Green Kills (4 page)

New York,
October 15, 2013, 5:00 AM

Ronnie opened his eyes slowly. The dim morning light cast a pale
glow on Liah’s face. She was snuggled up next to him, still fast asleep. He
touched her gently, and she hummed and tossed to the other side. Ronnie crawled
out of bed and just like he had every morning for the past two
weeks,
cursed the broken central heating system, which the
landlord was in no rush to repair. After quickly brushing his teeth, he dressed
in a heavy tracksuit, put on his running shoes, and hurried to his daily
appointment with a six-mile circuit.

He ran down the stairs, skipping two steps at a time, and went
out into the freezing air. The overnight rainstorm had washed the city clean,
and its high-rise buildings gleamed gloriously, but when he lowered his eyes,
he discovered the sidewalk was covered with a tattered rug of yesterday’s
newspapers. He sped up to his usual running pace, allowing his body to
celebrate the relaxation of his muscles and his mind to prepare itself for the challenges
of the coming day. He set his inner clock to finish the six-mile course within
forty-five minutes. The echo of his Asics drumming on the pavement was
disturbed by the rattling engines of the few taxis whose drivers still hoped to
pick up one last passenger before ending their exhausting night shift. Ronnie
kept on running without tiring, completely absorbed in the latest songs from
his favorite Israeli musician, Yehuda Poliker, playing in his white earbuds.
About three quarters of an hour later, he turned back to 18th Street and went
into the deli next to his apartment. 

“The usual, sir?” the Indian owner greeted him.

“Of course, Kumar.
You didn’t prepare
the package in advance?” Ronnie teased and put a twenty-dollar bill on the
counter.

“Change is on the way.” Kumar smiled and handed him a paper bag
with two baguette sandwiches, stuffed with the best the deli had to offer, and
two plastic containers filled with freshly cut fruit salad.

Ronnie raised his hand in appreciation and collected the paper
bag. “Have a nice day,” he said and same as every morning, headed out without
waiting for the change.

In his apartment, he showered, ate the fruit salad standing up,
got dressed, and tucked one of the sandwiches in his bag, knowing he probably
wouldn’t have time to go out for lunch. He sneaked another glance at the
bedroom, only to discover Liah hadn’t moved an inch since he’d left, then
collected his coat and quietly closed the door.

He reached his office at ten minutes past seven.

“Good morning,” he said and smiled at the receptionist.

“Good morning, Ronnie,” came the reply, accompanied by the
lowered glance of someone who wasn’t sure whether or not she should continue to
address the fund’s newest rising star by his first name. “I was really happy to
hear about your promotion.”

“Thanks, Valerie, I really appreciate it.” Ronnie summoned the
warmest smile he could come up with on that chilly New York morning.

The receptionist responded with a timid smile then immediately
added in a matter-of-fact tone, “David asked me to let you know that starting
today your office will be located in the
partners
area, next to Stephen’s.”

“Thanks.” Ronnie managed to conceal his surprise and turned
toward the kitchenette, where he knew he’d find steaming coffee Valerie took
care to brew every morning. With a cup of coffee in his hand and his laptop bag
slung across his shoulder, Ronnie headed toward his new office. The bronze
plaque engraved with his name made him stop in his tracks. To his surprise, he
actually felt excited. He turned the key, which had been left for him in the
lock, and slowly pushed the door open.  

The room revealed to him was very similar to those of all the
other partners. The large red mahogany desk and the low, matching African
walnut filing cabinets, lining two of the walls, were brand new. He slowly
approached his chair and examined his new desk. On the right hand corner, there
were ten boxes of business cards, all bearing his name. The title “Partner” was
written beneath. On the other end, a docking station for his Mac had been
installed, and in front of it was a large, impressive Apple monitor. The
remaining surface of the desk was covered by four thick blue ring binders. On
top of the binders rested an envelope, propped up on its open flap. Ronnie sat
down, took the handwritten letter out of the envelope, and began to read:

Welcome. On the desk, you’ll
find four ring binders containing all the information about the company.
Additionally, Evelyn has sent you an email with a code which will allow you to
access all company documents on the fund’s server, as well as an additional
code that will open the partners-only libraries. Feel free to come to me with
any questions.

Good luck, Henry.
 

On the file cabinet to the left of his chair rested a miniature
vase with a single white rose. An additional envelope was resting against it.
It
must be national envelope day
, he thought and went over to read the letter.
A wide smile spread on his face as he opened the envelope and found a sheet of
pink notepaper inside, scrawled with Evelyn’s handwriting:
Good luck, Ray.
A smiley face
graced the bottom of the page.

Ray was the name Evelyn had given him, and no one would dare to
defy Evelyn. She was David’s personal assistant, a woman in her late forties,
single or divorced — no one knew and no one was courageous enough to ask. The
evil gossips of the office said that she was married to her work and chose to
live her own life through David’s. Her permanently serious expression, her
conservative clothing and graying hair, always gathered into a knot at the back
of her head, reminded David of his childhood Bible teacher. Her red glasses,
the only trace of color on her makeup-free face, were the only hint that a
woman was hidden somewhere behind the restrained visage. The appreciation,
verging on admiration, that David felt toward her demonstrated that appearances
could be misleading and that behind the outwardly dreary appearance, a strong,
brilliant, and determined person was ebbing and flowing, someone who would stop
at nothing to complete her missions.

During one of their conversations in the coffee corner, Evelyn
had offhandedly mentioned she held two degrees from Columbia University. There
wasn’t even a hint of vanity in her voice. She had simply reacted to a remark
by Ronnie about Liah’s demanding studies at the same university.

The only logical explanation Ronnie could think of to explain
such a brilliant woman ending up as an office manager was that David paid her
an insanely high salary. He felt very fortunate to have Evelyn taking him under
her wing and helping him fit in. She had christened him with the name “Ray”
about a month after he’d started working for the company. “Why Ray?” he’d
asked, puzzled, and she had gravely replied that something in his rough
demeanor reminded her of Ray Donovan from the cable TV show.

“Did you know Liev Schreiber, who plays Ray, is also Jewish?”
she had whispered with mock seriousness. Ever since that day, she always addressed
him as Ray when they were by themselves, and they turned it into their private
joke.

Ronnie had never attempted to take advantage of his relationship
with Evelyn to gain any favors or cut corners, and she appreciated it. In
another of their kitchenette conversations, she provided him, without being
asked, an explanation for the special treatment she gave him. “You Israelis are
very straightforward. You’re the only ones I can joke around with about
personal issues. If I tried that kind of humor with one of the American
partners, it would probably end up either with me losing my job or him
desperately wooing me. I really don’t know which of the two scares me the most.
Besides, you really do look like Ray Donovan.” She sent him a theatrical wink
and chuckled. It was the first time he’d seen her laughing, and the first time
he’d noticed just how attractive she really was.    

Ronnie assumed Evelyn had personally handled the decoration and
furnishing of his office. Now he thought she might also have been involved with
the secret of his promotion, long before he had any knowledge of it. What else
could explain how she’d managed to select and purchase new, matching furniture
for his office in a single day? He also suspected David’s gesture, sending him
home to spend the day with Liah, had actually been Evelyn’s idea. 

Ronnie connected his computer to the docking station, and the
screen in front of him woke to life. He sent a brief email to Evelyn, thanking
her for her help. While sending it, he noticed she’d already changed the
business title in his electronic signature from “Senior Associate” to
“Partner.”
Nothing could stop Evelyn
, the thought passed through his
mind. He knew that as the information technology manager for the fund, one of
the many titles and responsibilities she held, she had access to all the
employees’ passwords, but he’d never imagined she would use it unless an
emergency situation was involved. He emitted a sigh Liah used to call “Ronnie’s
Polish sigh of frustration” and plunged into the piles of information Henry had
left on his desk.

Time flew by quickly. Now and then, one of the fund employees
entered his office to wish him good luck in his new position. He gave them each
a polite thank you smile and immediately got back to work, avoiding unnecessary
conversations. When he finally raised his eyes from the last document, it was
already eight o’clock in the evening. A yellow notepad was in front of him,
scribbled with dozens of points he’d decided to look into in greater detail. In
spite of the late hour, he decided to call Christian Lumner, TDO’s CEO. Lumner
picked up the call after a single ring.

“Hi Christian, it’s Ronnie Saar. Got a minute for me?”

“I’m in the middle of a meeting, but hold on a moment, please,”
answered Lumner, and before Ronnie could reply, he heard him say to the people
in the room, “I need to take this call.”

The sound of chairs being pushed back and the footsteps of those
leaving the room made Ronnie feel embarrassed. He had had no intention of
disrupting the CEO’s meeting. It was the first time he had felt the power
inherent in his new position.

“Yes, I’m with you.” Christian was back on the phone.

“You didn’t need to stop the meeting. We could have spoken
later, or even tomorrow.”

“Everyone is already out,” Christian replied coolly, “how can I
help you?”

“I’ve read the material Henry gave me, and I have a lot of
questions. I plan to meet with Henry tomorrow, and later on I’d like to meet
with you, too. I wanted to know when you’d be available.”

“Anytime you’d
like,
tomorrow or the
next day. In three days, I’m supposed to travel to meet some investors, unless
you advise me differently, of course.”

“Why would I advise you differently?” Ronnie wondered.

No reply came from the other end of the line.

“How about I take an early morning flight on Thursday and meet
you at ten in your office. I’d be delighted if you would clear most of your
morning schedule for me. OK?”

“OK,” Christian answered dryly, “
send
me the flight details, and I’ll have a driver pick you up at the airport.”

“No need. I’ll rent a car and get there by myself,” Ronnie
hurried to respond.

“Whatever you like…will there be anything else?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll see you Thursday,” Lumner ended abruptly and hung up.

Ronnie remained seated in his chair, looking at the silent
phone. Christian’s demeanor was resentful, and Ronnie couldn’t help but wonder
why. Nothing in the material he’d just finished reading had predicted, directly
or indirectly, what had just taken place during the conversation.
What else
was stirring below the surface
? Ronnie pondered. He reached for the four
ring binders and began to read them anew. 

Boston, October
16, 2013, 7:30 AM

The early flight to Logan Airport in Boston was without incident.
Ronnie travelled light and didn’t have any suitcases to pick up. He headed
straight to the Hertz car rental shuttle. After a short and silent journey, the
shuttle stopped in the rental lot. He glanced at the large "Gold Plus
members" electronic panel and saw his name and next to it the number 566.
Two minutes later he sat in the Prius he’d booked, typed the address of TDO’s
Waltham offices into the GPS, and took off toward the Ted Williams Tunnel. A
single tear of rain sought its way down his windshield, paving the way for
millions of its siblings, bursting with a crazed drumming on the roof of his
car. He still had more than two hours before the meeting and was hoping he’d
have enough time for breakfast at the Embassy Suites hotel, located, according
to Henry, not far from TDO’s offices.

The memory of yesterday’s appointment with Henry filled him with
discomfort. Henry had come to the door to greet him and congratulated him on
the quick promotion. Ronnie couldn’t help but be impressed by his black,
burning eyes, which utterly contrasted with his pleasant features. Even though
Ronnie hated it when people made generalizations about Israelis, his
interactions with Henry couldn't help but bring to mind the advice he'd
received some years ago from his marketing manager, who had lived in Beijing
for ten years: "The moment you think you know what the Chinese person
facing you is about to do, is the moment you lose the battle against him."

“How’s your new office?” Henry asked him politely as his
secretary entered the room, holding two cups of coffee. She set them on the
table, which was covered by a silk map decorated with Chinese paintings.

“Double shot, no sugar and light on the foamed milk,” she said
to Ronnie and flashed a professional smile at him before exiting the room.

Ronnie, who made it a habit to religiously keep his private life
to himself, felt his privacy had been breached for the third time in only two
days.

“Shall we begin?” Henry asked, not really waiting for Ronnie’s
answer.

Ronnie opened his computer. The file with all the questions he’d
prepared was already flashing on the screen. “Allow me to be frank with you,”
he opened, “I went over all the material in the binders and read all the
relevant information collected in the fund’s database. I can’t shake the
feeling everything seems too good to be true. From my experience as a CEO, I
know every company has its ups and downs, and here, for the first time in my
life, I come across a company which functions exceptionally well throughout the
years, systematically meets all its goals, and demonstrates an extremely high
growth potential. In my experience, the life of a company is composed of a
collection of potential crises lurking around every corner. And yet here, all
the board reports are optimistic, none of them speak of any problems, and all
of the CEO’s requests are always unanimously approved. It’s a utopian world,
and I don’t really believe in utopias.”

“What are you really trying to ask?” Henry straightened in his
chair, fully alert.

“Either I was lucky enough to receive a perfect company or — and
I find this second option to be more reasonable — the CEO is not being
completely transparent in his reports or even worse, he ‘artificially improves’
the actual business results. You have a lot more experience than I do. As
someone who’s worked with the company from day one, I’d appreciate your opinion
on the subject.”

Henry gave him a cold smile, brushed an imaginary grain of dust
from the sleeve of his striped jacket, and said with marked sarcasm, “You have
some difficult questions as well?”

Ronnie realized he’d stepped on a hornet’s nest. “That all
depends on the answer to my first question,” he said grimly, letting Henry
realize he was not about to drop the subject.

“Christian and I have been working together closely ever since
the company was established. I hope he didn’t conceal anything from me. On the
other hand, I have to note that personally, I don’t find things to be as rosy
as you describe them, even though I agree with your general conclusion that TDO
is a remarkable company both in its performance and in its potential. As you’ve
probably realized after reading the financials, the company, which is about to
finish — and based on all indications, very successfully — the clinical trials,
is about to run out of cash, and Christian is working around the clock trying
to
raise
additional funding. As stated, the company is
about to finish the trial phase soon, but has not begun the sales stage yet.
Without the boost of additional cash, the company will go bust. To my regret,
and to Christian’s, I had to inform him that as we’ve already invested
twenty-five million dollars in TDO and as the rules of the fund forbid us from
investing more than ten percent of the total capital we manage in a single company,
we will not be able to continue to invest in this next funding round.” He went
silent for a moment, his fury-filled eyes boring into Ronnie’s. “And if you’re
trying to ask me whether I’m aware of any other issues in the company, the
answer is ‘no.’ Otherwise, as you well know, I would have detailed them in the
reports I’ve submitted to you and all the other partners.”

“Christian sounded anxious when I spoke with him on the phone.”
Ronnie met Henry’s eyes.

“He has no reason to be stressed. He just needs to do what he’s
been told, and everything will turn out fine,” Henry fired back. “Naturally,
he’s disappointed that we’ve stopped the cash flow, and he has to make an
effort to find alternative sources of funding. I introduced him to eight
different funds I’ve known for many years and explained to him in great detail
what he must do. This is also the subject I planned to discuss at length with
you today. I must admit I’m surprised Christian sounded upset. I’ll have a word
with him.”

“Please don’t. If you do that, he’ll think I’m running to cry on
your shoulder every time I’m bothered by his tone of voice, and I’ll lose his
respect and trust in my abilities even before we start working together.”

“Right.
Then I won’t speak with him.
Will there be anything else?” Henry suddenly sounded eager to finish their
meeting, even though it was scheduled to continue till noon. Ronnie chose to
ignore it.

“Let’s get back to the subject of development. I have to admit
I’ve never encountered a company that managed to develop a product and keep its
original timetable without any unexpected delays. This would hold true for any
company, let alone one that develops cutting-edge medicine. Based on the
reports presented to the board of directors, it appears that TDO is the only pharmaceutical
company ever that encountered no issues whatsoever during the development
process. I wonder if that’s truly the situation or perhaps the CEO interfered
here as well and retroactively changed the company goals so they would match
the actual results. In any event, the results are so impressive that the
company shouldn’t have any problem raising more funds.”

Henry hesitated for a moment and then said, “Agreed. So let’s
move on.”

The tension evaporated and the conversation continued in a
friendly manner. Henry updated him with the list of investors he had introduced
to Lumner and the joint history each had with the fund, answered all of
Ronnie’s questions with equanimity, and did not stop complimenting him on the
excellent job he’d managed to do after a single day of research. And yet,
Ronnie couldn’t shake the feeling something dark and sinister was lurking
beneath the surface of this efficiency and mutual kindness.

Perhaps I’m being overly suspicious,
he thought, just as
his navigation system alerted him he was approaching the highway exit,
I
felt exactly the same way when I proposed to Liah. Maybe I’m just being
paranoid, thinking all the wonderful things happening to me are merely a
deception.

The road sign marking the exit to Waltham appeared on his right,
along with the navigation system’s persistent instruction to use it. Once he’d
passed the sharp curve up the road and driven across the bridge leading to the
high tech park in which TDO was located, he noticed the hotel sign. He turned
right at the traffic light and glided down the road, happy to discover an empty
parking spot right next to the hotel entrance.

As soon as he entered, he spotted the restaurant door to his
right. Ronnie shook the raindrops off his coat, stepped into the crowded room,
and sat in the furthermost left corner, at a table overlooking a backyard
filled with greenery. He decided to enjoy his meal and not to allow his
trepidation about the appointment ruin his breakfast.