Swimming with Sharks

Swimming with Sharks by Nele Neuhaus Page A

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Authors: Nele Neuhaus
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assured the police that Shanahan was not acting in a professional capacity.”
    “Stop it!” Alex hissed. “I have no interest whatsoever in your absurd conspiracy theories. Let’s go, Mark. Our lunch break is long over, and we have a lot of work waiting for us. Have a nice day, Mr. Skerritt.”
    She turned on her heel and marched off, not deigning to give Oliver Skerritt another look. Mark only caught up with her at the park’s exit.
    “Alex, I…I’m so sorry.” He was out of breath. Alex stopped abruptly and looked at her employee.
    “I don’t want to hear another word about this,” she said emphatically. “LMI is paying us both handsomely, so we owe them our loyalty. If youhappen to disagree with me, I suggest that you take your friend’s advice and hand in your notice. Have I made myself clear?”
    “Yes.” Mark nodded and lowered his head.
    Alex started walking again. Why did Skerritt’s words get to her? She should have just brushed them off with a smile and a shrug. But suddenly there was this tiny, nagging doubt planted deep inside her, a whispered warning that called to mind her private conversation with Levy. At the time, she’d accepted the bonus and decided to have it paid in stock options instead of cash. And she’d asked herself ever since how a serious investment bank could offer a hundred and fifty thousand dollars of unaccounted money. Why did Zack fly to the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, or Grand Cayman every few weeks? Damn it! A chill overtook her, but then she chased off these gloomy thoughts. She didn’t want to know anything about it. She wanted to do her job without being disturbed. Forget Oliver Skerritt!

     
    It was difficult for Mark to focus on his work for the rest of the day. The encounter with Oliver at Battery Park was by no means a coincidence. He had carefully arranged it. Over the past weeks, his doubt had grown about the legality of the deals that he was working on. During his research for the current Micromax deal—which appeared to be unspectacular at first—Mark had discovered that Finley Desmond, the majority shareholder of the Los Angeles-based Ventura Film Corporation who wanted to acquire Micromax, already owned a large equity stake in Micromax by means of a dubious Canadian company. This Canadian company was in turn owned by a familiar player, namely SeViCo Holdings, which was owned by Sunset Properties. This was a rather strange coincidence; it almost looked like money laundering. Mark didn’t like the thought of working for a company that was involved in shady business. It was becoming clear to him that something wasn’t quite kosher at LMI.
    When he told Oliver about his suspicions, Oliver shared many more details with him. He suspected that Alex knew about everything. Mark refused to believe him, but he was deeply disappointed that Alex wouldn’t even listen to Oliver.
    He vividly remembered how Gilbert Shanahan had changed in the weeks preceding his death. Before joining LMI, he was the top equities trader at Cantor and owned multiple Ferraris and a mansion on Long Island. Before he died, this pompous man had turned into a bundle of nerves, a shadow with bloodshot eyes who twitched every time the telephone rang. He couldn’t handle the pressure that he was under anymore. Mark saw Shanahan every day and observed his growing panic, expecting him to have a breakdown. Was Shanahan really involved in illegal activities on his own account? Or should he believe Oliver’s version—that Levy used Shanahan and ultimately sacrificed him when it seemed the shady wheeling and dealing might blow up?
    Was Alex possibly involved in the same business as Shanahan? Mark stared at the wall. He admired his boss. It wasn’t as easy as it had been ten years ago to find a well-paying job if you didn’t specialize in a particular field. These two factors had prevented him from following his friend’s advice. But what if Alex really did know about the dubious connections

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