She crossed a leg and frowned. “Larry Gills. He’s a stockbroker. He worked at D&M almost twenty-two years before your acquisition. He used to be one of Max’s biggest producers. He brought in new clients before most people were out of bed in the morning and he put the stocks to bed each night.”
“And then?” Branden asked.
“And then he talked his clients into investing in the wrong stock. In his defense, it seemed like a solid investment, but you know how fickle this business can be. Overnight, his personal clients with the firm lost millions. Most of them pulled out and Max took a big hit financially. He blamed Gills pretty publicly for it all. Max is a good guy, but he has a big mouth. He kept him on, but Gills never really found his stride again. He’s a bit of a pariah around here. His commissions became few and far between and he ended up losing his house and his wife went with it.”
“So you think Gills may have had a bone to pick with Max and he decided to do that by means of insider training? I find that a little far-fetched.”
“That’s good, because that’s not what I was saying, which you would have known had you let me finish.”
Deena was nothing if not blunt. That bluntness had often gotten her into trouble with stepfather number one, who had no problem resorting to force to make his kids step in line. There were many times Deena had needed her older brother to have her back, and Branden had done just that. Thankfully, his other sisters’ fathers weren’t physically abusive, but their various addictions—ranging from drugs to gambling to sex—had still made his sisters’ lives hell.
Branden had done what he could—making sure the girls were well fed, dressed, safe, and warm, even if he had to sacrifice himself.
Branden gave Deena a nod to go on.
“Larry took one of the young brokers under his wing about a year ago. The kid’s name is Rafe Sampson, and from what I hear, Rafe attached himself to the old man, telling him he wanted to learn the business from someone who had been around awhile and really knew how things worked. I suppose that was what made him seem suspect to me in the first place. The kid. Why would an up-and-coming young broker, a graduate of an Ivy League college, attach himself to the oldest broker with the most tarnished reputation in the firm?”
“He needed a fall guy?”
“That was my thought. I’m going through the hard drives of both computers now, but I’m guessing that anything we find will be on Gills’s and not Sampson’s.”
Again, images of Cara drifted through his mind. Not good—he needed to focus. He not only needed to make a success of D&M, he needed to take out the rot—him and the SEC. He didn’t need to be distracted by a beautiful woman, no matter how amazing she was in bed. And out of it… “And I’m assuming you’ve found something already or you wouldn’t be here.”
“There are two dummy corporations set up offshore that Gills has been selling a lot of stock for lately. As a matter of fact, his sales have almost doubled over the past six months.”
“But you’re convinced Sampson is the bad guy here and not Gills? How does Gills not know these are dummies?”
“I’m convinced that Larry thinks he’s just doing his job, maybe getting his stride back. Sampson is one of those charming, manipulative sociopathic types. Flatters Gills right and left and blows smoke up his rear. You would have to meet and talk to them both and then you’ll understand what I’m saying.”
Something tickled the back of his mind. “Wait—what floor does Sampson work on?”
“Third.” Deena gave him an odd look, as if his sudden question had held more emotion than warranted.
He placed his elbows on the desk and steepled his fingers. Deena didn’t need to know about the sexual harassment Cara had experienced. Some things he could keep between him and Cara. “I don’t want it to look like they’re suspect. I’ll go out this afternoon and make my rounds. Try to talk with them.” And figure out if Sampson was one of the little shits who’d made Cara so uncomfortable. He’d promised Cara he wouldn’t take action and he planned to respect her need to control the situation, but if the man was engaging in shady deals and was the fucker who’d insulted Cara,