AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Gabriel, long time no hear. What can I do for you?”
“I need a favor.”
“That’s even more unusual.” Yeah, everyone who knows me also knows I don’t like to be in anyone’s debt. “How can I help?”
“Can you look into a stock for me, a new IPO going live today.”
“Am I searching for anything in particular?”
“Any unusual activities that would drive the price up for no reason.”
“Okay, what’s the stock?”
“BHL.”
“I’ll look into it and let you know if I find anything.”
I hang up the phone and turn to my monitor. The stock is past twenty-one.
I smell smoke. And usually, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
46
BLAKE
As the stock price keeps rising above all brightest expectations, everybody in the office is euphoric, to the point of delirious celebration.
There’s dancing, singing, and they’ve even started a drinking game where everyone has to take a shot of bubbly whenever the stock price increases by a dollar.
But as the share value hits twenty-six dollars, I get uneasy. It’s too much, too fast.
“Evan.” I pull aside my number two before he can down the seventh or eighth shot of the day.
“Hey, what’s up?” he slurs.
I move us to a less crowded spot. “Evan, something isn’t right.”
“What do you mean?”
“The value is going up too fast. Something is off.”
Evan opens his arms wide, making some of the champagne in his glass slosh over the rim. “Investors love us. What’s the matter with that?”
“Why is no one selling yet?” I hiss. “Are you telling me that not even one investor who bought at eleven wants to take home a 200 per cent profit?”
Evan drops the glass, slightly sobered up. “And what’s the alternative?”
“Someone has given an order to buy everything that comes on the market ASAP.”
“And why would they do that?”
“To gain control of my company.”
That sobers up Evan for good.
“Come into my office.” I drag him away from the rest of my employees. “We need to get to the bottom of this.”
We shut ourselves in my office where we’re screened from the general chaos of the open space.
