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I almost puked. The whole process was humiliating.
After Syd had a conversation with the head guy, he came over.
“Jennifer, you should go home and wait for me to call you. They’re charging you and Dennis with insider trading,” he said.
“That’s ridiculous.”
“They think they can prove you wrote those articles in theTimesto push the stock down so Dennis could buy low. If you’re contacted by the SEC, don’t meet with them without me present.”
His statement took a moment to sink in. I nodded, half in a trance.
“Do you understand?”
“No,” I protested. “I don’t understand a fucking thing about what is happening.”
The only thing I knew was that what I’d done was somehow coming back to hurt Dennis even worse than before. I was at fault, because if I hadn’t cooperated with Hydra, there wouldn’t have been any articles, and these thugs wouldn’t be here.
* * *
Dennis
The Cartwright meetingended shortly after the SEC’s surprise visit.
Cartwright’s words rattled around in my head. “After the SEC charges you two, I think the shareholders might rethink supporting the current management.”
He’d known this was coming, and probably had a hand in it somehow.
Syd had handled the interaction with the feds, and had gotten on the phone with the SEC as well.
I called the group back into the boardroom as soon as Cartwright and his SEC accomplices were out of our hair.
“Cin, get Jennifer as well.”
She shook her head. “Not here. Syd sent her home.”
I turned to Syd. “Why?”
“Because their warrant focused on her. It’s best if she stays out of the building until we understand the formal complaint, or we could have them back in here again tomorrow.”
“I don’t like it.”
Syd stood his ground. “That’s my legal advice, and the smart thing to do at this point.”
I relented for the moment. “Let’s get started.” I ushered Syd back into the boardroom.
“Syd, what do we know from your guy at the SEC?”
He cleared his throat. “They got a tip—”
“What the fuck kind of tip?” I demanded.
“Let me finish. They got a tip that… They’re investigating the likelihood that you’ve engaged in inside trading.”
“That’s stupid,” I spat. “I file my form fours regularly.” I’d filed with the SEC after every purchase, and I hadn’t had any sales to report.
He took a slow breath. “They think you planted the stories in theTimes, and then you took advantage of that to buy when the news tanked the stock.”
“So, I’m guilty because I have confidence in the company, and I’m willing to invest when everybody else is running for the hills?”
