Going For Broke Read Online Free PDF Page B

taken quite a bit of his clients’ money with him.  Chances are good that he’s left the country.  Not very imaginative, your basic embezzle and run.  The difference is that this guy took a lot of money from a lot of very influential people.  People with connections to Washington.  Between the amount of cash involved and the people who want it back, we have to make sure we find him.”
                  Mike nodded.  He had heard of Vernon.  Anyone who read a newspaper in New York had heard of Robert Vernon.  Okay, bad guy took someone else’s money.  That story was getting old in New York.  
                  “ That’s where you come in.  Find him.”
                  Okay, this wasn’t too bad, Mike thought.  They needed him to jump on a plane to the Caymans or Switzerland to track old Trippy down?  He knew the drill with these weasels.                “Great, Clark, whatever you need.”
                  “I really appreciate your help Mike.  So here’s the plan.”  Clark handed him a second manilla folder.  “I need you to keep an eye on Victoria Vernon.”
                  Mike was visibly deflated.  The Park Avenue Princess?  He had heard of her too. 
                  “Clark - you’ve got to be kidding.  Let me track him down.  I know this kind of guy.  I know his moves, I know how he thinks.”
                  “We’ve already got people working on Mr. Vernon.  We need you on Mrs . Vernon,” Clark said as he closed his folder and stood up.  Clearly the meeting was over.
                                                                                        ###
     
                  Trip Vernon never came home.  Not that night, and not the next.  Every day that passed should have brought Victoria closer to the edge, instead she went into offensive mode.  For the next two weeks, she kept every appointment, went to every gala, and attended every meeting on her calendar.  When appropriate, she would attend functions alone, telling people that Trip was out of town on business.  Which technically was true.  On the couple of occasions that she needed a ‘date’, she dragged Andrea Howard up from Tribeca.
                  She and Andrea had first met when they were repping wine, both out of college.  Andrea had gone to the University of Michigan, majored in chemical engineering and got straight A’s on every report card since she was five.  Andrea had always wanted to be the next Patti Lupone, so upon meeting her commitment to her parents and gotten a degree that she could fall back on, Andrea moved to New York to hit it big on Broadway.
                  There was only one small hitch in her plan: Andrea couldn’t sing a note.  At 6’1” with long curly strawberry blonde hair,  a freckled nose and hands the size of a man, she looked more like an imposing Irish innkeeper than a international singing sensation.  Fortunately for her, Andrea had a razor-sharp sense of humor, and was the first to appreciate the irony of her situation. 
                  Andrea more than made up for her lack of talent with a treasure trove of determination.  After years of selling wine, waiting tables, and hawking cosmetics (not a good career fit) Andrea hit theatrical gold when she was cast in an independent film by a fellow waiter at the Mongolian BBQ where she was waiting tables.  The film, “Call The Devil His Name” won Best of Show at Sundance and went on to capture gold at Cannes and garnered the then-unknown female lead a best-actress nomination.
                  Although she didn’t win, the roles came pouring in.  Andrea Howard became a household word overnight.  She became a steady regular in all the celebrity magazines, with constant speculation as to whom