Chapter 59
THE CONFERENCE ROOM IS DEAD QUIET, the kind of silence that builds like layers of ice before the roof caves in.
I take a deep breath, will my nerves to settle, and then place the thumb drive on the polished mahogany table.
Twelve pairs of eyes dart down and then back up to me.
At the head of the table, Phil—the presiding chair and, for the moment, my only ally—looks at me with an intensity that makes my throat ache.
But the board deserves the truth, no matter how tainted it is.
“This . . . this won’t be easy to hear,” I begin, pushing back a wave of nausea.
I can already feel my carefully rehearsed words slipping away, scattering like marbles spilled across a wooden floor.
These men and one woman hold the future of the firm and my career in their hands.
I force myself to continue. “The funds I manage have been used for unsanctioned securities lending and in at least one case, subpar rates given to benefit the mutual funds.”
Clearing of throats, narrowed eyes, a few furrowed brows meet my swinging gaze.
“This happened through our custodian?” asks Barry Eiten, the board member who, at our last two encounters, treated me as if I were an annoying intern.
He’s a year away from the mandatory retirement age of seventy-five and seems to take it out on those younger for pushing him toward the end of the plank.
“The custodian was not the lending agent. The transactions were orchestrated directly by Terrence.” I don’t yet add that he used my name to do it. Phil didn’t think it necessary to give all the details up front. I tense the muscles in my arms and hands to keep from fidgeting.
The group looks around, registering the absence of our chief compliance officer at the table.
“And worse, he didn’t stop at the funds. After he managed to get my sales manager fired, she delivered this thumb drive to me. She had been putting together the . . . his plan.” I can’t bring myself to use the word fraud in this room. “Then he went after my family.”
“Meredith, you’re saying Terrence targeted your family?” Barry’s voice is low, but it cuts through the stunned silence, demanding an explanation, an answer I’m not sure I can give without breaking.
“Yes, he did. He—” My voice catches. I can’t let them see the tears gathering.
“He paid people to harass my teenage daughter, playing on her biggest fears. He defaced my home. He drove me away from my job. And then he hid his transactions in the system, buried under layers of altered reports. He used stolen data to make it look as though I was the one—”
“Terrence did all this? Why?” Barry interrupts.
Phil begins to speak, perhaps to show his support, but Barry won’t allow a united front.
“I’d like to hear from our portfolio manager. Meredith, why?” Barry keeps his gaze locked on me.
“Because the success of our ETFs threatens Terrence’s legacy. He knows the business is changing and his compliance process needs to modernize. Terrence is no longer the man people ask about the future. He’s the one with the stories of the past.”
Something flashes in Barry’s eyes. I’ve reminded him of all that threatens his place of power too.
Did I go too far?
“And yet, you knew nothing?” Another board member speaks up.
“We trusted the altered reports. He gave some of the revenue back to the ETFs but used the rest for his purposes.” My voice hardens as confidence replaces the fear.
“He made sure I wouldn’t find out. He exploited the system and my trust, and when my team got close to uncovering it, he put a tracker on my daughter’s phone, harassed her, and diverted my attention. ”
“So, you’re the victim here?” Joanne Ketter, our newest board member, speaks up. “You’re also supposed to be the one in charge.”
I meet her gaze, heat spreading through my chest. Is she using this moment to establish herself? To be seen as the one not swayed by emotion but leading by power? With so much disappointment swirling around, I won’t let her rebuff settle into me.
“I am in charge. I’m standing here, risking my career, my reputation, and exposing the truth.
The truth is that Terrence abused his power, undermined this company, and deliberately went after me and my family when he realized I would get in his way.
I trusted him, and he weaponized that trust against me, against all of us.
He leveraged income meant for the ETFs and used it to curry favors for his legacy funds. ”
For a moment, the room is silent. And in that silence, the weight of what this job demands of me crashes onto my shoulders. Flickers of skepticism dart between the faces around the table. But I’m not going down without a fight.
“He extorted Candace, our head of security, to make her do his bidding. Many of you know her. She had some trouble in her past. He found out. No way would he allow her to remain working for Garman Straub, but then he delayed taking action and instead asked her to do things. Nothing illegal or unethical, just not her normal duties. She drove by a few of your homes, ensuring security was tight. Then he told her she was protecting me.”
Board members take furtive glances at Phil, the one who insisted on hiring Candace.
Phil speaks up, tentatively at first and then with growing power.
“Meredith put this all together. Terrence was desperate to get to the board meeting today. Her sales manager knew this and waged her own campaign to figure everything out. Terrence’s plan, as we’ve been able to piece together, was to expose Meredith for leveraging unsanctioned sales data, maybe more, and make it impossible to go forward with new ETFs.
At least until he was the one in charge.
” Phil catches my eye and nods, almost imperceptibly.
This is the hardest part. I swallow and then open my mouth to explain how the SEC has already gotten involved.
Barry speaks first. “Meredith, I am sorry on behalf of the board for what you and your family have gone through. It is incomprehensible that anyone, especially someone we have all trusted, would do something like this and put all of us at risk. You have my deepest concern for your teen’s well-being.
Let us not stand in your way of supporting her. ”
I see a father and grandfather in the warmth of his gaze.
His kindness almost breaks me. But the last thing he said—was I just fired?
I was certainly dismissed. My lungs feel as though they’ve been rubbed raw.
My breath catches on each inhale. Is this the way it will end, with me being excused from my own future? I struggle against the urge to roar.
“Phil, we have a few questions for you, and then we will need to go into executive session. Independent trustees only.” Barry flips open the document in front of him.
Hardwin, who remained silent during the board meeting, flanks me as I leave the room. “Meredith, would you join me in Phil’s office?”
I nod my head, not trusting my ability to speak. All that just transpired tussles in my mind to be rehashed and examined. Was it as bad as it felt?
The two of us sit opposite each other at a smaller chrome and glass conference table.
“How are you holding up?” Hardwin’s eyes are clear and wide as he searches my face. “I’m sorry, Meredith. Anything else you wanted to say?”
So much more, but the heat is dissipating, as if leaving the room has deflated me.
I do wish I’d gotten to talk about the SEC and then been able to help them understand.
I glance up at Hardwin’s kind eyes. “I keep thinking I should’ve met with our custodial bank.
Specifically on the lending piece. I knew I had securities that were on-special.
I kick myself for taking those reports at face value.
” Not what I had planned to say, but it has worn on my conscience.
“You did meet with the bank. Multiple times on multiple topics,” Hardwin says.
“Maybe if I’d asked more questions?”
“You’re not the only one,” Phil says as he waltzes in with a handful of papers. “If we’re taking responsibility. Had I insisted that Dave manage all the sales, you’d have had a spare moment to look around.”
Quite altruistic of him, but my gaze resettles on the small stack he holds.
Is that my separation agreement? I knew it was a strong possibility when Clint and I talked last night.
Even if I came entirely clean, I was still a tremendous liability to the firm.
The buck stops with me. I’m the portfolio manager.
Hardwin nods at the table. “When I started in this industry, we were on the phones getting the deed done. I’ve caught boys setting up front-running schemes.
I’ve escorted off nasty floor traders. I’ve called hedge funds on their unbridled use of leverage.
But I didn’t even see this coming. Terrence was trying to recruit me.
Dave said the same.” He points to the papers.
“This is what we both know. Printed out for the authorities to see how we were duped into complacency.”
My shoulders drop an inch. So, they’re not firing me. Yet.
“Thank goodness for Betsey,” I say to test the waters.
Will reminding Hardwin of his role in silencing her raise his hackles?
I need to know. “Thinking back through her desperate search for the nexus of the issues, I wish she’d found another way to tell us what she suspected.
But I can understand her concern—from her perspective it could have been any one of us involved. ”
I’ve had only one short conversation with Betsey since the diner. She’s been fully cooperating with the SEC but went off-grid when I failed to contact her and Candace was breathing down both our necks. She has whistleblower status and could come into a significant monetary award for her efforts.
“I’m dropping the restraining order this afternoon. Our official statement, only if we’re asked, is also included in those pages.” Hardwin’s massive hand points across the table.
“I spoke to Vern over at Meymack,” Phil says.
“They’re fully cooperating with the SEC.
Lucas Anderson had already gone to him. He’s going to lose his job and may get more than blowback from the SEC.
Depends on how much they need him to make their case against Terrence.
” Phil shakes his head at me. “Terrible how your family got caught up in all this. I hope you take all the time you need to make sure everyone is good.” He bites down on his bottom lip.
I’ve never seen him do that before. He’s probably nervous he may not be able to protect his firm.
There’s no doubt, he may be forced to fire me.
I’m sure he also wonders about Lucas being my brother-in-law.
Something everyone now knows. I have nothing to say about Lucas.
Although I do have my beliefs about his integrity, Clint is less conflicted; having witnessed his brother keep his word, he still doesn’t want the man, or his wife, in our lives.
“Candace resigned this morning.” As Hardwin shakes his head slowly, a few stray hairs wave on the crown of his freckled scalp. “We’ll need to find a new head of security. Perhaps this time without a past that makes them vulnerable. She did put in a solid structure and plugged a lot of holes.”
Phil nods. “Hardwin is also going to help the SEC. We’re working on ensuring full cooperation in exchange for immunity, but in the end, we’ll do the right thing for our investors.” Phil taps the papers beside him. “The board has a copy.”
I rest my back against the buttery leather of my chair. They both might not survive this either. It happened on their watch as well. I also see what they’re doing. They’re stalling. They have something to tell me and have been laying the tracks.
Phil and Hardwin look at each other across the smudgeless glass table. Phil finally rotates his chair toward me. “The board is likely going to come back with a strong recommendation.”
I swallow hard. Since we got word that Terrence had taken the bait and engaged his payment app, I’ve been fixated on this executive session.
I fold my hands in my lap and let Phil tell me what else will happen.
“We think there might be a fairly good chance that the board will push for your firing.” Phil takes a quick breath but plunges ahead.
“Although their recommendation will be read into the minutes, we will have time to assess. We’ve retained outside counsel to advise us.
We do not want to see you go, Meredith. You are talented.
” He glances at the ceiling. “Mercy, you’re a rainmaker.
We would be foolish to let you go. We just might not have a choice. ”
And if they push me out, even if they allow me to resign, I’ll be tainted. Other firms will smell the stink on me. No one wants someone who, at best, allowed this to happen to such successful funds—and, at worst, was complicit. “I hear you. I’ve also retained counsel.”
“I see.” Phil lowers his face for a moment. “I assume this means you are considering taking action if you are let go.”
“Please assume nothing.” I glance to my other side. “Working so closely with Hardwin and his team has taught me the wisdom of seeking smart and capable legal advice. I adore working for Garman Straub. I hope we can work through this.” A queasiness snakes through my stomach.
There’s a small knock on Phil’s door, and then Nonie sticks her head in. “They’re out of executive session. Phil, they’d like you, only you, to join them.”