Fifth Ave 01 - Fifth Avenue (56 page)

She went to her desk.
 
If she was going to take Celina’s place on this trip, there were files she had to familiarize herself with before leaving.

She turned on her computer, pulled a slip of paper from the back of a drawer and entered her password.
 
She hit return and the computer did something it never had done.
 
A message appeared in the center of the screen:

**ACCESS DENIED**

TERMINAL B IN OPERATION

Diana stared at the screen, confused.
 
Terminal B was her computer at home--and this computer was saying that it was in use.
  
But that’s impossible
, she thought.
 
I shut it down this morning.

She entered her password again, thinking she’d made a mistake the first time.
 
She knew that only one of her computers could be used at a time.
 
It was an added security feature that let the user know if somebody else was on their system.

The screen flashed and again she was denied access.
 

For a moment, she remained puzzled.
 
And then realization struck.
 

She once gave Eric her password.
 
His computer wasn’t working and he needed to use her computer to finish a report.

A chill went through her.
 

Right now, a former Redman International executive was using her computer.

*
 
*
 
*

Eric stared at the computer.
 
“Come on,” he said aloud.
 
“Come on....”

A message appeared on the screen:
 
ACCESS DENIED.

He looked at the message with resentment, knowing he would never get the information Louis Ryan needed and that the check wouldn’t be his.

Enraged, he slammed a fist hard against the side of the computer--and sat back in surprise as the screen flashed and sparks erupted from the back.
 
As the screen turned in on itself, fading rapidly to black, he realized he’d just broken her computer.
 

Now she would know he had been using it.

Frantic, he unplugged the machine in case of fire and looked around the room, knowing she could be home at any moment.
 
He was about to say to hell with this, to hell with Ryan and leave the office when he glimpsed the long line of file cabinets across the room.
 
He wondered if the information he needed was there, already stored for him in neat files....

Grimacing, he reached for his crutches and went to the nearest cabinet.
 
He tugged on one of the four drawers and found it locked.
 
That was no surprise, but with any luck, perhaps somewhere in this room were the keys to unlock them.

He went back to her desk.

He opened the top drawer, carefully moved aside stacks of papers and found no set of keys.
 
He opened the drawers to his right, found nothing but thick, deep green folders, and then he opened the drawer to his left.
 
Gleaming inside was a slick black crocodile briefcase, one of several Diana owned.
 
Eric was about to move it aside and look underneath it when he stopped.
 
And wondered.

He removed the briefcase and put it on the desk.
 
The briefcase was unlocked and he opened it. Crammed inside were files on the takeover of WestTex Incorporated.

His heart lifted.
 

He quickly scanned the hundreds of pages of information and saw that everything Ryan needed was there, in this briefcase.
 
Not believing his luck, he reached for one of the phones beside the computer and punched Ryan’s number.
 
The man answered on the second ring.

“What took you so long, Eric?”

Eric ignored the sarcasm.
 
Things were different now.
 
Now it was he who had the upper hand--not Ryan.
 
“I have everything you’ve requested,” he said.
 
“But time is running out.
 
She’ll be back shortly.
 
How soon before you can have somebody here to pick it up?”

“Ten minutes.”

“I said shortly,” Eric said.
 
“Make it five.
 
And here’s something else, Ryan.
 
I want that check tripled or there’s no deal.”

There was a silence.

“Answer me,” Eric said.
 
“It’s all here.
 
But it’s triple or nothing.”

“You’re out of your mind,” Louis said. “I’m not paying you--”

“The information’s worth ten times that amount and you know it,” Eric interrupted.
 
“Now, what’s it going to be?
 
You’re down to four minutes.”

“All right,” Louis said.
 
“I’ll triple it.”

Eric smiled grimly, his stomach tense.
 
Now for the bluff.
 
“And, Louis, in case you decide not to come through with that check, and in case anything happens to me, I want you to know that before I called you, I called a friend about this.
 
If he reads my obituary, the world soon will be reading yours.
 
Remember that.
 
Don’t fuck this up.
 
Don’t fuck with me.
 
I’ve already set things into motion should anything happen.”

He severed the connection and dialed the front desk.

“This is Eric Parker,” he said to one of the doormen on duty.
 
“I’m expecting friends.
 
No need to call me when they arrive.
 
Just send them up to Diana Crane’s apartment.”

He put down the phone, removed the files from Diana’s briefcase and substituted them for the files he had seen in the drawers to his right.
 
The folders were an identical deep green.
 
He snapped the briefcase shut and put it back as he had found it.
 
By the time Diana realized the switch, Eric hoped to be somewhere in Europe, perhaps Switzerland, with the money Louis Ryan owed him.

He tucked the folders beneath his arm and reached for his crutches.
 
No sooner had he left the room and tackled the winding staircase that he heard someone ringing the doorbell.

He hesitated, wondering if Ryan had believed his bluff.
 
He knew there was a chance that he might open that door and take a series of bullets in the chest.
 

It was a risk he’d have to take.

He went to the door and looked through the peephole.
 
Standing in the hallway was a tall, rugged-looking man in his early thirties with tousled dark hair.
 
He was wearing an unseasonably warm black leather jacket.
 
His hands were cupped behind his back.

Eric wished the man’s hands weren’t concealed, but he opened the door anyway.

They stared at each other.

The man in the hallway looked at the folders beneath Eric’s arm, then at the cast on his leg, the bruises on his face.
 
The edge of his mouth lifted into a smile.

Eric held out a hand for the check.

The man’s smile faded.
 
He reached into his jacket pocket, removed the check and handed it to Eric.
 
“Give me the files,” he said.

Eric unfolded the check and saw that the amount had indeed been tripled.
 
Relief overcame him.

He gave the man the files and closed the door in his face, locking it quickly.

It was over.

He pressed his back against the door as elation swept through him.

He was now worth ninety million dollars.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Diana moved quickly down the hallway, perhaps too quickly given the crisis she was leaving, because all eyes were on her as she hurried toward the bank of elevators.
 

Why was Eric on her computer?
 
What was he hoping to find?
 
Was he just bored and using it to see how things were working out with the deals he left behind when George fired him?
 
Or were there other reasons?

She was about to reach the elevators when someone behind her called out her name.
 
She turned and saw Jack Douglas.
 
He was standing just outside his office.
 
On his face was a look of concern and curiosity.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

She needed to get out of there.

“I’m fine.”
 
She pressed a button on the elevator.

“No, you’re not,” he said, coming toward her.
 
“Something’s wrong.
 
What is it?”

“It’s really nothing--

“What is it?”

She looked at him.
 
Tall and muscular, his body as rugged as steel.
 
Regardless of what Eric was up to, she decided having someone like Jack accompany her to her apartment might be a good idea.
 
She motioned him over.

“Will this remain between us?” she asked.

He nodded.

“I’m depending on that,” she said, and so she took the risk.
 
“Eric Parker is staying with me.
 
I just learned he’s on my computer, which is connected to Redman International’s main database and which obviously has created a major security breach since Eric no longer works here.”

The doors to the elevator whisked open.

“I don’t know what he’s doing,” she said.
 
“But he received no permission from me to use that computer.
 
I’m concerned.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

She nodded and they stepped inside.
 
“This is going to sound stupid,” she said.
 
“But do you have access to a gun?”

The question surprised him.
 
“No,” he said.
 
“But why would I need a gun?”

Diana pressed a button and looked at him as the elevator dropped.
 
“Because if he’s doing what I think he’s doing, we might need it and the police.”

*
 
*
 
*

For Eric Parker, there was only escape.

He left the door and went to gather his things.
 
On a table, he placed the check next to his watch and wallet and then he went to the staircase--that fucking winding staircase--and started to climb the stairs that led to the guest bedroom Diana offered him.