KERRI'S WAR (Volume 3 of The King Trilogy)

CHAPTER 71

Toronto. Tuesday, April 31.

Jeffrey Wheeler, dressed in his dark blue Fitzgerald Pinstripe Golden Fleece suit, marched into the magnificent lobby of the King Edward Hotel. He stopped several feet inside the revolving door and scanned the elegant three story atrium, surrounded by statues and doric columns, Canadian flags strategically hung beside Union Jacks. He saw numerous people, but no Kerri King. He lifted his left wrist and glanced at his Rolex. It was exactly noon. He looked up and saw what appeared to be a woman approaching. She was dressed in a grey track suit, white running shoes, and a Toronto Blue Jays baseball cap. Her eyes were hidden by huge dark round sunglasses. Her hair was hidden underneath the turned up collar of a dark brown leather jacket.

She smiled and extended her right hand. "Nice of you to join me, Jeffrey. Welcome to Toronto."

Wheeler frowned but accepted Kerri's hand. "I would never have recognized The Iacardi Santa Claus. Maybe I should just tell everyone here who you are."

"You do that and this meeting is over." She pointed to the door. "I'll leave and start making calls to people you don't want me to talk to." She paused and smirked as Wheeler gestured a surrender with his hands. "Okay, then let's have lunch and talk." She led her guest to The Victorian Restaurant, the hotel's five star restaurant. They were seated at a table for two by the maître d'.

A waiter materialized and took their drink orders: Wheeler a Molsons Export, and Kerri a glass of pinot grigio.

"What have you got?" Wheeler asked, his expression showing anger and more than a touch of concern. "I've wasted a lot of time and expense to be here, so get to the point. I need to know how to behave."

Kerri, her sunglasses and Blue Jays cap still on, leaned forward and glared at the man she hated with a consuming passion. "You've been a bad boy, Jeffrey," she said, taking a measure of delight in reversing his opening comment to her at The Plaza the previous December. "Your company has been breaking a lot of rules."

Wheeler shifted uncomfortably in his chair, clearly annoyed. "Cut the bullshit! Just tell me what you've got," he demanded.

"Okay. First I'm going to tell you what I know about Enerco's special purpose entities. There are hundreds of them as you know. I'll just talk about the five largest and most active. They are SP53, SP530, SP5303, SP53033, And SP530333. I have a ton of data on these entities, all of which adds up to irrefutable evidence that Enerco has been using them to hide losses from its shareholders. I believe you call them off balance sheet transactions. The material I have is very detailed, very accurate, and very incriminating. I'll prove it if you want."

Wheeler shook his head, expressionless, his mind processing a blizzard of implications.

"Next I'm going to tell you about mark to market accounting. Same story. Enerco, with the obvious and fraudulent complicity of Benjamin, Alexander & Gabriel, LLP, its esteemed accountants, has been gaming the system. It's been using this accounting mechanism to book and report profits it hasn't even realized. That's against the law, and you know it." She paused and glared at Wheeler, searching for a response.

Wheeler compressed his lips but remained silent for at least thirty seconds. "Where did you get your information?" he asked.

"You've already asked me that, and I told you it's none of your business."

"Does anyone, other than your source, know about this?"

"Not yet," she lied.

"Then what do you want? I'm authorized to offer you anything you want, within reason. I can make you a very wealthy woman."