The Cost of Happiness: A Contemporary Romance (22 page)

“Sure.”

“Johnson’s office faxed me some names and addresses of former Jenner officials. I started to call them, but was getting nowhere until one of them—Tom Stevens—called me back. He’d just remembered he had a company phone book on his computer.”

“And he shared it?”

“Stevens was on the board of directors. I gather he was pissed off at the CEO for driving the company into the ground.”

Dan pursed his lips. “Okay. Any worries that he was feeding us bad information?”

Meghan shook her head. “There was nothing there but names, departments, and extensions. But I started Googling all the people in their engineering department, and I found the man I wanted. His name is Greg Agnarsson. He’s a retired mid-level guy, but it turns out he did all the work on the SMS system for Jenner’s phones.”

“Nice.”

“Best part is that Agnarsson’s name isn’t anywhere in any of the Jenner material I could find on my own. It’s not in the bankruptcy filing, not on the SEC filings, nowhere.”

Dan pulled out a pad and started to make notes. “Okay, so let me see if I understand. You got to this guy only by getting a company phone book from before the bankruptcy—”

“Agnarsson retired in 2001, and Jenner filed for Chapter Eleven in 2002, so even the company directory at the time of the bankruptcy won’t have his name.”

“Excellent. And the director, Stevens, who gave the directory to you—would he hand that over to just anyone?”

“I doubt he’d give it to the plaintiffs’ counsel,” Meghan said. She thought about it. “Or the Feds, for that matter. The fact that I represented ProCell mattered to him.” She rolled her hand in a circle. “I think you’ll see why in a minute.”

Dan leaned back. “Okay, I’m intrigued. Go on.”

“Agnarsson is old-school. He has notebooks for every project he ever worked on, he has copies of every email, you name it. He even recorded our conversation.”

“Did you agree to that?” Dan squinted as he looked out the window. His lips twisted. “It’s not a privileged conversation.”

Meghan put her hands up, her palms batting air toward Dan. “Relax. I think you’ll find we’ll be covered there as well.”

Dan’s smile was slow and lingered. “You’re enjoying this way too much.”

“It’s true.” Meghan laughed. “Oh, by the way, thanks for rescuing me from—”

“Sycophanta. Yes, that was nice of me. You can repay me later.”

Meghan blushed. “Moving on. Here’s the juicy stuff. Agnarsson says he wrote the code that resulted in the overbilling.”

Dan’s chair snapped upright. He put his hands on the desk. “Holy shit.”

“It was a glitch, he says, and I believe him. But he knew about it and, more important, Jenner’s management knew about it.”

“They knew it would result in nearly imperceptible overbilling?”

Meghan nodded slowly. “And…” She paused for effect. “Jenner told ATC.”

“American Telecom? The service provider?” Dan stared at her. “You mean, the overbilling wasn’t accidental?”

“Quite deliberately not accidental. ATC made a deal to have Jenner share the glitchy code with Argus and Tech 3.”

She watched as Dan put the pieces together. If Agnarsson’s account was true, such an action by ATC would amount to price fixing, collusion, and a violation of who knew how many federal and state laws.

“I haven’t started to research all the laws they violated,” she said. “I can get onto that, if you need to know…”

“Don’t worry, it’s a lot. That’s all we need to know.” Dan picked up one of his wooden puzzles and started to twist its pieces this way and that. Finally he put it down. “We need proof. Specifically, we need proof that ProCell wasn’t part of the deal.”

“Agnarsson taped the meeting.” Meghan waited. In her entire career, she might never again hold such an explosive piece of evidence. She was going to savor the moment.

“He has the tape? After ten years?”

She nodded. “He went and got it and played it for me. Not all of it, but enough for me to tell it’s of the right meeting.”

“My head is exploding. How did a mid-level engineer tape a meeting—who was at the meeting, anyway?—in which Fortune 500 companies colluded to defraud their customers?”

“Exactly my question.”

Dan shook his head. “No, there’s a hole, a gap, something. It can’t be this easy.”

“I thought so too,” Meghan agreed. “He’s an engineer. The way he tells it, his boss knew that he taped all his meetings as a way of taking notes. And his boss’s boss knew. But, for reasons that I think you can guess at, Jenner’s CEO didn’t consult any of Agnarsson’s bosses when he asked Agnarsson into the meeting with ATC’s head of marketing and the CEOs of Argus and Tech 3. Agnarsson says he put his recorder on the table, already running. The conference room was cluttered with papers, files, coffee cups, napkins, half-eaten Danish, you name it. According to Agnarsson, the recorder was in plain sight and no one noticed it.”

“Okay, let’s look at that for a moment.” Dan fiddled with his pen, not looking at Meghan. “This engineer may have violated anti-wiretapping laws, but chances are the statute of limitations has passed. In any event, he would get immunity from the Feds if they decide to use his evidence.”

“And he’ll need a lawyer,” Meghan pointed out. “I’ve offered Fergusson’s services.”

Dan lifted his head. His eyes had never looked bluer. “Which makes your phone call with him…”

“Covered by the attorney-client privilege…”

He finished her thought. “Even if he uses a different lawyer. Brilliant.”

She nodded. It
had
been one of her better ideas. Then she had a thought. Shit. “Except, I’m not a lawyer here. I can’t offer representation, I’m not authorized.”

“True. But you were working for ProCell, so your conversation is work product and not discoverable by plaintiffs’ counsel. Agnarsson can produce the tape, but they’d still have to find him.”

“Not quite as good, but probably safe enough,” she said.

Dan went back to his pen fiddling. “Okay, so why is ProCell safe?”

“Because Argus and Tech 3 made it a condition of the deal that ATC shut out ProCell. Agnarsson says that’s on the tape.”

“Holy shit,” Dan said again. “That’s on the tape?”

“I didn’t hear it, but Agnarsson is certain it was part of the deal. Worst case would be we’d have to show that ProCell’s technology didn’t have the coding glitch that Jenner shared with Argus and Tech 3.”

“So the plaintiffs’ case just went from the accidental overbilling the FCC uncovered to some very lucrative price-fixing claims.”

“Which should help ProCell in their current market share, I was thinking,” Meghan said.

“We need to nail this down before we even tell Lou. Hell, before we tell the managing partners here,” Dan added.

“Right. So what I was thinking was that someone should go to Ohio to meet Agnarsson, gather his evidence, retain him as a client, and so forth.”

Dan frowned. “No one is getting credit for this but you.” Then his face relaxed. “And as I’ve pledged to supervise you at every turn, I guess I’ll have to go with you.”

“It’s just document review, Dan. As much as I’d love to do it as a couple—” That sounded wrong, but Meghan didn’t want to correct herself and make it sound worse. “Anyone on the team could do this.”

“It’s a hell of a lot more than document review. We’ve got to figure out how to get plaintiffs’ counsel to drop ProCell in exchange for the smoking gun. Let me think about that, okay? And in the meantime, don’t talk to anyone about this case. Not even Lou, if he were to call you.”

“Okay, but why?”

“Because this is a lot bigger than we thought. As I understand it, three men know Agnarsson was at that meeting. They’ve forgotten all about it because it was ten years ago, and anyway, why would anyone care about a glitch in technology that’s a decade old? As soon as the plaintiffs go after those three companies for price-fixing, all bets are off. Agnarsson is at risk as long as he’s the only one who has the evidence. I don’t want to go all John Grisham here, but I’ll feel better when we have copies and Agnarsson’s sworn deposition as backup.”

“Jesus. Do you really think he’s in danger?”

Dan stopped fiddling to look at her. “Not yet, and if I have anything to say about it, not ever. But it’s a risk. This is going to destroy some people, but they don’t know that yet. As soon as they realize what we know, your engineer’s at risk. We have to make it clear it’s too late to stop the destruction.”

Meghan flopped back in her chair. She knew she had something important while she was talking to Agnarsson. That’s why she was so annoyed when Vicky deliberately interrupted her, even though luckily—

She sat up again. “Vicky knows his name. Unless she listened for a long time, that’s pretty much all she knows, but still. She doesn’t like me.” Meghan winced at how self-important that sounded. She was about to qualify it when Dan spoke.

“No, you’re right. Okay, I think I know how to deal with this.” He reached for the phone. “Hi,” he said in a low, warm voice. “I have a problem only you can solve. Can you come down?”

He rolled his eyes as he listened. “Great. See you then.”

After he hung up, he turned to Meghan. “This is going to be unpleasant, so I’ll apologize now, okay?”

Her eyes widened. What was about to happen? “Sure.”

Dan went back to fiddling.

When Vicky knocked, Meghan jumped.

“Hi, Vicky,” Dan said in his warm syrup voice. “Have a seat.”

Meghan shifted her legs so Vicky could sit in the other chair. The redhead immediately pulled the chair a few inches closer to the front of Dan’s desk, making it obvious that theirs was a tête-à-tête to which Meghan could only be a witness.

“What do you need?” Vicky asked.

Dan gave a huge sigh and frowned. Overacting a bit, Meghan would have said.

“Meghan here has screwed up some document retrieval in Ohio. I promised Darlene and Wally I’d supervise her, so I’m going to have to go with her to fix the mess. I need you to handle some things in my absence. Can you do that?”

“Of course, Dan,” Vicky’s voice was breathless with her eagerness to help. “But wouldn’t it be better if you and I dealt with the problem in Ohio?”

Dan appeared to consider this as a desirable alternative. Meghan nearly choked on her laugh when he tilted his chin back, pursed his lips and—yes, he actually steepled his fingers. How many clichés was he going for here?

Suddenly he shook his head, slowly, sadly. “I wish we could fix it that way, but I don’t see how. Unfortunately, getting all of Meghan’s notes deciphered and sorted out would take too long.”

Meghan hung her head, ostensibly in shame but really just to hide the way her lips were twitching.

“Oh, Dan, you know I’ll do
anything
you need. Shall I stay so we can go over the cases you want my help on?”

Oh, and can we go to your place to talk about them—?
Vicky’s unspoken meaning was so obvious, it might as well be subtitled.

“I wish we could.
Unfortunately
—” he really emphasized the word “—Meghan’s screw-up is going to require my attention. Let me get it sorted out, then I’ll let you know what I need you to do, okay?”

Vicky sat for a while. From behind, Meghan could only guess what facial contortions she was making to convey her devotion to Dan’s needs—
all
his needs—and how he had only to let her know what he wanted her to do. His face, though, hit on an expression of exhausted gratitude and stuck there.

Finally, Vicky sighed her disappointment and stood. “Okay. Well, you’ll call me when you want me, right?”

“I will call you when I know what I need you to do, yes.”

She reached out a hand as if to touch him reassuringly, caressingly, on the shoulder. “I’m happy to help. You know that.” Another pause, then she left, leaving the door open behind her.

Meghan kept her face down, writing nonsense on her pad.

Dan waited a minute, then buzzed Tessa. She came in, her face completely calm. She hesitated in the doorway.

“Yes? Is there
anything
I can do for you?” Tessa’s voice was hiked up a notch, high and breathless. Meghan looked up at her, astonished. Tessa was one of the most no-nonsense administrative assistants in the firm. Out of the corner of her eye, Meghan could see Dan’s open mouth and wide eyes.

“Were you listening in?” he asked, finally.

“Please. I have actual work to do.” Tessa’s voice dropped to its usual timbre. “But you should know you’re just the latest in a long line of partners to be offered that woman’s undivided attention.”

Dan rolled his eyes. “Spare me.”

Tessa chuckled. “Others have tried, trust me. I’m pretty sure she limits herself to innuendo and invitation. At least, I haven’t heard of anyone actually getting hogtied in the parking garage.”

“Good to know.” Dan shook his head. “Okay, here’s the thing. How soon can I clear my schedule for—how long will this take, Meghan?”

“Two days, maybe three? I want to make sure we get everything.”

Dan turned back to Tessa. “Three days in Ohio? Preferably this week?”

“The two of you?” Tessa asked. Her tone was matter-of-fact but Meghan could feel herself blushing.

“Yes,” Dan said. No blushing in his voice.

“Where in Ohio?”

Meghan flipped back several pages in her notes. “Elyria. Outside Cleveland, I think.”

Tessa nodded. “Got it.”

She closed the door on her way out.

Meghan turned toward Dan. “Is she onto us?”

He winced. “‘Onto?’ You make it sound like we’re committing some felony.”

“No, although I’m pretty sure we’re violating a couple of Fergusson’s rules against workplace harassment and inappropriate fraternization by the staff.”

“You just made that up,” he accused. His face had sobered, though, which took some of the fun out of her joke.

Meghan smiled at him. “Okay, I made it up. But there is a policies and procedures manual and we have to be breaking some rule.”

“Is that your way of saying you don’t want me to order in some pizza while we go over your notes?” He waggled his eyebrows in such a silly way that Meghan just laughed.