Interesting Times (Interesting Times #1) Read Free

front of him, close enough the Oliver could feel the man’s
cool breath on his face.  He took a short step back as the man held up his
identification. “Hilary Teasdale. Securities and Exchange Commission.”
    “Hello,”
Oliver said. He extended his hand, which Mr. Teasdale shook pleasantly. The
other man’s skin was dry and smooth and felt oddly thin, like paper.
    “A
pleasure to meet you,” Mr. Teasdale said. “Do you have a moment to talk? I just
have a few questions for you.”
    “Sure,”
Oliver said, trying to hide his surprise. What could this be about? Oliver had
been with another firm several years ago when a group of SEC investigators had
come calling. That visit had ended with two senior bankers being led away in
handcuffs and the eventual collapse of that firm. But Oliver hadn’t done
anything wrong, or even questionable, in his entire career. Not that he knew
of, at least. His work may have been boring, but it was entirely honest. He
looked at Donna questioningly. “Is there a conference room free?”
    “Sausalito,”
she said. All the firm’s conference rooms were named after cities in
California. Sausalito was the smallest, tucked away in a corner. It was the
least showy and hence wasn’t used all that often.
    “Is it
private?” Mr. Teasdale asked. Oliver glanced at him, his brow wrinkling in
confusion. “That is, it would be best right now if nobody saw us talking,”
continued Mr. Teasdale. “It might raise suspicions. Ah, questions, that is.”
    “We can
close the door,” Oliver said. “There aren’t any windows. Donna, I guess, hold
my calls?” Oliver had never told anyone to hold his calls in his life. Did
people still say that?
    “Of course,
Mr. Jones.” She watched the men as they started down the hall. Oliver knew that
the moment they were out of earshot she’d be on the phone to one of the senior
partners. Or quite possibly all of the senior partners. Mr. Teasdale’s
questions weren’t the only ones he was going to be answering today
    The
conference room was only a short walk away. Nobody gave Oliver or his visitor a
second look as they went down the hallway. It wasn’t unusual for Oliver to meet
representatives of the firms he was researching in his office for personal
interviews. “Do you work out of the San Francisco office?” Oliver asked Mr.
Teasdale, although he wasn’t sure whether the SEC had a field office in the
city.
    “I work
all over,” Mr. Teasdale replied. 
    “Will
you be here long?”
    “Oh, I
don’t think this will take very long at all.” 
    Oliver
felt the knot in his stomach start to melt away. That was exactly what he had
hoped to hear. Serious SEC investigations tended to be exhaustive. There was no
such thing as a short meeting if criminal activity was suspected. This was
probably about some paperwork mix-up. An unsigned form or a box checked where
it shouldn’t have been. He might still have his job at the end of the day.
    Still,
the other man made him uneasy. There was something just… off …about him.
They reached the conference room and Oliver stole another glance at the man’s
face as he held open the door. There was the problem, he thought. The man’s
skin didn’t seem to fit quite right. It was almost as if he was wearing some
Hollywood-type mask to make himself look like someone else. A disguise.  Oliver
recalled that there had been a string of bank robberies in Southern California
recently with that as the modus operandi . Some crafty thief had been
disguising himself as an old man to fool the police into looking for someone
that looked nothing like him. It was a clever idea, Oliver thought. Had they ever
caught that guy?
    Oliver
shut the conference room door behind them. They were alone now. Mr. Teasdale
looked around appraisingly. It was a simple room. There was a single rectangular
wooden table surrounded by six leather chairs. A speakerphone console sat in
the center of the table, and a rarely-used videoconferencing