The Brass Statuettes Ch. 08

"I'm in your hands, Tyler."

"I spoke to Al Crossman while you were gone," Tyler went on to say. "I kind of expected what you just told me. I'll call him back and we can discuss an idea we have."

"Let's get the press release done before we do. We're playing 'beat the clock'." Frank countered. "With that out of the way, we can concentrate on this other thing."

Tyler had the draft in a folder on his desk and he took it out. "How does it read to you?"

"Fine; I'd just like to bolster it a little where it says that we stand by our 10-Q and urge the SEC to release it."

"Good idea," Tyler said, "especially considering what you just went through with Ms. Persky."

Tyler edited the text on the document in front of him and then handed the page to Frank. "How's that?"

"Perfect!" Frank answered. "After it's typed we'll take it down to Alvin. I'm sure he'll sign it and we'll have it on Graziano's desk in plenty of time."

***********

The press release was sent by wire to Graziano's office. Frank and Tyler walked together back to Tyler's office. Soon they had Al Crossman on the phone.

Al was a seasoned veteran of the legal wars. His firm represented Western whenever the need arose. Frank told him about his conversation with Nadine Persky.

"You don't want that," he told them bluntly.

"I agree with you, but I don't know what to do to avoid it," Frank admitted.

"You say that they haven't officially launched an investigation?" Al confirmed.

"Yes, I'm sure of it," Frank said.

"Tyler and I discussed something a while ago and I think it's the right way to go," Al said. "Why don't you lay it out for him, Tyler?"

"It's as simple as this," Tyler began. "Before they get started out of New York, we'll call the FBI here in Houston and report that we have suspected insider trading and request they investigate."

"I have contacts in the local office," Al volunteered. "I'm sure we could make it happen, if we act fast. If we wait very long, it will be too late."

"An end run around the SEC," Frank surmised. "I always preferred to run up the middle."

"Normally, I would too," Crossman added, "but these are different times."

"What does that get us?" Frank asked.

"We want the FBI working with us. We'll assign our Security and Internal Audit Staffs to cooperate. If the SEC comes in, it will be like the Inquisition," Tyler explained.

"The FBI won't cover up anything," Al warned. "They'll pursue whatever they find. It'll be less adversarial."

"Of course, if the SEC wrestles jurisdiction back from them, they'll be out for blood. At worst, it'll buy us some time while they wrestle with it," Tyler added.

"I'm convinced," Frank said. "Who's going to make the call?"

"That would be me," Al said. "I'm your outside counsel and I know the agent in charge. By the way, I already made some calls to get your 10-Q freed up. No action, yet. It might take something a little stronger."

"Whatever it takes," Frank said. "They have no right to link the 10-Q with this other thing. We've got to get that made public. It's holding up a lot of things."

"We'll get it done, but you'll have to be patient; we're doing everything we can," Al assured them.

*******************

Frank's day wasn't done after the conversation with Al Crossman. There were meetings with Internal Audit and Security personnel and a short conversation with Jim Sweeney, not to mention a phone call with the Public Accountants. Larry Bates' numbers were on his desk waiting for him. It would have been easier if he had a Corporate Controller to back him up, but the post remained vacant with no good candidates on the horizon. At seven o'clock he told Jeannette to go home. The office was all but empty when he stopped in Alvin's office at eight-thirty to fill him in.

Alvin poured Frank a scotch and himself a bourbon. "We were so close," Alvin lamented. "Just so you know, I don't blame you."

Alvin's consolation made Frank want to cringe, but he didn't let it show. "We're still almost there," Frank insisted. "We've got to hang tough. We are going to lose some time, though. The biggest risk, as I see it, is that the bank will back out of the R&D loan."

"That's what I mean," Alvin said. "This won't stay under wraps past tomorrow morning. Jason has a point. The headhunters will be making calls to our R&D people to lure them away."

"I'm sure that they understand..."

"You don't understand them," Alvin insisted. "They have no loyalties to any company—only to their work and themselves. They'll draw their own conclusions and join with whatever outfit they think will give them the most. They don't understand business and they don't trust management—and that goes twice for finance guys."

"I see," Frank replied.

"And once those guys start filterin' off to the competitors...you might as well photocopy our whole strategic plan and mail it out."

"We've got to look to Jason to keep the lid on."

"Bah!" Alvin retorted with a wave of his hand. "That little twerp couldn't keep a lid on a teapot, but he's all we got."

"Maybe we can shore him up," Frank suggested. "The trouble is, I just don't have time right now to..."

"You've got enough on your plate," Alvin agreed. "Besides, like I said, those guys don't trust you. I'll see if Blake Hart can step in. Maybe it's time to move Blake up the ladder a notch. I can have Jason report to him."

"I believe that Blake is the right guy, if the timing is right."

"I'll think on it."

"Good scotch, Alvin."

"Want another?"

"Gimme a raincheck. It's been a long day. I'm goin' home."

************

It was almost ten when Frank finally pulled into his driveway. He knew Trudy would be waiting for him—she'd probably try to get him to eat some warmed-over dinner that he didn't want. As he walked into the house Trudy was coming down the stairs.

"Rough day?" Trudy asked.

"Could have been better," Frank replied. "How about yours?"

"Not too bad," Trudy replied. "I spent most of the day getting Patricia ready to go to Austin for her college orientation."

"It's only a four-day trip," Frank protested.

"I think she has some butterflies in her stomach about it, so it was slow going. The reality of it is finally dawning on her."

"Is reality spelled D-E-V-O-N?" Frank asked, referring to the latest boyfriend.

"That may be part of it. Anyway, she's ready now. How 'bout some dinner?"

"I think I'll pass Trudy. I just want to get out of these clothes and have a beer out on the balcony."

"I figured as much," Trudy said, "but I had to ask. Go ahead upstairs and change; I'll bring you a beer after I finish putting the food away."

Frank shuffled out of the kitchen and up the stairs. As he passed Patricia's room he knocked on the door. "Patricia, can I come in?"

Hearing nothing he pushed the door open and stepped in. He found her sitting on her bed, arms folded with a sour look on her face. "Ready for your trip to Austin tomorrow?"

"I guess so," the teenager mumbled, not looking up.

"I don't blame you for being nervous," Frank said. "I would be, too. Just give it a chance and it'll all work out."

"I'm not nervous!" the girl whined.

"Sorry," Frank replied. "I should have said that if you were nervous, I wouldn't blame you. I was sure nervous. In the end, I found out I shouldn't have been. Of course everyone's different in one way or another, but almost everyone was nervous."

"Maybe," his daughter conceded.

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine. When you get back you can fill us all in." He closed the door and continued down the hallway to his and Trudy's room.

He had just changed from his business suit to shorts and tee shirt when Trudy walked in carrying an ice bucket with three bottles of beer. "I though I'd have one with you."

"Perfect! What's the third one for?"

"I figured you'd have two," Trudy replied. "Or maybe I'll split it with you." She was on her way through the sliding glass door to their balcony. Frank was right behind her.

"So, I heard Patricia tell you she's not nervous," Trudy told him. "They might have heard her in Dallas. You didn't give her a hard time about Devon, did you?"

"No," Frank answered. "I figured that would take care of itself soon enough." He twisted the top off a bottle and handed it to her. "The Winters' are taking her and you're picking them up on Friday?" Trudy nodded. He opened a second bottle of beer and took a long swallow.

"How bad is it at work?" Trudy asked.

"It's going to be rough for a while," Frank admitted. "The worst part is that everyone knows that someone sabotaged us, but no one knows who. Soon the rumors will start. That's worse than the actual fact."

"Who do you think did it?

"I wish I knew. There are so many people who could have. Alvin, all the VP's, their secretaries, the Directors on the Finance Committee, employees at the Underwriter and the Auditors' office; the lawyers. There's Aaron Fishman. Who knows?"

"Maybe it leaked out by accident."

"I don't think so, Trudy. There were some nasty rumors that went along with the facts and there were some who made a lot of money when the stock plunged." Frank took another swallow.

"Do you think they'll ever find out?" Trudy asked.

"Sure," Frank replied. "The government will trace the transactions back to the brokers and subpoena their records and start sorting out names. It will take some time, though. First, the SEC and the FBI will have to sort out 'who's on first'. Then, they'll filter through the names. By the time they're done I intend to have the Company's finances straightened out long beforehand."

"You will," Trudy said. "You always do when things get tough."

"Maybe," Frank said. He finished his beer and opened the third bottle. "I used to, anyway. Maybe that's in the past; maybe I'm getting old." He took a swallow from the new bottle.

"Oh, I don't think so," Trudy replied. She took the fresh bottle from his hand and took a swallow of her own. She reached out her hand and squeezed his bare bicep. "Still feels pretty firm to me."

"You're only saying that because you've got nothing else to compare to."

I disagree," she said, playing along. She lifted the long-necked bottle to her mouth again and enclosed her lips around the opening, looking him in the eye. She paused a second and then slowly caressed the neck of the bottle with them, and let the condensed moisture from the long shaft of the neck remoisten her mouth. Her tongue came out—slippery and wet—and she let it play around the end of the bottle and she stuck it a little ways inside and swirled it around the glass. "I think I'm the best judge of the parts of my man—especially the firm parts."

Frank reached out for the bottle. A slight smile escaped before she could hold it back. She pulled the bottle away as he reached and raised it to her mouth again and took another long, hard swallow.

"What d'you say about that, Frank?" she asked in a soft voice, almost a whisper.

"I'd have to say I don't deserve you, Trudy."

She handed the bottle back to him. About half of the beer remained. "You finish this while I get ready." She rose and disappeared behind the sliding glass door and the drapes.

*********

Frank nursed the rest of the beer so that Trudy would have a few minutes to prepare. It was always worth the wait when Trudy said she was going to get ready. He didn't know what to expect, but it was sure to be good.

"I wonder if she'll wear the pink baby-doll nightie I bought for her in New Orleans." It was one of the choices, but not the only one. "What does it matter? Whatever it is, she won't be wearing it for long."

As Frank swallowed the last of the beer he saw the lights in the bedroom go out. "I think that's my cue." He got up from his chair and slid the glass door enough to let him pass through. With the drapes closed, the room was pitch black. He heard Trudy's voice.

"Leave the door open, Frank. There's a breeze out tonight and it feels so good."

Frank fumbled his way to a chair next to his dresser and quickly shed all the clothes he had on, leaving them on the chair. He eased himself down on the bed and reached his arms out searching her out. He wanted to embrace her and kiss her tenderly.

He was met by her arms in the darkness. Sometimes he forgot how long and strong she was. He felt her hand at his shoulder pushing him onto his back. A long leg flew through the air and in an in an instant she was straddled atop him. He reached out and threw his arms around her shoulders and pulled her face down to his and kissed her. She might have been tall and strong, but her skin was warm and soft.

"Trudy, if you were going to be nude, why did you need time to get ready?" he asked when the kiss was finished.

She rubbed her body on him. He felt her long legs overlap his own. "Frank, I've got two favors to ask you," she told him as she slid further down his body. He felt her breasts with the hardened nipples moving all the way down his torso and past his groin.

"Ask 'em fast, Trudy."

"First, stop asking questions. I don't feel like answering any."

"What's the second?"

"Try not to be too loud when you come. The girls still might be awake." Frank gasped as he felt her mouth engulf him. He was all the way in her. It was what she wanted to do for him—he knew it. He let her take over.

He was immersed in the routine of pleasure when he suddenly felt her head bob up and he slipped out of her mouth. "Because," she explained, "by the time I get through with you, I think you're going to want to be very loud."

"Should I get a bullet or something to bite on?" he asked.

"I told you—no questions."

She plunged down on him again. He gave himself over to the sensations. At first it was warm, with a soft pleasure as she filled herself with him. Then he felt the slippery tongue dance over him. It was a different delight. She managed to work her hand beneath him and tender fingers caressed the soft skin of his sac.

She wouldn't let him get used to what she did to him. She could tell when he began to mark and measure the surges of pleasure, timing his approach to climax. She'd break the routine, switching techniques. Once she hovered an inch over him, holding his organ upright. He waited for her descent onto him—he could feel it just by anticipation. She made him wait until he thought she might never do it and then dove with abandon. She had a way of humming when she had him deep inside her. The vibrations from her throat drove him wild.

It was far from their first such experience. He always marveled how she made it feel like something new on each occasion. "It shouldn't surprise me. She never holds anything back from me." She had been working on him for a long while and he felt himself rising.

He reached down and put his hands on either side of her face. He tugged gently, lifting her chin up so that he dropped out of her mouth and they were face-to-face in the dark.

"Huh?" she murmured in bewilderment.

Frank grasped her around the ribs with his two strong hands and pulled her to him so that he could kiss her. "I wanted to..." she began to say as the kiss ended.

"I know," Frank answered. "It's just that I'm feeling something right now." His hands dug into her flanks; he maneuvered her pelvis on his until he felt himself at her opening. It was as warm and slick as her mouth had been. She sank down and they pressed together. He felt her capture him with her muscles within. He was in as far as he could go.

"Ohhh!" he heard her cry. She placed her palms on his shoulders to brace herself. He thrust up; it felt so good, and she pressed back. They did it over again—and again. They came almost together. First, it was Frank; Trudy followed a few seconds later. At the end Trudy buried her face in the pillow alongside Frank's head and screamed into it. For Frank it was the best part.

She stayed on top of him after it was over; he was still inside her.

"I hope the girls didn't hear us," Frank quipped.

"It was a good thing that pillow was there," she answered with a little laugh. "I didn't plan on needing it." Frank stroked her back and her flanks. For a little while she had the power to banish the troubles of the day just gone by and she employed it to the fullest.

"You were wrong, you know," she said. Her face rested on his chest.

"Wrong about what, Trudy?"

"What you said on the balcony about not deserving me. I know it was a figure of speech, but it's not true, just the same."

"Okay. I guess that I'm lucky that I do deserve you."

"Don't be a smartass," she warned, but not in an angry way. "You don't even know why I said that."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Well," she said, "I thought it took a pretty nice man to stop in Patricia's room to lift her spirits after everything you went through today."

"Oh, I didn't think of it that way," he replied. "She just needed..."

"That's exactly why you deserve it," she explained, "and I knew you would do it before you even started up the stairs."

They lay quietly for awhile, just enjoying the feeling of each other. He started getting hard again. Soon they would enjoy one another again before falling to sleep.

The tender breeze stole in through the open door and caressed them through the night.

*********

Author's note: the preceding chapter is entirely fictional, as are all the financial institutions and the ticker symbol mentioned. Even the name of the bank mentioned might appear familiar, but the name has been intentionally altered for this story. If any of the names used have escaped my scrutiny and match any existing entity, it is an unintended oversight and no inference should be drawn from the mistake.

AW