His hands were shaking so bad he misdialed four times. Roland and Regina were visiting her parents. But thankfully, Lucas was still at home over the winter break, and answered with a sullen, “Who is this?”
“It’s Colin. I need Aaron’s cell and his home number.”
“Colin … Do you know what time it is?”
“Lucas, listen to me. This is life or death. Can you get it?”
Lucas was fully awake now. “Well, sure, I guess. Hang on, I need to boot up Dad’s … No, I know, Mom has it. …” His voice trailed off as he dropped the phone to his side. There was the sound of footsteps thumping down stairs, then the rustle of pages, and, “You got a pen?”
When Aaron Weisfeld’s cell went to voice mail and then so did his home number, Colin thought he was going to have to stop and vomit before he could continue. But the nausea passed after a moment, and he dialed again. This time, the attorney answered with, “This had better be good.”
“Sir, Mr. Weisfeld, it’s Colin. We have an emergency.”
“Colin? Son, it’s a quarter to two. … Is that the actual time?”
The man sounded more than simply disoriented. His words carried a feeble note, as if the shock of being woken fully revealed his age and fragility. Colin said, “It’s a scam. All of it. If we wait until tomorrow, it might be too late.”
“Slow down, Colin. Wait, wait, let me sit. … All right. Tell me again what has you so worked up.”
“I should have seen it before. Maybe I did. But I never thought, it didn’t occur to me until now.”
“Long breath. Slow the tempo.” Gradually Aaron’s voice took on the crisp, precise cadence he showed in the office. “From the beginning, now.”
But Colin didn’t even make it halfway through the initial intel that formed the foundation for his investment before Aaron shared his urgency. “We’ve been set up.”
Colin huffed a tight sob of relief. Just having this venerable legal warhorse share his fears made it all both much better and far, far worse.
Aaron went on, “I’ll call Lucretia, tell her to meet us—”
“No. Wait. How did they know?”
“Sorry, I don’t follow …”
“Someone had to tell them how I identify the targets. How many people know this? You, me, Roland, Ethan …”
“Maybe they found out on their own.”
“And the timing,” Colin persisted. “We were cash rich. Three positions closed. Almost eighty percent of our total capital just sitting there.”
Aaron’s voice tightened further. “Meet me at the office. I’m leaving now.”
When Colin’s Uber pulled up in front of the office building, the security guard already had the door open. He greeted Colin with, “All these years, I never seen the old man move that fast. Must be some major case you got going on.”
He led Colin to the bank of elevators and used the passkey to send him up. When Colin emerged, Aaron was standing by Lucretia’s desk. He said into the phone, “Yes, Levi, I’m still holding.” To Colin he said, “I’m on the line with a trader I use occasionally for off-hour deals.”
Lucretia’s central computer screen was already loaded with their current market positions. Soon as Colin took in the size and scope of their current deal, he felt another wave of nausea.
Aaron said, “If we move forward today, how much of a hit are we talking about?” He listened, frowned, said, “Hold a moment, Levi.” He covered the mouthpiece. “We’re in the slowest market period, which means there will be very few buyers—”
“We can’t wait.” Colin felt as though he screamed the words. What came out was flat, toneless. Inside it was as loud as thunder.
“He thinks it could be as much as twenty, even thirty percent.”
“Compared to losing everything? This is a choice?”
Aaron started to ask if he was certain. Colin could see the doubt in the older man’s gaze. He had all the reasons there, lined up like bullets in a gun. But in the end Aaron merely uncovered the phone and said, “Sell it all, Levi. Yes. Regardless. You’re recording? Good. Cover our position as soon as you possibly can.”
CHAPTER31