There was a silhouette just behind the car. Johnny's hand went to the band of his trousers by reflex but then he remembered. He had stopped taking his Glock 43X with him when he forgot to switch to safety once and almost blew his thighs off. He curled his palms into fists and then moved stealthily towards the figure. Whoever that was, he neither moved nor acknowledged Johnny's presence. Johnny came up behind him and turned him around from the shoulders, taking his hood off, all in one swift movement.
Source
“Hello, old friend” it was Fletcher, the most successful fraudulent businessman he had ever met.
“What on earth are you doing here? You promised not to come around me again!” Johnny's voice was reduced to a whisper, yet as firm as he could be.
“Relax Johnny, I'm here for a proposition. But if you don't want anyone to see us together, then maybe we can sit in your car?” That was who Fletcher was, a subtle authoritarian who would bribe and cajole one to carry out his whims with blackmail as his never-failing backup plan.
“What do you want?” Johnny asked when they were seated in the Subaru Outback.
“Nice ride by the way.” Fletcher's hands moved around the dashboard and then to the gear “I wonder where a sales representative got so much money to get this. Maybe from running a Ponzi scheme, who knows?”
Beads of perspiration trickled down Johnny's back, causing his Calvin Klein shirt to hold onto his back.
“Don't you dare go down that road with me.” The firmness in his voice had since dissipated, making him sound like someone trying to put up a brave front just before being executed.
“Oh Johnny,” Fletcher was taking advantage of the situation to mess with his mind, and he knew, but there was almost nothing he could do about it. He had made himself a slave to the devil. “It would do both of us good if you stop whining, drive this baby, and listen attentively to what I'm going to say”.
Johnny turned the key in the ignition, his mind racing rapidly to the rhythmic humming of the car engine. How could he forget how Fletcher had tricked him into partnering in a Ponzi scheme, defrauding almost an entire community of investors? He didn't know how he covered up the mess but they had never been caught. He wasn't going to make such a mistake again.
He put the car on automatic and pretended to rummage through his pocket for a bubble gum. It was his phone he was trying to access as Fletcher rumbled away at his berserk plan. When he finally clicked on record, a smile touched his lips, catching Fletcher's attention.
“What's funny?”
“You want me to engage in insider trading? You want me to rob my company for you?”
It was Fletcher's turn to laugh
“Why are you so narrow-minded Johnson Coker? This could be a huge win for both of us. I mean, out of all my go-to guys, I chose you. It's because I know you can do this. We can do this."
Johnny was going to ask him to get out of his car but his instincts told him to hold on.
“So what's the plan?”
Fletcher rubbed his hands together, a devilish grin on his face.
“We’re going to do what is called ‘Pump and dump’...”
“Wait” Johnny cut him short “Pump and dump as in buying a large amount of security and spreading false rumors about it to investors?”
“We're buying a lot of stock from your company, Johnny. Then we hike the price and sell. Boom! WeEasy pizzy”.
It was then Johnny screeched to a halt. “Get out!”
“What?” Fletcher was unbuckling his seatbelt by the time Johnny yelled at him again. “You're going to regret this!” He yelled out after Johnny's retreating bumper.
Johnny phoned Stacy immediately. She was the only one he could report himself to who wouldn't throw him behind bars in minutes. It wasn't because he had taken her to the beach to confess how much he admired her, it was because she had the kindest heart he had ever known.
It wasn't until three weeks later before Johnny heard the news of Fletcher's apprehension after a small-cap stock was reportedly manipulated and ripped off billions of dollars.
Johnny didn't know if it was right for him to cover up the fact that he and Fletcher had tricked a set of investors in the past. What if Fletcher snitched on him in the station? He picked up the remaining two boxes and threw them in his trunk. He was going to start up a new life, one void of trickery and fraud. He was going to be a new man.
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