CHAPTER
28
CHAPTER
28
Christoph was sitting on the bed with his laptop. He had spent five hours scrolling through the CDs Svetlana had given him and was amazed by what he discovered. The discs contained meeting agendas, detailed minutes of a number of meetings that had taken place, and as he drilled deeper into the files he knew for certain Angus and Kappa Insurance were trying to discredit AtmosFear and then pull off the biggest fraud in history. His eyes were burning and his mind was suffering overload, so he decided to call it a night.
He was about to close the computer when his cell phone rang. He checked the screen and frowned; the number wasn’t one he recognised, but he answered anyway. ‘Hi this is Christoph.’ he said.
A male voice told him to listen carefully. ‘You don’t know me, but I have some information that you might find interesting.’
‘And what sort of information would that be?’
‘Information about your wife.’
‘Really? I hate to disappoint you buddy, but I have no interest in anything to do with my wife. You’ve got the wrong guy.’
‘Not even if it is about a deal she has just signed with a large insurance company?’
Christoph felt a chill race through his body, but he forced himself to stay calm, ‘Look buddy, it’s two in the morning and I’m not in the mood for guessing games.’
‘This isn’t a game Mr Zelig. Those files you’ve been buried in for the past few hours, must have shown you this isn’t a game Mr. Zelig. This is serious stuff and if you’re a sensible man you’ll agree to meet me for a chat.’
Christoph turned towards the window, but the drapes were tightly drawn. The caller laughed and said, ‘Look up Mr Zelig. There’s a tiny camera above your head. I’ve been watching you all evening. Now about that chat. I’ll meet you at the front entrance in ten minutes. Look for a dark blue Honda. There was a click and the line went dead.
Christoph stared at his phone then hurled it against the wall. He grabbed his clothes and threw them into his suitcase, raced into the bathroom, scooped up his toiletries and crammed them in as well. With care he packed up the computer and all the CDs, took a deep breath to calm himself; checked that he’d left nothing behind and on instinct he picked up the smashed cell phone and stuck it in his pocket. Then he walked to the elevator and pushed the down button. He got out on level one, found the fire exit stairs and left the hotel.
Outside he looked up and down the rear alley, trying to decide which way to go. On his right was a narrow lane; he headed for it and hoped it would lead somewhere very public. He struck lucky when the lane lead him directly to a brightly lit boulevard. In five minutes he was striding briskly along the mall, trying hard to look relaxed and in control. He found an all night café and sat in a dark corner.
He waited for another five minutes then used the pay phone to call a cab. He asked the smiling cabbie to take a drive past the hotel he’d just left; sure enough the only vehicle parked outside was a dark blue Honda. ‘Where to now, sir?’
‘Greenwich please,’ he said giving the cabbie Jason Green’s address.
Standing outside Jason’s apartment block he looked at his watch. Three am; a hell of a time to drop in uninvited, but he couldn’t come up with a suitable alternative. He needed a safe place to stay and Jason Green’s apartment was his best option right now. He buzzed apartment twenty-three and waited for an answer. A few minutes passed before he heard Green’s sleep-heavy voice. ‘Who the hell is this? It better be good.’ Jason barked.
‘Oh it’s as good as it gets.’ Christoph said into the intercom. ‘Jason, it’s Christoph. I need your help. It’s urgent.’ Jason’s voice changed immediately.
‘Christoph my friend. What’s going on?’
‘May I come up?’
‘Of course. Of course. How do you like your coffee?’ Christoph relaxed when the front door snapped open.
Jason was waiting on the landing. ‘Good morning my friend. I must say I like your new image.’ He chuckled. ‘People are paying a fortune to get that, dress and run look.’ He said holding the door so Christoph could pass. ‘You look like you could use a strong black. Put your gear in here and come through, the coffee will only take a minute’ Jason pointed to the front study then led the way into the kitchen.
Christoph sat at the kitchen counter on a high chrome stool. ‘So my friend you’ve got a little situation. Whatever it is, you’ve come to the right place.’ He passed a cup of steaming espresso toward him, ‘I’m guessing it’s not a business call, just as well because the office doesn’t open until nine.’ He joked. Christoph took the coffee and savoured it.
‘I’m sorry to arrive like this, but I think I might be in danger.’
‘What sort of danger?’
Christoph explained the events of the past few weeks, including the hotel caller. Jason made more coffee and heated a couple of muffins. ‘You must be starving. When did you eat last?’
‘Yesterday’
‘Here get this into you. I’ll do something more substantial later.’
‘Thank you’
Jason looked thoughtful. ‘So my friend you need a safe hiding place, and I know somewhere perfect.’
‘Tell me.’
‘The small apartment above our offices, Jason said, ‘We keep it for our interstate staff to use when they come to the city. It just happens to be vacant right now, so you’re timing couldn’t be better. You’ll be safe above Green Star. You can stay as long as you like.’ Jason smiled broadly, ‘And it’s rent free.’ He said. ‘No one will ever think to look for you there my friend.’ He added seriously.
‘Sounds ideal. You’re right, no one will ever think to look for me in your office block. He stood and gave Jason a warm hug, ‘Just until I sort this mess out.’ He said studying Jason hard, ‘There is one major problem. You guys are using AtmosFear for all your Green Star calculations, if Angus goes public before I do AtmosFear will be discredited and that will have a huge negative impact on your business. Years of hard work will be wasted and Green Star will go belly up.’
Jason smiled reassuringly, ‘You’re forgetting one important thing my friend.’
Christoph tilted his head slightly, ‘And that is?’
‘My daddy owns the major TV networks in the States. We can get you on air to tell your story.’ He paused, ‘as soon as you’re feeling up to it of course. You say the word and your story will be televised during prime viewing time. And it will be piped around the globe. It will be the biggest story since nine-eleven. You say when.’
They ate their muffins and finished their coffee, and then Jason called a cab to take Christoph back into the city. He held out a set of keys. ‘Access is through the plain glass door next to the staff entrance. There’s a service elevator; it’s the top floor. The staff will start arriving around seven so it’s probably best to stay out of sight for a few hours. I’ll come by around ten and I’ll pick up some fresh supplies on the way. Why don’t you try to get some shut eye; you look like shit my friend.’
Christoph took the keys, picked up his bags and went down stairs to the waiting cab. When he arrived at the Green Star offices, he opened the glass door next to the staff entrance, took the service elevator to the top floor and let himself in to the apartment. He put his cases in the bedroom and looked around the place. It was small, but well appointed, and it had a great view of the city.
He found instant coffee in the kitchen cupboard, made himself a very strong cup, and went onto the tiny balcony. The early sun was gentle and soothing. He watched it spark on the river and allowed his mind to wander. Life had been kind to him financially, but he’d paid a very high personal price.
Before he met Claudia, work had been his obsession. Everything else was a sham. He tried to remember when he’d stopped caring. Five, maybe even ten, years earlier; probably when he married Ursula. He knew she was poison, but he was sick of the single life. Easy women, too much booze, too much money, and no true friends had left him disillusioned and empty.
Thinking about his pre-Claudia life made him angry. Angry with Ursula and himself. Sure Ursula was a callous, calculating, bitch, but he’d known that before he married her. He knew she was desperate to become Mrs. Chrisoph Zelig. Not because she loved him; she never did. She thought he was a weak man who lacked ambition, and let personal ethics get in his way. She ridiculed him for believing that humans have a responsibility to protect the planet. His values were useless to her. She didn’t give a damn about his work at Weather Scope, but she did give a damn about the money it made, and the prestige and power it gave her. Ursula’s full time occupation was self-promotion.
Ursula attached herself to anyone who could open the right doors for her. Initially she had been discreet, but after a couple of years she didn’t care if he knew about her affairs. In fact she taunted him with her exploits and made no effort to pretend he mattered to her. She screamed abuse at him when he complained, and after a while he just stopped caring. He immersed himself in his work, but it was just something to keep him busy; his heart wasn’t in it. He tried to be enthusiastic but the challenge had gone out of it.
Then he met Claudia and he came back to life. He rejoined the human race, and now he was discovering that living meant he had to feel pain as well as happiness. There was no escaping his emotions anymore. Feelings and emotions meant the whole bag of tricks. Switching on his emotions meant he had to wear the lot; the good, the bad, and the ugly. And he knew there were some pretty ugly people out there.
He thought about Claudia. Her enthusiasm for her work, her love of life and her amazing sense of humour gave him a new perspective. Her obsession for always doing the best she was capable of, made him see his own work through fresh eyes. Weather Scope ceased to be a money machine; it became an exciting personal challenge again. Claudia had given him back his life. She had tenderly picked up his damaged heart and gently nursed it back to health. Like magic she had banished deep layers of cynicism to allow love to fill every fibre of his body, mind and soul. She taught him the meaning of unconditional love. Something he had always trivialised and even mocked, as being a pile of shallow emotions dished up by movie producers to entertain not very intelligent and extremely bored women. Any thing that came without conditions had been of no worth to him. In his world, the more binding the conditions, the greater the prize.
Claudia had taken every belief he held about women and love, thrown them in the air and then like stardust, she let them fall gently back down. She opened his heart, ears and eyes and he found that the world was suddenly filled with colour, music and laughter again. Now he smiled at children and old people, or he watched young lovers and felt a new kind of peace. Every day when he passed the flower stall he stopped and bought himself a single white rose. Before Claudia he had never thought about happiness. He had no idea was happiness was. But she had changed all that. Happiness was the gift he gave himself every time he thought about her.
He went back inside, lay on the bed and was soon fast asleep. The door buzzer woke him at ten. Jason arrived carrying bulging supermarket bags. ‘Just a few things; to keep you off the street.’
‘Thanks pal. How much do I owe you?’
‘Nothing, it went on the corporate credit card. We’ll write it off to entertainment.’ Jason smiled, 'Before I came up, I dropped into the office and made a couple of phone calls.’
‘To?’
‘Kappa Insurance first. I said I was looking to change my insurer and I needed some advice. It seems if you own a five million seaboard property you get to talk with a senior partner.’
‘I didn’t know you owned a five mill seaboard property.’
‘I don’t. But my in-laws do, so I sounded pretty convincing.’
‘And what sort of advice were you after exactly?’
‘I told Mr. Senior Partner, Banks, that I was worried about rising sea levels. I said that my primary concern was that I would not be covered because rising seas would be an act of God. Partner Banks told me to take no notice of all the media hype about global warming. He said they had a strategic alliance with the best climate change company in the world and that company disputes all the projections and modelling. He said Kappa Insurance will continue to write new policies for coastal properties and they will cover people like me to the tune of ten million per property.’
‘So that’s the scam.’
‘But wait there’s more. I then called another major insurer and they told me they were not writing any new policies for coastal properties. They explained the global warming predictions were dire for all seaboard locations.’ Jason opened the fridge and took out a bottle of mineral water. ‘It’s a bit early for champagne, but we should be celebrating my friend.’
‘Could be a little premature. You’re forgetting about the Green Star predicament. Your company is about to go down the drain.’ Christoph looked troubled, ‘Not really something to celebrate; a wake might be more in order.’ He said.
‘Such little faith man. What’s happened to you my friend? You were once such a positive person.’
‘Sorry. Guess the pressures getting to me.’
‘Well you can relax. I’ve spoken to Andrew and Thomas and they have assured me AtmosFear is squeaky clean. I trust them. If they found any errors they would have told me, and they’d recall the product immediately.’
Christoph frowned. ‘You hardly know them. How can you be so sure?’
‘Wrong.’ Jason hit an imaginary buzzer on the coffee table. ‘I know them well. Andrew is my half-brother, only he doesn’t know it. We have the same father. Andrew’s mother was dad’s personal assistant. They fell in love and were planning to marry once dad divorced my mother. My mother is a difficult woman, I don’t blame my dad one bit for finding love away from home. When dad found out Eve, Andrew’s mother, was pregnant he told mum he was leaving her. My mother went completely crazy; she smashed up the living room and the kitchen, then she tried to kill herself with a load of sleeping pills. She didn’t die, but she lost the use of her legs. She ended up wheelchair dependent. Dad was riddled with guilt so he stayed.
Eve had the baby and moved to Sydney to be near her sister. Dad made sure she was well looked after. He bought her a house and covered Andrew’s education. He and Eve remained lovers and Dad made regular trips down under.’
‘Where were you while this was going on?’
‘Boarding school mostly.’
‘Not much of a life for a kid.’
‘It wasn’t so bad. It kept me focused so I did well at school and university.’
‘Have you and Andrew ever met?’
‘Sure. But never as brothers. I often went with dad when he visited Eve. Of course I knew who she really was, but Andrew was a pretty naïve sort of kid, and he actually believed they were just old friends who liked to stay in touch.’ He smiled, ‘Dad is so proud of Andrew. They’re a lot alike. Loyal, loving and very honest.’ He paused thoughtfully, ‘And they have the same kind of mind. They’re both bloody geniuses.’ Jason chuckled, ‘And I love them both. It’s pretty cool having a brother like Andy. Even if he doesn’t know we’re from the same womb, he’s still my little brother.’
Christoph raised his coffee mug. ‘A toast to you my friend. You and Andrew are one of a kind. And in case you haven’t’ noticed, all those great things you see in him, are the very same great things I see in you.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Things make more sense now. I’m guessing your association with EcoLogic was no accident.’
‘Of course not. Dad made a huge investment in AtmosFear. He wants them to succeed. In fact my mother went into a mental health facility six months ago, so now I expect dad will move to Sydney. Soon I think; well as soon as he has tied up all his business activities here in the States.’
‘And what about you?’
‘Will I stay here?’ Christoph nodded, ‘I don’t think so. Mum doesn’t know who I am anymore. Her mind has completely gone. She needs good professional care, I can’t give her that, but dad and I can provide the money to see she’s looked after properly.’ He paused, ‘I will probably follow dad. Maybe Andy and I will finally be able to become real brothers. I hope we can.’ He poured himself another mineral water. ‘And what about you Christoph? Will you also head for Australia?’ he hesitated, ‘Sorry I don’t mean to pry.’
‘Don’t apologise. My private life is an open book. I’m sure you know about Claudia and me.’ He chuckled, ‘I’m sure your little brother has told you a thing or two.’
Jason nodded. ‘He’s very loyal to Claudia; respects her a lot. But he was pretty worried about her a few months ago. He told me she was nursing a broken heart.’ He smiled, ‘Your name did come up.’
‘I’m sure it did.’
‘All good. She’s crazy about you by all accounts.’
‘And I’m crazy about her. I don’t know what I did to deserve her, but I do know that as soon as I sort out the Weather Scope mess I’ll relocate to Sydney and start over. I will do every thing I can to make up for all the pain I’ve caused her.’
‘Well then let’s get to work and sort out your mess my friend. With a lot of hard work we could end up on the same flight.’
‘That would be great.’ He nodded his sincerity, ‘So where do we start?’
‘With Angus and his bed partner Kappa Insurance. If AtmosFear is clean, and you know for a fact the data has been tampered with, then we have the heads up on them.’
‘No question about the data being changed. I checked the New York models and they have all been altered. The tables are totally wrong, which means the simulations are way off. The timeframes have been adjusted and the results are as low as you can get.’
‘So it’s safe to argue that the doggy figures will be easy to sell. People want to believe there is no threat. If they can hang on to their belief that sea levels won’t rise significantly, they don’t have to look at alternatives. They can just stay in their coastal homes and get on with their lives.’
‘Exactly. It’s a more attractive option. The alternatives are just too much for most people to cope with.’
‘So we’ve got to burst the bubble. We’ve got to get the truth out there.’ He frowned. ‘If I was Angus I’d move quickly to blow the whistle on AtmosFear. I’d go straight to the media and let them run amuck. The media will love his story. It will be like manna falling from heaven. In a week they’ll have everyone convinced the whole global warming is just a macabre scare campaign; the very worse type of black humour.’
Christoph nodded in agreement. ‘How much time do we have?’
‘Not much. Angus and his Kappa Insurance pals must be running scared right now. With you on the loose with the discs, they’d be in total meltdown. They know you’ve got the goods on them, but they don’t know what you’re going to do with the files.’ Jason looked concerned, ‘I doubt that they will talk to the press before they sort you out.’
‘You mean shut me up.’
‘Permanently. So we’ve got to get to the press before they do.’
‘And tell them what exactly?’
‘Tell them what you’ve told me. Expose Angus and Kappa’s nasty game. And while you’re talking to the press here, we get EcoLogic to hold a press conference and blow the whistle on the changed data. Put the two storms together and there’ll be a bloody cyclone that will rip Angus to bits.’
Christoph phoned Claudia to tell her everything was set for him to appear on an hour long, nationally televised program, scheduled to go live in prime viewing time. Jason’s father, Franklin Green, had called a meeting of three other network bosses who agreed the program should be live with little, if any orchestration.
The four TV moguls decided to conduct the interview at Green’s headquarters. Prior to the interview they would run a segment on the possible impact of rising sea levels on global coastlines, focusing on major cities, then follow up with a sixty minute interview and commentary. Christoph told Claudia a call centre was being set up to handle phone questions from the general public. It would be staffed by one hundred professionals, including researchers and meteorologists. Christoph suggested she contact the Australian Prime Minister and tell him everything about the situation at Weather Scope. He stressed the importance of her getting the government’s support, and for them to agree to make an announcement as quickly as possible.
Christoph assured Claudia the interview would expose Angus and Kappa Insurance and get the United States government moving on their relocation plans. He speculated that the Australian government would start theirs in earnest when the US took the lead, but she had to be the one to tell the Prime Minister first. He said it was vital for her government to get the facts straight from her, not from another source. She heard the urgency in his voice as he explained the negative backlash for EcoLogic if the United States President got to her PM before she had filled him in on the situation. Christoph went over the timeframes carefully to be sure the news did not break before she had time to talk with her country’s leader.