The Samurai Strategy Part 5

"I understand you've been in quite a few takeover fights."

"Let's say I've fought a lot of takeovers, Ms. Austen. There's a subtle but important distinction."

Donna Austen turned out to be more interested in my marital status than in anecdotes about corporate mayhem. Thing was, beneath all that glitz I found her a challenging woman. Amy, on the other hand, despised her.

But then she never likes anybody I bring home. The real problem, however, was that I kept thinking more about Joanna than I did about Donna. As witness this evening, when that sadder-but-wiser brunette headed out the door reminded me of her more than a little. . . .

"Hate to see that young specimen depart without a good-faith offer of condolence." Henderson was wistfully eyeing the young blonde.

Definitely his type. "Trouble is, I couldn't locate the equipment tonight with a compa.s.s and a search warrant." He hoisted his gla.s.s, then turned back and reached for another Dunhill. "So tell me what brings you uptown. Never knew you to venture this far into civilization just to stand a drink for your oldest and wisest confidant."

Back to reality. "William H., you will undoubtedly find this difficult to accept, but I just got asked to front some Treasury action for a new client. Selling futures."

"Where do you find your suckers?" He grinned. "That's never been your game."

"Hey, at least I know the rules. Corporations have been known to hedge their debt offerings, my friend. But what I've done up to now's been strictly bush league compared to this."

"So what's the play?"

"A foreign outfit that wants low profile. And P.S., they're talking substantial numbers."

"What do you mean, 'substantial'?" Suddenly Henderson's input file was on red alert.

"Probably wouldn't impress a high roller like you, Bill." I paused.

"Half a trillion dollars."

"Jeezus." He went pale. "Who's putting up the earnest

money for this shot? Let interest rates head the wrong way, you couldn't cover the margin calls on a position that size with the GNP of South America."

"What if it happened to be some of our friends from across the Pacific?

An outfit that calls itself Nippon, Inc." I looked at him. "Ever hear of it?"

"Nope." He just stood there, examining his drink as though it suddenly had acquired an enormous insect. "But you've got a surefire knack for really messin' up an evening."

"I guess this is what's meant when people talk about the big time."

"Christ Almighty. Tell you one thing, that's a h.e.l.l of a number to put on the table. I'd sure like to see those boys' hand."

"Maybe somebody's paying to see ours." I finished off my drink and signaled for another. The more I thought about Matsuo Noda, the more I realized I needed it. "You know, this half scares the c.r.a.p out of me."

"Matt, old buddy, do yourself a favor. Stand clear. Just back away." He was getting more sober by the second. "You'd be lifting up some kind of big rock when you don't know what's under it. I never do that. Ironclad rule. Same as I always cut losses at ten percent and never let a long position ride over a weekend. And I'll tell you something else. n.o.body lays down a bet like that unless he knows the casino's fixed." He paused. "I wonder if maybe we oughtn't to give Jack a call?"

"O'Donnell?"

"Low-key. Just touch base. Inside word is his Finance Committee's going to be holding hearings on foreign investment, maybe in a couple of months. Besides, I know for a fact he owes you a few."

That was true. Senator Jack O'Donnell was headed for reelection headaches. He was America's corporate nightmare-- a former professor of labor law at Columbia who'd gone out and bought some tailored suits, shed thirty pounds, dyed his hair, and actually gotten elected to the U.S. Senate. He was despised on Wall Street for good reason. O'Donnell was the Grand Inquisitor of the corporate scene, hauling CEOs in front of his committee every time he sniffed some new scam to shortchange stockholders. Since we saw eye to eye a lot, I'd made it a point to lean on a few of my clients and come up with some campaign bucks for him, telling them it was good "insurance money." Still, if I leaked this to Jack, I'd probably be reading it tomorrow in The Washington Post.

"Henderson, I can't bring him in. n.o.body's talking anything illegal.

Still, I'm beginning to think I ought to keep an eye on this from the inside."

"Matt, you haven't been listening. Let me pa.s.s along a major working principle on how to keep your a.s.s intact in this world. Write it down and tape it to your phone: Staying on the sidelines is a position too.

That applies to Wall Street, and it d.a.m.ned sure applies to life." He stretched for a Dunhill, then leaned back. "Ever tell you about that feisty 'c.o.o.n hound I used to have, redtick I called by the name of Red?"

"Only about a hundred times." Red was his favorite sermon text.

"Well, ol' Red somehow conceived the idea he was just about the meanest f.u.c.ker in the county, and he was always out to prove it. Then one night he made the mistake of treeing a big old mama 'c.o.o.n, up in this little sycamore we had down by the creek. I heard him barking and raising h.e.l.l and I knew I wouldn't get a wink if I didn't go down and see about it."

"Henderson, Christ, I've already heard this."

"Well, I'm gonna finish it anyhow, by G.o.d. Sounds like you could use a refresher course." He took a drink. "Now then, after I made it through the copperheads and briers and got down there, naturally the first thing I did was shine that tree with my light and count the eyes. Turns out that mama racc.o.o.n had a bunch of her little ones up there too. So she was in a real disagreeable frame of mind. Her eyes were bright red and I could tell she was thinking she just might eat herself a smarta.s.s hound for supper. I tried to explain this to Red, call him off, and get him to come on back up the house, but no, sirree, nothing would do but he had to take her on. So I figured it was time he had a little reality contact. I chunked a couple of rocks, got lucky, and down she tumbled.

Next thing ol' Red knew, he thought he had his a.s.s caught in a brand- new John Deere hay baler. I finally had to kick her off him and get her back up the tree before she really got mad."

"Henderson, I hear you."

"Listen up, friend. There's a moral. You see, ol' Red didn't have enough expertise that night to know when to stand off. But I'll tell you one thing: he learned real fast. Next time he chased that particular mama up that sycamore, he took one sniff and just trotted right on back to the house." He sipped again. "Every time I come across a tree full of something I don't know about, I remember old Red and just turn around and walk away."

"I'm taking your warning under advis.e.m.e.nt." I threw down a fifty, glanced at the soundless Mets game on the TV over the bar, and reached for my coat.

"You'd d.a.m.ned well better."

"Henderson, get some sleep. As a friend and colleague, I must in all honesty advise you, you look like absolute h.e.l.l."

"I've always valued your candor." He waved for another drink. "But I've got some heavy thinking to do."

"Okay, get home safe. Let's keep in touch."

He saluted with his gla.s.s. "Tell you what, Matt, maybe I'll just do a little sniffing around myself, see if I can't get a fix on what's up the tree."

"Okay." I was putting on my coat, checking through the window to see if the rain had stopped. Looked like it had. "Let's both sleep on it."

"You do that." He wasn't smiling as I headed out the door.

Henderson, who could slumber like a baby when he was down a million for the day, didn't look like he had much rest ahead that night. For all my brave talk, I didn't either. Now that the rain was over, I wandered over to Fifth to look at the trees sparkling in the streetlights. And to think. If you're from West Texas, you love to see green things wet.

Then I hailed a cab downtown, still with lots of unanswered questions on the subject of Matsuo Noda. What had happened to my country that could make it so vulnerable to the financial shenanigans of a single white-haired foreign banker? Was this what people meant when they talked about the tides of history? Was the free ride over?

Back when I was a kid, I'd accepted as an article of faith that America was the greatest, that we were destined to lead the world forever. Was that hubris? Now I had this sinking feeling we were about to begin learning a little modesty. Maybe Amy didn't know it yet, but her America was going to end up being a lot different from mine. All of a sudden folks all over the world were about to be richer than we were.

It was going to take some painful adjustment.

That's when I finally decided. Yes, by G.o.d, I would track this one. And when I figured out what Noda had up his sleeve. I'd blow the whistle.

Somebody needed to stand guard over this country, and if not me, who?

Matt Walton vs. Matsuo Noda.

As it turned out, the evening still wasn't over. Things continued to go off track, beginning with when I walked in my front door. I guess by now everybody's pretty blase about urban crime, but it's still always a shock when it happens to you. I also think it's getting worse. I can remember five years ago when Joanna and I never bothered even to latch the street windows. These days they have bars--a small precaution following an evening on the town during which everything we owned with an electric cord attached walked out into the bracing Manhattan night.

That was my first experience with the hollow feeling in your gut when you realize your sanctum has been plundered. It's not the lost toys, it's the violation that gnaws at your karma.

This time, though, it appeared to be minor. No forcible entry. Somebody had actually picked the front-door lock, a fact I only established to my satisfaction after every other possibility had been considered and dismissed. Truthfully, I probably wouldn't have noticed anything at all that night if not for a wayward train of thought on the way home.