Catherine Goldman stepped out of the middle of the pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk and slipped into the doorway of the little deli at the corner of Hanover Square. Harry’s Bar stood across the tiny square, a brick-and-stone reminder of the night she almost died along this very same street. Deli patrons passed in and out of the shop. None took any notice of the middle-aged well-dressed woman who studied the menu on the wall behind the counter.

The old Vietnamese lady behind the cash register impassively watched her television set as Goldman selected a pastrami sandwich on rye and a cup of coffee, black. President Adolphus Brown was on the TV screen, his face long and sad as he talked. He was saying something about a sunken Russian submarine. Goldman didn’t quite catch it. She paid for the meal and found a booth in the back corner of the eating area.

Charlie Gruver walked in just as she sat down. He glanced around the dim interior, his shock of blond hair and his tall good looks giving no hint at all that he was the head computer geek at the New York Stock Exchange. He spied Catherine, sitting in the far corner, well concealed from any casual observer on the street outside. He walked over and plopped down in the booth, taking a seat across the table from her.

“I got your voice mail, Catherine,” he said. “Sorry I missed you. I was out on the floor checking with the specialists.” He reached across the table and snatched a half of her sandwich, bit off a chunk, and chewed for a moment. “Now, what is this about? You sounded awfully mysterious on the phone. You been reading those trashy novels again?”

She grinned as she watched him chew. “If I had known you were hungry, I’d have gotten one for me, too.” She pushed the coffee cup across the table in his direction. “Here’s your coffee. I think you take it black.” She paused for a second as Gruver took a swig. “Charlie, I need a favor.”

He chewed some more and swallowed before answering, “Lemme guess. OptiMarx?”

“Yeah.”

“I heard you’d been replaced by Sanderson. Something told me that would grate on you just a little, tiny bit.”

She nodded and looked him squarely in the eye. “Damn right it bothers me. What really bothers me is why. I shouldn’t be saying this out loud…and especially to you…but I’m convinced that someone is trying to manipulate the system. I’ve got no proof of anything, but I found hints while I was testing. They canned me before I could get the goods or even figure out if I was definitely onto something. Giving me the heave-ho is enough to raise plenty of red flags. At least, it is to me.”