Read Online The Day Trader by Stephen Frey - Free Book Online Page B

Vincent says. “Be back in a while.” He heads off toward the brunette and the blonde, who have worked their way closer to us through the crowd.
    People automatically move aside as Vincent heads toward the brunette. I wonder if he knows more about the technology revolution than he’s letting on. He knew the difference between Silicon Alley and Silicon Valley. Anyone who pays attention would be aware of the difference, but I didn’t think Vincent paid attention to much of anything except women.
    “How did you meet Vinnie?” Jack asks.
    The blonde glances in my direction as Vincent corners the brunette. “We lived on the same street in Richmond from the time we were in fourth grade,” I answer, watching her watch me. “How do you know him?”
    “I met him one night a few months ago at a club downtown,” Jack explains, reaching into his shirt pocket and handing me a business card. “I’ve got a dinner reservation, so I need to get going. Give me a call sometime.” He turns to leave, then hesitates. “So you want a hot tip?”
    My attention snaps away from the blonde. “Sure.”
    “Buy shares of Teletekk. The company designs and produces next-generation regenerators for fiber-optic networks.”
    I raise one eyebrow and nod as if I’m intimately familiar with next-generation whatevers. “Sure.”
    Jack leans closer. “The company is based out in the Valley and the CEO is a good friend of mine. He told me confidentially that in the next few weeks Teletekk will announce its first product with applications in the satellite arena. The fiberoptic business has stalled lately, but the satellite stuff is the sizzle. The stock’s trading at around twenty right now, but he thinks the price will triple after the announcement.” He pauses. “But don’t hold it long. Don’t try to ride the pop to the top. Take a quick profit and run. Remember, buy on rumor, sell on fact. You’ll never get better advice.”
    I commit the name Teletekk to memory as Jack heads toward the dining room. My new coworkers—Slammer, Mary, Daniel, and Roger—will be impressed if I score big during my first few days at Bedford. The question is, do I share the tip with them, or do I keep it to myself? And how much of my Unicom profits do I risk on Teletekk? After all, I just met Jack Trainer. How do I know if I can trust him?
    “Hi, I’m Laura.”
    It’s the blonde. “Hi.” I try not to seem interested. Laura’s attractive but I still feel like I’m married. Like Melanie’s watching me from across the room.
    “What’s your name?” she asks.
    “Augustus.”
    “That’s an interesting name.”
    “Mmm.” I notice that Laura seems suddenly distracted by something behind me, so I turn around. And there’s Frank Taylor, Melanie’s old boss, right in front of me. He’s not a small man—six feet and maybe a hundred and ninety pounds—but he’d be no match for me in a fight. I’m sure of that.
    Taylor glances at Laura, then back at me, his eyes narrowing as he comes to his mistaken conclusion. “My God, Augustus, you just said good-bye to Melanie forever and here you are, already out chasing women.”
    “You’re wrong,” I snap.
    “Couldn’t take it, could you?”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “You couldn’t take the thought of Melanie and me together,” he says, “so you killed her.”
    “I’m warning you, Taylor.”
    “I was tempted to ask to speak to Melanie all those times you picked up the phone on weekends, but I didn’t. I hung up like she asked, but now I wish I hadn’t listened to her. You didn’t deserve her consideration. You didn’t deserve her.”
    “Get out of here!” I shout, my anger spiraling out of control.
    “You killed her before she could sign her will, didn’t you? Now you get the insurance money instead of her parents. She wanted them to have it.” Taylor glances past me at Laura, whose mouth has fallen open. “Two weeks ago this man killed his wife, then dumped her body in an