Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry(34)

Myers started to reply but then realized his wife was right. He didn’t know the score or even which side was winning. So much for watching a game.

“Okay, dear. What do you want to talk about?”

“You, us, and whatever the hell is going on.”

“Diane, I don’t know what you’re—”

“Ed, stop! You like to joke that patience has never been my strong suit. Maybe you’re right. But whatever reservoir of patience I had is gone and it’s all been used on you. Something has changed and I want to know what it is.”

He sighed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Really? You’re in a complete fog. Three days ago you forgot to call Tara for her birthday. You forgot after I called your office to remind you.” Their daughter was in her freshman year at Fordham. “At dinner last night you were distracted to the point of being rude. When you got up to use the bathroom, Art and Ali both asked me if anything was wrong with you.” The Grooms had been friends since both couples’ oldest daughters started first grade together. “And don’t take this the wrong way, but you look terrible. For somebody who never had any trouble sleeping, for the last week you’ve done nothing but toss and turn, and it shows.”

“Diane, I don’t know what to say. Things have been really stressful at work.”

“I don’t buy that. Not for a minute. Come on, Ed. When you joined REL News right after we got married, you told me the company was a financial mess. You’d come home joking that if you didn’t call me the next day it would probably mean the phones had been shut off for nonpayment. But you never let it get to you. When you walked through the door at the end of the day, you flipped the switch. Now that the company’s doing great you’re feeling stress?”

“It’s not that.”

“Ed, be honest with me. Are you having an affair?”

“Oh God, no. I promise I’m not.” He sighed. “You’re right. We need to talk. Can you pour us both a Scotch?”



* * *



Diane listened intently as he told her about the unusual request from Sherman two weeks earlier and his compliance. He concluded by saying, “I signed off on REL’s financial statements for the third quarter. What concerns me most are the ramifications of what I did.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Twelve million dollars doesn’t simply disappear. The company, I should say, I, had to account for how the money was spent.”

“You’re saying that it was spent on M and A projects that didn’t work out, right?”

“Yes. And if that were true, the money would be a deductible expense. End of story,” he said.

“And if that’s not true?”

He took a long sip. “First of all, skip the if. We know that’s not true. What we don’t know is how the money was used, whether it was for an expense that was deductible or not.”

“Could you ask Sherman about that?”

“In hindsight I should have. In hindsight there are a lot of things I should have done differently. But he made it clear I wasn’t to ask any questions. I assumed the money went to a legitimate purpose and twelve million will be deducted against REL’s taxable income.”

“So what does that mean?”

“It means that as CFO I’ve signed off on REL’s financial statement. If the money was not being used for a legitimate purpose, I’ve broken several laws including committing tax fraud.”

“Can you go back and change what you did?”

“If only it were that easy. Lots of questions would be raised. What would the explanation be? The CEO of the company asked me to do this and I did it without demanding any details? Who are Carter & Associates? Why did I okay wiring money to them? Even if I could put the genie back in the bottle, will Carter and whoever his associates are return the money or has it already been spent or disappeared?”

“Do you have any idea what the money’s being used for?”

“No, I don’t. Companies have had CEOs who had to be bailed out of bad personal investments, CEOs who were addicts or had gambling problems. Is this what’s going on with Sherman? I don’t know.”

She took his hand in hers. “You’ve got to talk to somebody. Explain what happened and take the hit now. The longer you stay silent the worse it will be if this comes to light.”

“I know, but who?”

“Is there anybody on the board you could speak to?”

“They’re all Sherman’s handpicked people. If Sherman denies he told me to do it, they’ll believe Sherman. I’m the one who’ll get fired and take the rap.”

“Can you talk to Carlyle Senior?”

“He’s far less engaged than he used to be. If he’s capable of doing anything, the first thing he’ll do is call Sherman to ask him about it.”

“How about Carlyle Jr.?”

He took another deep sip of his Scotch. “That’s a real possibility. He and Sherman have never liked each other. In fact they hate each other.”

“Promise me you’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

“I will. And thanks. I love you.”





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