Water's Edge

by Robert Whitlow

  “Getting by.”

  Tiffany redirected her attention to Tom. “You’re going to have to come out for dinner again.”

  Tom licked his lips, and his tongue touched the place where Tiffany kissed him. “I’d like that.”

  “Are you available Friday night?”

  “Uh, who would be there?”

  “You, me, and Rick, of course. Unless you’d like to bring someone else.”

  “Would you join us?” Tom asked Rose. “They have a beautiful home, and Tiffany raises horses that she’ll be glad to show off for you.”

  “I’d love to have you come,” Tiffany chimed in. “Rick has his guy friends over all the time. I need a woman to keep me company.”

  Rose hesitated.

  “Do you have other plans?” Tom asked.

  “No,” she said.

  “Then I’ll pick you up.”

  “Okay.”

  “Come around 6:00 p.m.,” Tiffany said. “You know the filly I showed you the other day? She’s starting to trot around in the field and has the most beautiful natural gait. I’ll have to show you what she can do.”

  “I’d like that.” Tom paused. “Oh, do you have any idea where Arthur is this week?”

  “He and Larina have been in Barbados for a few days, but I think they’re coming back to New York today. Why?”

  “I need to talk to him.”

  “Business?” Tiffany asked, raising her eyebrows.

  “Yeah. We need to finish a conversation we started when he was in Bethel.”

  Tom could tell Tiffany wanted to say something else, but she glanced at Rose and kept quiet.

  “See you two tomorrow,” she said lightly.

  Tiffany turned away and crossed the street. Tom watched her leave. When Tiffany kissed him, he felt like a twelve-year-old boy who’d just received his first meaningful peck on the cheek. Even contact with her on a street corner was charged with energy.

  “Where are you parked?” he asked Rose.

  “Over there,” she said, pointing down the street. “Are you going to follow up with Mr. Pelham?”

  “Yes, but I won’t call his cell phone. I’ll do it through his office so I can set a specific time for our conversation. That way you can be part of it.”

  “Will it be before or after the dinner party?”

  “Does it make a difference?”

  “I’m not sure, but Mr. Pelham’s response could have a huge impact on your relationship, not only with him, but also with his son and daughter-in-law. You seem very close to them.”

  “We’ve been friends for many years.”

  They waited for a car to pass by before crossing the street together.

  “Are you going to send Mr. Pelham copies of the memo from my dad and the notes made by your father before we talk to him?” Rose asked.

  “Do you think I should?”

  “I believe he should see them before we talk. Otherwise, he’ll want to take time to look everything over before letting you know what he thinks. Of course, if he trots down the hall to Owen Harrelson’s office, then it might be a very brief conversation. Are you ready for that?”

  “No,” Tom replied honestly, “but if I wanted to avoid that possibility, I wouldn’t have called you. I know this is what I’m supposed to do regardless of the consequences. I just hope Arthur will be glad I contacted him.”

  “You’ve counted the cost,” Rose said. “Let me know if you set up a call with Mr. Pelham for tomorrow. I’m spending most of the day with my mum, so I’m available.”

  “Okay, thanks again for agreeing to meet with me.”

  “As you said, it’s the right thing to do.”

  chapter

  TWENTY-FIVE

  Rose and I had a good time at lunch,” Tom said to Bernice when he returned to the office.

  “You’re getting mean,“ Bernice replied. “You may laugh at my concern, but your hanging around that woman is making me so tense it’s causing my back to hurt again.”

  “It is?”

  “No, but you deserve to think so.”

  Tom leaned against the corner of Bernice’s desk. “Don’t worry. This is something I’ve prayed about and believe is the right thing to do.”

  “Since I don’t know what you’re talking about, I can’t offer an opinion. But I hope your prayers are on target. I’ve been praying you won’t get mixed up with the wrong woman.”

  “There’s nothing like that between us. It takes more than long eyelashes and a cool accent to get my attention.”

  “Humph,” Bernice snorted. “There’s more to her than that, and a hundred prayers don’t stop you from being a man.”

  Tom let Bernice have the last word. He went into the office to decide the best way to approach Arthur Pelham. Rose had recommended full disclosure. He called Arthur’s office in New York and was transferred to his administrative assistant.

  “This is Tom Crane,” he began. “I’m a lawyer from Bethel—”

  “No need to introduce yourself, Mr. Crane,” an efficient-sounding woman responded. “Mr. Pelham told me you might be calling. How may I help you?”

  “I want to send some information to Mr. Pelham for his review. It’s my understanding he’s returning to New York later today, but I didn’t know if he would be coming into the office or checking a secure e-mail account.”

  “He’s already in New York and working from home.”

  “Then I’d like to send him some documents only he will see.”

  “Certainly.” There was a brief pause. “Give me your e-mail address, and I’ll send instructions to you.”

  Tom gave her his contact information.

  “The protocol for this account allows only Mr. Pelham to access it. Even I won’t see what you forward.”

  After the call ended, Tom stuck his head in the reception area. “Where can I buy a scanner?”

  Bernice thought for a moment. “If you plan on speeding, stay away from Highway 201. The curve near the Holcomb place is where the deputies like to hang out. The straight stretch beyond Elias’s house is as good as any to go fast. But if you still want a scanner, I think they sell them at Hobart’s Pawnshop.”

  “Not a police scanner,” Tom said patiently. “I want to scan some documents and send them as an e-mail attachment.”

  Bernice gave him a blank look for a second. “Oh. You might want to try Lee Office Supply, but I don’t know how to work one of those things.”

  Fifteen minutes later Tom returned with an inexpensive scanner and set it up in his office. He scanned all the information about the designated trust account, then added the documents Owen Harrelson sent. He also included the notes from Harold Addington’s nightstand and the memo to John Crane that Tom found in the tackle box. Finally he composed a long e-mail outlining what had happened.

  Before sending the e-mail, Tom waited fifteen minutes and read it again to make sure it said what he wanted and didn’t contain any typos or grammatical errors. There was something else he needed to do but couldn’t put his finger on what it might be. Then he did something he’d never done before. He closed his eyes and prayed that God would bless the e-mail. He said amen and pressed the Send button.

  The rest of the afternoon he kept checking his computer for a response. Each time there was nothing. Bernice left the office, and Tom was about to follow her out the door when he looked one more time. A message from Arthur’s private e-mail popped up. Tom’s heart started pounding. He opened the e-mail.

  Received. I’ll call you tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. to discuss. Can you videoconference a call?

  Arthur

  Arthur’s answer revealed nothing about the CEO’s opinion. Tom quickly wrote Arthur, then phoned Rose and read the e-mail to her.

  “What time do you want me there?” she asked.

  “Maybe ten or fifteen minutes early. I’ll send you a copy of the e-mail I sent him.”

  “What about the camera?”

  “You’ll stay out of sight.”


  “Are you sure about this?”

  Tom remembered his prayer time in Elias’s study. “Yes.”

  ______

  The following morning Tom came out of his father’s office shortly before 10:00 a.m. and stood beside Bernice’s desk. While they talked, he kept checking his watch and straightening his tie.

  “Are you expecting someone?” she asked.

  Tom nodded.

  “Not Rose Addington?” Bernice asked ominously.

  “And here she is,” Tom replied as Rose opened the door.

  Rose entered and greeted Bernice, who mumbled in reply.

  “We’ll be in here for a while,” Tom said as he ushered Rose into the office. “No interruptions, please.”

  “I wouldn’t think of it.”

  Tom closed the door. His computer was on the desk with the relevant papers organized around it.

  “I thought you could sit over there,” he said, pointing to a chair he’d moved close to one of the bookcases. “You can hear but not be seen.”

  “I hope I don’t have to sneeze.”

  “If that happens, I’ll be watching and make it look like I did it.”

  “I’m not sure about this.” Rose shook her head. “It seems deceitful.”

  Tom positioned himself in front of the computer’s miniature camera.

  “You have a right to hear what Arthur has to say,” he said.

  The signal for the videophone call came through. In a few seconds Tom was staring at Arthur’s face on the screen. Arthur was wearing a suit and tie, which made Tom glad he’d dressed for a formal business meeting. Arthur looked tense and tired.

  “You kept me up most of the night,” Arthur began. “That was quite a bombshell you dropped on me.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And I’ll ask the most important question first. Does Owen Harrelson know about the information you found in your father’s records?”

  “No, sir.”

  Even with the slightly fuzzy resolution on the screen, Tom could see Arthur relax. The older man sighed.

  “I’d hoped to finish out my career without having to deal with a situation like this, but now that it’s here, I have no choice but to face it. Have you talked to anyone else about this?”

  “Rose and Esther Addington are aware of the memos and notes from Harold Addington. Most of my conversations have been with Rose because she’s the executrix of the estate. I had to show her the information Harrelson sent in order to persuade her to sign the affidavit renouncing any claim to the money in the designated trust account.”

  “Does she know we’re going to talk?”

  Tom glanced at Rose in the corner of the room. “Yes.”

  “I suppose that couldn’t be avoided. Has anyone else seen what you sent me?”

  “No.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  Arthur ran his fingers across his white hair. “Is our conversation protected from further disclosure by the attorney-client privilege?”

  “My role in this is as executor of my father’s estate, not as a lawyer, which means I can’t represent Pelham Financial’s interests in this matter.”

  “But can I trust you as a friend of our family to keep it confidential?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  A door opened, and Arthur glanced over his shoulder. Tom couldn’t see who entered.

  “I don’t care how important he says it is,” Arthur said. “Tell him to wait.”

  The door closed. Arthur looked directly at Tom. “My concern is much greater than the amount of money in your father’s trust account. That larger fear is what kept me awake last night. If the information in your father’s records is correct, Owen, either acting alone or with others, may have embezzled a significant amount of money.”

  “That’s the conclusion I reached.”

  “And if that information becomes public knowledge, it will destroy the company. Ever since the Madoff scandal, public and governmental tolerance for any breach of fiduciary duty is nil. If Pelham Financial goes under, over a thousand people, including hundreds in Bethel, will lose their jobs. I’m not even going to mention what this would do to my family. But in a situation like this, personal interest has to take a backseat to the greater good.”

  Tom’s respect for Arthur Pelham jumped a couple of notches up the ladder.

  “As soon as I received your e-mail, I brought in one of the top men in our auditing department. He has no intraoffice connection with Owen and reports directly to me. He’s trying to determine how broad and deep the problem runs. My hope is that I can get to the bottom of this and take care of it without destroying the company or jeopardizing the money that clients have entrusted to us. If I have to make up losses personally, I’ll do it to the extent my resources will allow.”

  “What about the fidelity bonds?”

  “You know how those contracts are written. Smaller amounts are paid to keep a client’s business. Larger claims result in litigation over whether coverage exists at all with a view toward forcing a settlement for a fraction of the amount involved.”

  Tom knew Arthur was right.

  “When do you expect to receive a preliminary report from your auditor?” Tom asked.

  “Later today. Of course, his investigation may continue to implicate Harold Addington. Nothing you sent exonerates him. Addington could have been manipulating your father as part of a broader scheme.”

  “That thought crossed my mind,” Tom said, avoiding eye contact with Rose. “But if that’s true, it makes no sense that he would have told my father about illegal insider loans and bribery of bank regulators in Barbados. When are you going to talk to Harrelson? He’s scheduled to come to Bethel early next week for a court hearing to approve the release of the money in the designated trust account to Pelham. If it turns out he’s implicated in something illegal, that trip needs to be canceled.”

  “I’m not going to discuss anything with anyone until the internal investigation is complete. I canceled an executive committee meeting set for this afternoon because I can’t stomach the possibility of being in the same room with Owen. If the scope of this problem is as broad as I fear, the next person Owen talks to will be wearing a badge.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Arthur sighed. “You know, I left Bethel for Yale thinking I was sophisticated and smart enough to handle whatever life threw at me. Years of success reinforced my pride. Now, at a time when I was looking forward to slowing down a bit, something like this jumps up and threatens to destroy all I’ve worked so hard to build. The worst part is thinking about all the people who are going to be hurt if this can’t be handled privately and confidentially.”

  “I’m sorry too.”

  “I know. And I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you’ve done,” Arthur said with obvious sincerity. “I’ll be in touch. Let me know if anything else surfaces on your end.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The screen went blank. Tom closed his computer.

  “What did you think?” he asked Rose.

  “He sounded sincere, almost broken. His concern for others was touching, but do you think he’ll have the courage to deal with a problem this large in an honest way regardless of the outcome?”

  “If anyone can, Arthur will. You couldn’t see his face. He looked sad but resolute.”

  “Is this the end for us? It seems the next steps are up to Mr. Pelham. There’s nothing for you to do if he assumes responsibility to deal with the problem.”

  “True,” Tom said with a sense of relief. “I want to stop carrying this burden.”

  “I’m sure you do.”

  Rose moved toward the door.

  “What are you going to tell your mother?” Tom asked.

  “The gist of it with as few details as possible. We know Papa didn’t do anything wrong, but it stings to think others might have a different opinion. I won’t be telling her what Mr. Pelham mentioned on that point.”

  “I agree. Thanks for
coming.”

  Tom walked around to the front of the desk and held the door open for Rose. Neither of them spoke in Bernice’s hearing.

  “Did you have a fight?” Bernice asked as soon as the front door closed behind Rose.

  “Is that a wish or a question?”

  “Just curious. She seemed to be giving you the silent treatment.”

  “No, we’re in perfect agreement.”

  “Someday, will you tell me what’s going on between the two of you?”

  “No, but I can tell you this part of it is over.”

  Bernice shook her head. “I’ve heard that before.”

  ______

  Tom spent the rest of the day working his way through the last box of his father’s files and following up with clients who’d been hard to reach. Bernice finished going through the financial records Tom found in Elias’s garage. Fortunately, there were no unpleasant surprises.

  Late in the afternoon Tom phoned Lane Conner. The minister wasn’t available, but Tom left a voice mail thanking him for his advice and letting him know that he’d followed it. After he hung up the phone, Tom thought about Tiffany. If the situation at Pelham Financial deteriorated to the place where the company failed, taking Arthur and his millions with it, Tiffany’s glib confidence that she would walk away from her marriage a wealthy woman might prove unfounded. Government authorities and irate investors would sue Arthur and Rick, and no matter how many trees Rick harvested, he couldn’t support Tiffany and her horse habit by selling wood chips.

  ______

  After supper Tom and Elias sat on the front porch as the last rays of the sun crept below the low hills in the distance. Rover’s bond with Elias had strengthened to the point that he preferred lying at the old man’s feet to being close to Tom. However, Tom wasn’t jealous. If the dog could bring the joy of canine companionship to Elias, it was a good thing. The difficult day would be when Tom left Bethel and took Rover with him to Atlanta. Tonight, separation wasn’t a topic of conversation. Instead, Tom told Elias about his meeting with Lane Conner. He left out the discussion about Harold Addington.

  “I’m glad you went to see him,” Elias said when Tom finished. “After you told him what God has done in your life, did he ask you when you were going to get baptized?”