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“What are you doing?” Liv startles me. I was so lost in the moment that I didn’t even hear the door open.
“This cologne is just amazing. Doesn’t it drive you crazy?” I quickly set the bottle back where I found it.
“It used to,” she replies lazily, rubbing her eyes. “Trey’s dad was killed this morning,” she adds, not showing the slightest hint of emotion.
“Really! Oh my God, what happened?” I ask, completely shocked by the news.
“Nobody knows at this point. Apparently it was a sniper or something like that,” she adds walking over to the mirror and running her fingers through her hair.
“That’s horrible.” I gasp in disbelief. “How is Trey?”
“He’s fine, but he seemed like he was in shock. I know they have been fighting a lot the last few years, so hopefully he won’t have to deal with a bunch of guilt.” She glances at the counter and picks up a note pad. “Hmm, I thought maybe he had left me a note.” She tosses it aside and heads into the bathroom.
A few seconds later the shower starts, so I wander over to see what is on the note pad. It has the symbol RSTZ at the top of the page and it looks like instructions on shorting the company stock. My boss would kill to get his hands on this, I think as my mind goes back to the reason why I’m here in the first place.
This could turn out to be the greatest day of my boss’s life. His long time nemesis was killed last night and now his oldest son has laid out his insider trading plans in black and white. I lay the note pad down in the light and take a picture of it with my phone. Dad will be thrilled to hear about Victor as well. Karma can indeed be a brutal bitch.
A knock at the door nearly gives me a heart attack. “Room service!” a voice immediately announces. I place the note pad exactly how it was sitting before Liv picked it up and proceed to answer the door. I’m not so sure I need any caffeine after all.
Trey
The World’s 35th Richest Man, Shot Dead is the headline that greets me as I fire up my MacBook Air. I don’t even know why I’m still here. None of this even matters anymore. The article goes on to talk about Dad’s illustrious career and how he built a $12.2 billion net worth by consolidating the telecommunication and cable industries through out the northeast corridor. $6.1 billion is more money than I will ever need.
“Trey, I just heard the news.” Jürgen says, entering the conference room with out-stretched arms. “I’m so sorry buddy. We can put all of this off for a couple of weeks.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it. I think I’m still in shock.” A shiver races down my spine. “I heard that the pictures they showed on TV were pretty gruesome.”
“It’s probably a good thing that you didn’t see them,” Jürgen replies, placing his hand on my shoulder. “There is going to be all kinds of speculation and they are already referring to you as the rebel of the family.”
“That’s what sucks. Dad was a ruthless, money driven ball-buster, Tyler is turning into a mini version of him and the media makes me out to be the bad guy.” All I can do is shake my head.
“TMZ needs someone to talk about, why not you? You need to get a little crazier though. You’re a little boring for a rich, young bad boy.” He laughs and shakes me by the shoulders.
“Now with Dad gone, maybe I can live a little. Being an Addison hasn’t been as easy as everyone thinks,” I confide. “Although, it may have just gotten a whole lot easier.”
“Do you still want to do this?” He points to the report that I had given him the previous day.
“Sure. I was doing all of this primarily to prove Dad wrong, but I really do see the potential in what you guys are doing. I might even increase my stake by a couple hundred million if you’re okay with that.” I return a slap on the shoulder.
“Of course! You’re my favorite shareholder.” He picks up the research report and waves it in the air. “Just keep bringing me these and I’ll do the rest.”
Leaving his office I know for a fact that I will never deliver another report. There is no longer any reason for me to operate in the gray area. There is a fine line between competitive intelligence and corporate espionage. I know I probably crossed the line on this one. I was getting a little desperate. There will no longer be any need for me to skate so close to the edge.
Mandy
Thoughts keep running through my head as I sit in the limo waiting for Liv. I wish we could’ve spent more time here. I never really got to see much of the area except for the incredible views from the hotel. Victor Addison is dead and I have proof of Trey’s plan to short Restolza stock. I also have a picture of the insider report that he got from Jake Winters. I only wish I would have had more time with it. If he follows through with the stock trades, we will have a cut and dried case against him. I can’t believe he would do something so stupid. Since everything has moved to electronic trading, it’s easy to trace who buys or sells a big chunk of stock. He will be totally screwed.
