The Lazarus Trap by Davis Bunn

think.”
    Terrance walked behind Don’s desk. The first time ever. He slid into the high-backed leather chair. Propped up his feet. Twisted the chair slightly so he was aimed at Don and not his nemesis. “Valentine Joseph Haines. Mother died when he was twelve. Father and he were very close. No other siblings. One aunt. They are not close. Father died, let’s see, nineteen months ago. Val took it very hard.”
    â€œGet your feet off my desk.”
    Terrance remained as he was. “About a week after the funeral, his wife of four years filed for divorce. It becomes very messy here.”
    â€œNineteen months, that’s about the time you beat Val out of the promotion, am I right?”
    â€œAs I said. Messy. The divorce turned into a battle over a child that Val apparently did not know his wife was carrying.”
    â€œYour child.”
    â€œIn court it was revealed she had been having an affair for some time. Val’s lawyer demanded a DNA test to determine parentage. Which was when everything came into the open. Things became quite vicious.”
    Don’s gaze could pierce Kevlar. “She was having an affair with you, and Val found out when the DNA test came back?”
    â€œVal took this very hard.”
    â€œI can imagine.”
    â€œNo, actually, you can’t. In court that day, Val became unglued. We’re talking totally insane. He accused me of everything except murder.” Terrance’s voice remained steady. But inside he felt the old acid biting deep. “He was yelling so loud guards showed up from three courtrooms away. He actually accused me of stealing his child as well as his wife by tampering with the DNA test results.”
    â€œDid you?”
    â€œDon’t be absurd. When they finally silenced Val, the judge handed down a restraining order.”
    â€œSo Val loses his father. His wife files for divorce. He discovers she’s carrying his child—”
    â€œI told you. The child is mine.”
    â€œFar as Val’s concerned, it’s his. Am I right?” Don picked up the coffee mug from his desk and pointed with it at Terrance. “To top things off, he loses his place on the corporate ladder because he got stabbed in the back.”
    â€œThat promotion was mine as well.”
    â€œWhat we’re talking about is what Val thinks.” Don smiled grim approval. “No wonder the guy went bad.”
    There was nothing to be gained from holding back. Not now. “I never expected Val Haines to steal. He was always one for the straight and narrow.”
    â€œThat’s simple enough. You pushed him over the edge.”
    â€œThe plan had always been to snare Marjorie Copeland. Marjorie was a desperate woman who basically endured the corporate life only to get her pension. I left just enough of a trail for her to realize the pension funds had effectively been drained. If she went public, the company would be pushed to the brink. Whether it actually folded or not, Marjorie’s pension was history. You know all this. We’d planned for her to steal what she could and disappear. Then we’d blow the story, only increase the amount she stole from a few million to half a billion.”
    â€œThen Val discovered what she was up to and went along as well,” Don said.
    â€œWhich is the only item that has not gone according to plan.”
    â€œYou mean, other than our Val missing out on the bomb.” Don drained the remainder of his coffee like medicine. He said to his empty mug, “Remind me what your personal take is from this operation.”
    Terrance repeated the words, anchoring the moment, giving a solid sense of reason to what was about to go down. Which of course was what Don was after. “Eighty-three million, two hundred thousand dollars.”
    Don motioned to the image on the far wall. “There’s no chance you could be mistaken about that being our Val?”
    â€œNone.”
    Don