually revealed, there’s likely to be a lot of speculation about who the whistleblower was. Fred warned me that i
f the SEC pays out a whistleblower award, they’ll issue a press release. It’ll probably only identify our counsel—Fred Archie—plus the dollar amount of the reward. It won’t mention our names but—”

  “It wouldn’t be a huge stretch for people at Logan to connect the dots, at least where you’re concerned.”

  Kay nodded. “Exactly. And well, I’m worried—”

  “You’re worried about me?”

  “Yes, sweetheart, I am.” Kay paused before continuing. “I think it’s time for you to resign from Logan. I’d feel a lot better if you were out of there before the shit hits the fan.”

  Riley took a moment to consider it. “Okay,” she said simply. “I knew this day was coming, I just didn’t expect it this soon. And if we get the award, money will no longer be an issue.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure. Truthfully, I’m more than ready to resign. Working at Logan has really started to wear me down. I used to love working there, but with you gone, and with all the shit that’s gone on, the passion I once had for my job has evaporated.”

  Kay draped her arm over Riley’s shoulders. “Good. I want you out of there before the SEC issues their press release about the whistleblower payout. If you quit right after that reward is announced, it will only stoke people’s suspicions.”

  Riley dug into the pocket of her running tights for the key to their apartment. “As soon as we get confirmation from Fred that we’re eligible for an award, I’ll submit my resignation.”

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Kay mindlessly flipped through a three-month-old copy of The Economist while she and Riley waited to see Fred Archie. They’d been waiting for almost fifteen minutes and her patience was wearing thin. It didn’t help that she’d skipped breakfast. The sludge-like coffee she’d poured from the coffeepot in the corner of the room was burning a hole in her stomach.

  She fidgeted in her seat and was about to get up and pitch a fit when Fred’s receptionist called out, “Mr. Archie can see you now, Ms. Corbett and Ms. Bauer.” Her singsongy voice grated on Kay’s nerves. Kay gave her a forced smile and they followed her back to a conference room. Moments later, Fred rushed in, a laptop under one arm and an overstuffed manila folder under the other. “Good news gals,” he bellowed. “The SEC has received the settlement payment from Logan, and,” he gave them a toothy grin, “they’ve determined you are eligible for a whistleblower award in the amount of twenty percent.”

  Kay practically slid off her chair. She looked over at Riley and she looked as stunned as Kay felt. After all they’d been through, after all the risks they’d taken… It had all paid off. They’d prevailed over Howard Rome and all his cronies and now this. A major financial windfall. A windfall that would allow them to literally and financially pursue their dreams. “It’s nice when the good guy wins,” she said with a smile.

  Riley reached for her hand and squeezed it. “I’ll second that.”

  “I’m proud of you both,” Fred said. “You earned this reward, no doubt about that.” He flipped open the manila folder and Kay tried to pay attention to what he was saying. “There are a bunch of forms I need you both to sign. I’ll walk you through each one. Once we’re done, I’ll send everything off to the SEC. If everything goes smoothly, and there is no reason to think it won’t, the money should come through in a matter of weeks.”

  He handed them each a pen and slid a stack of papers in front of them. “Okay,” Kay croaked. Her palms began to sweat as she glanced over the first form. It and most of the subsequent forms were pages of legal gobbledygook but Fred patiently explained them in layman’s terms before asking them to sign each one.

  “The award will be split evenly between the two of you.”

  “Will the SEC just deposit the funds right into our bank accounts?” Riley asked.

  “No,” he replied. “The money will get funneled through our law firm. That way, your identity remains protected and,” he paused briefly, “it will allow us to deduct our legal fees and some of the required taxes before we transfer the remaining balance to you.”

  “Ah, got it,” Kay replied.

  He leaned forward and cleared his throat. “I should warn you both,” he said. “News of the whistleblower reward will be made public. That’s just SEC procedure. Your identity will not be revealed. I just want you to ready yourself for the public announcement.”

  “Thanks, Fred,” Riley said. “After what we’ve been through, this should be a walk in the park.”

  “Hold on,” Kay said as they drove home from Fred’s office that afternoon. “Pull in here.”

  Riley cranked the wheel and pulled into the gravel parking lot. Kay jumped out of the car before it was even stopped and trotted into the store. She emerged triumphantly a few minutes later, a brown paper bag in her hand.

  “What you got there?” Riley asked.

  Kay pulled a bottle from the bag and held it up.

  “Shit. Pappy Van Winkle,” Riley said when she eyed the bottle of rare bourbon in Kay’s hand.

  “Sure is. We’ve got some celebratin’ to do!”

  Riley peeled out of the parking lot and made a beeline for their temporary apartment.

  Kay kicked off her high heel shoes and wandered into the apartment’s galley kitchen. “I don’t imagine this place came stocked with any crystal tumblers, did it?”

  Riley chuckled. “Yeah, right, good one, babe. I know it’s a crime, but I’m afraid we’ll have to drink the Pappy Van Winkle from plain old water glasses.”

  “My brother Doug would be horrified. It’s like drinking fine wine from a sippy cup.”

  “I gather he’s a Pappy Van Winkle fan?”

  “Totally. He’s obsessed with the stuff.”

  “Maybe we should buy him a bottle to thank him for letting us camp out in his barn all these months.”

  “That’s a great idea,” Kay said as she pulled two glasses out of the cupboard. She wrestled the cap off the bottle of bourbon and poured two fingers of the rich brown liquid into each one.

  Riley raised her glass and clinked it against Kay’s. “Here’s to our future.”

  Kay sipped her bourbon and purred in delight. “Ooh, that’s good stuff.”

  “I feel like I need to pinch myself to make sure this isn’t all a dream,” Riley said. “All this time, I’ve been so worried about how we’re going to make ends meet with the house and the store and now…”

  “We are going to be very wealthy women.” Kay let out a laugh.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I can tell you are doing math in your head.”

  “Busted. I’m just trying to calculate how much we’re actually going to get.”

  “Well, twenty percent of $50 million is…”

  “$10 million,” Riley interjected. “And Fred’s cut is thirty percent so, let’s see, that leaves $7 million, split evenly between the two of us, before taxes.”

  “Lucky Fred. Although, in all fairness, we would never have gotten this reward if it hadn’t been for him.” Kay leaned back in her chair and tucked her hands behind her head. “And we’re still walking away with a pretty nice chunk of change.”

  “To put it mildly.”

  “So, what should we do with it?” Kay asked.

  “Well, once we pay for the house and everything in Asheville,” Riley smiled up at Kay, “we could open a 529 plan, you know to help put our kids through college one day.”

  “Our kids, I like the ring of that…although, believe it or not,” Kay said with a laugh, “a 529 plan was not the first thing to enter my mind.”

  “Ha, ha, I’m shocked.”

  “I was thinking of more exciting things.”

  “Yeah, like what?” Riley asked.

  “Like maybe a new Jeep and I know we had to skimp on a few things when we originally drew up the plans for the house. Now that cash is no longer an issue, maybe we can make a few upgrades. Get nicer appliances, stuff like that.”

  “I don’t see why n
ot. Oh, and I know we’ve been looking for a space to rent for our store but maybe now we can look at space to buy, a small building or something. That’ll give us a lot more flexibility to remodel the space just the way we want.”

  Kay jumped to her feet. “Oh, my God. I’m so freakin’ excited. I have so many ideas. I’m going to make our store the coolest space ever.”

  Riley took a small sip of her bourbon and smiled at Kay over the top of her glass. “You’re so damn cute when you get excited.”

  Kay reached over and pulled Riley to her feet. She swallowed hard to fight back tears. “You know Rye, we’ve weathered a lot together. You were so strong through it all. I don’t know if I could have gotten through it without you. I mean it. You’ve been my rock and I cannot wait to start building a new life with you.”

  A tear slipped down Riley’s cheek. “I love you.”

  Kay wiped away her own tears and snaked her arm around Riley’s waist. “I love you too, baby.”

  Riley pulled back slightly, a serious look on her face. “There is only one problem.”

  “What?”

  “If we start buying stuff and spending more money, it may raise a few eyebrows. People, like my father, are going to seriously wonder how we happened upon a bundle of cash.”

  “Good point. I hadn’t even considered that.” Kays replied. “Same will probably go for my father. He’s pretty bright. He’ll probably put two and two together and realize I’m the whistleblower.”

  “You think so?”

  Kay sat back down. “Yeah. He knows I used to work in pricing, he knows I was fired and I’m sure he’s heard lots of rumors from his buddies who still work for Logan.”

  “This is something you and I should probably talk about.”

  “Yeah, it is, but not right now. I want to finish my bourbon and take my beautiful girlfriend to bed.”

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Two weeks later, Kay and Riley were in Asheville having their morning coffee up in Doug’s barn when Kay’s phone rang. She tossed aside the paper she was reading and reached for her phone. It was Fred Archie.