Paul and Sue

"My ug... There really isn't a better way to say it... My relationship with Bart got out at work." Susan paused to open the water bottle. "He threw me under the bus to save himself. He claimed it was all my idea, that I'd been pursuing him for months. His boss didn't believe him, but I've still been reassigned to the Denver office, as soon as they physically have space for me, which is theoretically next week. I think the delay is to give me time to resign."

"How has Paul taken..." Walt's tone went from concerned to neutral. "You haven't told him yet."

"No. I haven't. I couldn't face him." Susan looked at Walt with sudden clarity. "I can't go, can I?"

"I'm not going to tell you what to do." Walt sighed. "But the way he's talked about your relationship lately, he might well see this as a natural breaking point. You've already shown him he doesn't mean as much to you as your job. That was before you tried to get him to let you go on a date with your boss."

"Ouch." Susan looked down. "I think I deserved that."

"You probably did." Walt replied. He paused, then looked up at her. "I'm sorry Susan, I'm projecting. Your marriage is in real jeopardy, but I shouldn't have been mean about it."

Susan hesitated for a moment. "Is Hannah alright?"

"Her doctor took the new samples this morning." Walt's tone was flat. "We should have the results by Wednesday."

"I'm not picking up good vibes there." Susan took a slow sip of her water.

"Not many to be had." Walt's mouth was a thin line. "Once we... Once we know the results... if she tests negative, Monica and I are telling Hannah that we have to permanently close our relationship."

Susan paused for a moment. "Is that what it sounds like? I may not have the vocabulary for this yet."

"It's exactly what it sounds like." Walt said, dryly. "It means no lovers or sexual contact outside our relationship."

"I thought Hannah had already agreed to that?"

"Hannah closed the relationship until she could get her results." Walt replied. "It was the responsible thing to do, and any of us would have done it. Now though... we need to change the rules, because she broke the old ones."

"What happens if she doesn't accept the new rules?" Susan asked.

"If she can't agree to it, we'll separate; hell, she and I will probably need to divorce." Walt said woodenly. "Monica will probably recover to the point where she can take some risks, but unless there's a major medical breakthrough, I'm going to be on drugs that suppress my immune system until the day I die. I can't be with someone who's willing to risk my life on a whim."

"I don't know what to say to that."

"I don't either." Walt gave a humorless laugh. "I'd always pictured us growing old together; I hate the thought that I need to ask her to change, but I can't go on with this the way things are."

A few moments of awkward silence passed between them.

"Susan, you should go home to your husband." Walt said quietly. "Whatever else you do, be honest with him."

***

"Babe? I'm home." Susan set the box with her stuff down on the hall table. She followed the music down the hall to his office. He was sitting at his desk, looking back and forth between the three monitors. He nodded to the beat in time with a media player on the right screen, a small orb flashing. Several applications blinked text as he typed rapidly, moving information between windows.

"Baby?" Susan said softly. "Do you have a minute?"

"What's up, Susan?" Paul asked, locking his computer as he turned around.

"Senior management found out about me and Bart." She was tearing up. "They assigned me to another manager."

"Who did they reassign you to?" His voice had the same neutral tone he'd kept up since she'd started this stupidity.

"Outsourcing Operations. They're in the Denver office, and officially, it's a promotion." Susan took a deep breath and looked her husband in the eye. "I'm going to turn them down, and resign. I've already fucked up any chance I had to advance in the company. I'm hoping you're... you'll let me show you how hard I'm willing to fight for us."

"Did you practice that line?" Paul's tone lightened slightly.

"Every minute since I left the parking lot." She looked down. "I still botched it."

She was surprised when he took her in his arms. The dam broke, and she was sobbing into his chest, clinging to him like a life preserver in a storm.

"I'm sorry, Susan." He held her tight to him. "I know how hard you worked for that position."

***

Cecily

Cecily braced herself as the elevator doors opened. It had been nearly a week since she'd had to confront her former protégé. She was very aware that Susan's father was a well-connected lawyer whose firm had a legendary history suing employers in wrongful termination cases. Cecily had been waiting for the other shoe to drop. And this was probably the impact; Paul had called up to her office, asking that she meet him down in the lobby. Her heels clicked as she walked across the marble floor. It was odd seeing him in a suit; she didn't think she'd ever seen him wearing anything more formal than jeans and a sweater.

"It's good to see you, Paul." She greeted him with a warm hug. "How are you holding up?"

"I'll be alright; Susan and I had our first counseling session on Wednesday; a friend referred us to a good marriage therapist. I'm hoping that we can rebuild what we had." He smiled at her calmly. "I'm not really here to talk about me though."

"Should we take this up to my office, or one of the meeting rooms?"

"No, I'd like to do this here." He handed her an envelope, but held onto a second. "The first is Susan's letter of resignation."

"And the second?" There was a noise from the front entry. She turned to look as a long line of men in blue jackets with FBI in bright lettering entered the building. One stopped at the front desk, and handed a folded paper to the security guard, while the rest moved to the elevators. A pair with SEC in bright yellow lettering on their jackets pointed in their direction and moved to approach Cecily and Paul.

"Mr. Salt?" One of the agents extended his hand to Paul. "I'm Agent Thomassen and this is Agent Braggard of the SEC. It's nice to put a face to a voice."

"Agents, I should probably introduce Ms. Cecily Jones, my wife's former mentor. She doesn't know it, but she was instrumental in getting Morgan Hackett's cooperation." Paul shook the agents' hands, then looked at her. "Ms. Jones is still employed with XYZ."

The agents stopped for a to consult their phones. After a moment, Agent Thomassen looked up. "We don't have a warrant for her; I'm sure we'll need to depose her eventually, but that can wait until we've reeled in the big fish. As long as you aren't worried about blowback..."

"Knowing her character, I'm fairly sure she'll enjoy this. I appreciate you letting me watch the fireworks." Paul continued to smile at the agents. Cecily looked on, becoming more concerned.

"It's not a normal request, but it isn't every day that a citizen hands us a full evidence chain, gift wrapped down to the office floor plan." Agent Thomassen grinned. "I'm still not sure how you managed to get the wife to turn on her husband, but that was the nail in the coffin, let me tell ya."

"It helps when you've got the phone records that will let her enforce her prenuptial agreement, and a father-in-law who has connections with the US Attorney for this district." Paul's smile was cold. "Revenge is a powerful motivator, but for her, cutting a deal that just means giving up your green card instead of facing extradition and jail time was more important."

"You've pulled a bigger catch than you think." Agent Braggard said, very seriously. "We've been able to establish that members of XYZ's board had access to the reports that Hackett was providing to his uncle, and their stock purchases reflect that information. A preliminary digital warrant shows that they knew and were actively participating in trades. It may not be a full sweep, but we've got almost all of them dead to rights."

"I'm sorry, what is your agency accusing us of?" Cecily finally got out.

"Insider trading." Paul looked to her with eyes like ice. He held out a second envelope; Cecily took it, reeling from the shock. "Bart's been trading stocks on advance copies of XYZ's information on mergers and audits; the packet has everything you'll need to fire the son-of-a-bitch. I took the transcripts of the texts that you sent home with Susan, and used them to get Morgan to testify against her husband. Saying that woman is angry is like saying water is wet."

"Normally, I wouldn't discuss an ongoing investigation, but this one is so far in the bag we don't have any on-going to go from." Agent Thomassen's grin was positively feral. "As a foreign national violating US law against insider trading, Mr. Hackett is unlikely to make bail. After the trial, he'll be going away for a very long time. And since members of his board appear to have been advancing his career in exchange for this information, they're going to be in the same situation. I would expect your offices to be closed for the next few days while this gets sorted out."

"And here they come." Paul murmured; he casually stepped between the seated woman and the rest of the lobby. "Cecily, stay behind us." FBI field agents marched five men in handcuffs out from the elevators. Bart Hackett walked as though shell shocked, flanked by burly men in bulletproof vests. Other members of XYZ's board followed, though most had the sense to cover their faces. Bart didn't look up from the marble floor, even as he passed Paul and the SEC agents. Other agents held the doors as the group walked out to waiting law-enforcement vehicles.

"That was anticlimactic." Paul sounded almost disappointed.

"Honestly, Mr. Salt, the best collars are." Agent Braggard replied, still seriously. "They're going to want us in for the press conference down at the court house to make the usual noises about cooperation and good detective work. As agreed, the Department will be keeping your name and your wife's out of the official statements where-ever possible. If y'all will excuse us..."

* * * *

Epilog

Bart Hackett was found guilty of insider trading violations and conspiracy. He was sentenced to five years in a federal penitentiary, and was fined millions of dollars. His wife divorced him while he was serving his sentence, and got all the assets that the U.S. Government hadn't confiscated. As a foreign national Bart was deported back to South Africa on his release; he later died in penury, unable to obtain meaningful employment because of his criminal record.

Cecily Jones capitalized on Bart's arrest, and the arrests of several members of XYZ's board. She championed extensive ethical reforms, and eventually became vice president of her division. Unfortunately, the reforms were not enough to prevent the subsequent fallout. XYZ had been positioning itself to become the fourth of the big three accounting firms globally. The scandal significantly impacted those plans, and their stock went through several significant devaluations over the next decade.

Donald and Mary Smith returned to counseling after her outburst. After admitting her remorse for her words, Mary asked Donald to forgive her. He told her there was nothing to forgive, but she insisted that they attend several sessions to so she could work through the return of her anger, and so that he could begin to forgive himself the things she'd forgiven him. They lived a long and happy life together.

Hannah's test results came back negative, but her family and friend's joy with the good result was mitigated by the lifestyle changes that she needed to keep her marriage. She and Monica adjusted to the situation, though Walter always felt guilty about asking his wife to change.

Paul and Sue continued their counseling. Eventually Susan returned to the workforce, and worked in the accounting departments for several major firms in the Dallas area, but she never made it into upper management. After a few false starts they had two daughters, who were spoiled rotten by both sets of grandparents. All told, not a bad life.