This time it’s me who lets the room fall into silence. Up here on the fifteenth floor the sounds of the city are muted to the point of being practically nonexistent. But the thoughts reverberating through my brain are very, very loud. I’m almost surprised Lander can’t hear them. Travis isn’t looking for companies to invest in. He’s looking for companies he can bet against. And once he places the bet, he makes sure that the company goes down. And if innocent people are hurt by this? Well, Travis has never been concerned with the welfare of innocents. Just ask my mother.

“How illegal is this?” I ask.

“Very illegal.”

“Illegal enough to bring down a bank?”

Lander barks out a dry laugh. “Nothing brings down a bank. Haven’t you been paying attention over the last several years?”

“Is it enough to send someone to jail, then?” I ask, not bothering to acknowledge his rhetorical question.

Lander hesitates, and the bed shifts beneath me as he turns onto his back.

“Two years ago I would have told you no. But the Justice Department is getting tougher. People have had it with bankers and their disregard for the law. If I’m right about this—and I might not be, Bell—but if I am, the Justice Department might demand their pound of flesh just to show people they’re doing something. A figurehead to take down.”

“And you think Travis is behind this?”

No answer.

“Lander, are we talking about Travis or not?”

“I don’t know,” Lander says quietly. “Like I said, I don’t even know for sure that HGVB is involved in this whole thing or if anything’s actually happening. I’ve just noticed some coincidences that look very suspicious to me. That’s all. If something is going on, I have not been brought into that loop. But I have my reasons for being concerned.”

“But what if it is Travis? What will you do?”

“I’ll handle it,” he says firmly. “I promise you that much, but you have to let me handle it. I appreciate your spying on him for me, but no matter what you find out, you can’t go reporting it to the authorities and you certainly can’t confront or question Travis. Just give the information to me.”

“You don’t want my help?”

“I want your help getting some wheels moving, that’s all. You’re a brilliant woman, but you don’t have the specific expertise to know exactly what to look for or how to approach all this. If you went to the Treasury Department with this now, with no evidence, they’d dismiss it out of hand . . . and you would also tip off the wrong people.”

“But if you get the evidence that proves that Travis is involved in this kind of illegal activity, what are you going to do?” I press.