Kaleidoscope

Randall Harrington sat erect in one of the two wicker plantation chairs. His custom-made alligator shoes rested on the white wrought iron table.  His tie hung loosely, his monogrammed silk shirt, still crisp and wrinkle-free after his twenty-hour day, was open at the neck and his shirt sleeves were rolled up.  He was intoxicated by the euphoria of the first strike and a battle won.

“It was like leading lambs to the slaughter,” Harrington gloated as he puffed on his Arturo Fuente Diamond Crown cigar.

“But who were the lambs, Bower or the board?”  Morgan asked.  His voice was subdued and troubled.

“Both!” Harrington smiled with satisfaction. “Bower didn’t have a clue what was coming, and the board went where we wanted them to go.”

Morgan paced nervously around the balcony, occasionally leaning against the railing and staring into the dark night. He shared Harrington’s satisfaction with the results of their surprise attack on Martin Bower, but the decision to make their move had been forced on him by circumstances.  Like most lawyers, Morgan needed to be in control.  Lack of control made him uneasy.

“I'm still sorry we had to do that to Marty,” Morgan said weakly.

“It couldn't be helped,” Harrington responded with calm reason. “The board was getting too curious.”

Harrington was irritated by Morgan’s attitude. Sentiment was for the weak.  Power belonged to those who took it.  The original plan to control the sale of the hospital was Morgan’s, but Morgan was now merely a tool--a means to Harrington’s end.  Someone to be tolerated, coddled when necessary, controlled at all times and disposed of when he was no longer useful. Morgan had one redeeming quality; he was greedy.  That made him a willing accomplice in Harrington’s plans.  But anyone who would turn on a friend of almost thirty years, as Morgan had done to Bower, could not be trusted.

“I still think we may have acted too soon,” Morgan said.

“We didn’t have a choice,” Harrington continued calmly. “The merger talks were getting too serious, and the United States attorney was taking too long getting an indictment from the grand jury.   We needed an emergency to slow things down and divert the board’s attention.”

“There were other things we could have done,” Morgan protested.

“We’ve been all through this.  Bower wouldn’t give in to us, so he deserves what happens to him,” Harrington said firmly, his thoughts on Andrew White as much as on Martin Bower.

Harrington hated White.  He hated White’s success and power. He hated White’s confidence. He hated the fact that White would not give in to the demands he made on behalf of the hospital. He knew that White would represent Bower in whatever came next.  Bower was now just a pawn in the game.  Harrington smiled at the thought of orchestrating Bower’s conviction--and embarrassing Andrew White.

“But the paper trail is still too thin,” Morgan complained.

“We’ll have it covered by the time anyone gets that far,” Harrington said confidently. “That’s the genius of the plan to retain my firm to conduct the audit. No one in the hospital will see anything until we’ve sanitized the files and filled them in with our own papers.”

“But what do we do if the United States Attorney wants to see the original records?”

“She won’t!” Harrington said firmly.  “All she wants is a conviction.  As long as we give her what she needs to nail Bower, she won’t ask questions.  Bower will get convicted; the deal will go through and we collect a million dollar fee.”

That’s easy for you to say, Morgan thought. You don’t know what’s at stake.

That much was true.  Harrington did not know that the thefts that had been the justification for firing Martin Bower were only part of the story.  The sale would go through only if the rest of the plan--the part Harrington didn’t know about--worked as Morgan had promised.

Harrington would do anything to ensure Bower’s conviction.   If he discovered the real plan, he would use it against Bower, but discovery of the real reason Morgan’s client wanted the hospital would ruin everything.

Two of the others who knew about the plan were already dead.  Morgan had no desire to join them.  He had to keep White and Bower, and Harrington, from discovering the real plan, no matter what it took.