KERRI'S WAR (Volume 3 of The King Trilogy)

CHAPTER 65

Toronto. Thursday, April 18.

As was her usual early morning custom, Kerri reached for her Blackberry and checked her calls and emails. Still in her pink nightgown and sitting on the edge of the queen-sized bed in the guest bedroom of her father's home, she scanned the hundreds of calls she had received and not returned. Most were from representatives of the media, hoping to talk to her, desperate for an exclusive interview. One of the calls was from Andrea Dennis, attempting to explain why she had prematurely disclosed her secret, and pleading for her forgiveness. Two additional calls managed to catch her attention. The first was from Marsha Cooper, advising her that Sydney Mortimer, lawyer for the Iacardi Shareholders, had called to advise her that he had no intention of dropping the case against her. He said, "as a result of your delays and refusal to sign the Enerco offer, his clients had experienced pain and suffering and substantially increased costs," she said, then added, "A little bit of good news however. You'll be happy to know that I just deposited a hundred million in your Rainy Day account. I was impressed that Enerco could stroke a check for that much money. As per your instructions, I've paid the I.R.S. and deducted my fees from the balance. You still have a little more than bus fare home in the bank. Anyway, cheer up. I know you're unemployed and lonely, but you've still got your self respect and my eternal admiration. You asked me to go to war with you, and still I intend to do that. Have a great day and call me when you get a chance."

The second call to attract her attention was from Sandra Schafer. "Miss King, my name is Sandra Schafer. I'm an accountant with Enerco in Houston. You don't know me, but I think you should. I've been following your story in the newspapers and on television, and I want you to know that I think you are an amazing person. I can only imagine the courage it took to do what you have done. I also think the people who removed you as president of Iacardi must be crazy. I'm aware that you have been offered a job with Enerco, and I don't know what your plans are in that connection. Regardless of whether you accept the offer or not, I would very much like to talk to you as soon as possible. I have managed to compile irrefutable evidence that Enerco is breaking the law in a number of ways. I dearly want to take my information to the appropriate authorities and blow the whistle, but I'm afraid that by so doing, I'll lose my job. The regime here is very strict. We can't even criticize management without being punished in some way. Last week I approached my boss with my information and asked him to help me. Unfortunately, he's also afraid of losing his job, so he refused to help me. He did, however, suggest that you might be interested. He thought you might see it as opportunity to give Ken Layton, Jeffrey Wheeler, and Andrew Speers what they deserve. Both my boss and I think all three should be put in jail for what they're doing. I'm sure that if you take the time to look at the evidence I have, you'll agree. I would be grateful if you would be kind enough to return my call. In case you would prefer to communicate by email, I've already sent you my address."

Kerri turned off her Blackberry and exhaled. She placed it on her night table, then lowered her head to the nearest pillow and began to ponder the implications of Schafer's call, and the implications of getting involved. She would be confronting dangerous people. Jeffrey Wheeler was the only one of the three Enerco executives mentioned by Schafer whom she had met, but her memory of the meeting was still clear in her mind. He had blatantly attempted to blackmail her, and it was obvious that he enjoyed doing so. He had told her that if she refused to sign the Enerco Offer to Purchase Iacardi & Sons, he planned to reveal the details of her Swiss bank account to the I.R.S. She was absolutely certain that he had, with someone's assistance, tapped her business telephone and murdered Wilhelm Lentz to obtain the information he needed: the exact amount of her secret Swiss bank account and the name of the bank holding it. She was still plagued by the frustration of having no way of proving it. The arrogance of his approach still infuriated her.