Two

The public cherished the myth of investment. Insiders like Herbert Coz did not. To coz the stock market was the oldest permanent crap game in the world. Like any professional gambler.

He counted his profits' minute by minute; and when the market turned against him, he cut his losses and ran.

Coz was standing along amid the riot that swirled around him, quietly clapping his hands, when he was joined by another floor trader. Both men were unknown to TV and radio commentators.

They would never be mentioned in news reports. The public would never know they existed. But they certainly did; and in the world of Wall Street, each was a force to be reckoned with. The impact of their meeting could be awesome.

" Big day, Coz, " Tom Ucciarde commented in a carefully neutral voice. They'd been standing side by side for several minutes, and this was his first remark.

Herbert Coz did not appear to hear it, but his silence was not offensive. He was known to be a quiet man. Besides, there is a comradeship between men who have had a hand in making history and are now contemplating the results of their actions.

Tom Ucciarde was a big man----taller than Coz by a head and had the confident gentleness of a big man. His face was heavy, with a fleshy nose and slightly sagging jowls. His dark hair was slicked back to cover a growing bald spot. Despite the surgeon general's warnings, he remained a heavy smoker.

One could only wonder what the cost of maintaining a tightly controlled voice and careful movements was to this natural typeA. His voice always sounded like a breathy whisper coming from somewhere deep in his chest.

"A very big day," he repeated pleasantly.

"Yes," Herbert Coz agreed. He was a little hobgoblin of a man with thick, light eyebrows, a deeply lined face, and flicked-up horns of sandy hair mixed with gray that seemed to want to fly off his head and made his ears appear pointed.

"A lot of action." He glanced at Ucciarde and then away.

" Six to seven billion dollars' worth of action."

" Yes." Coz agreed again. He had placed himself strategically where he was confident the big man would find him; having been found, he intended to co-operate fully.

" Could be a new platform for the bull market."

Ucciarde gazed down at the small man, his head cocked to one side, and for an instant he appeared to be a child studying an insect under a microscope.

" My theory exactly." He smiled, trying to indicate that he shared Coz's conclusions. " Of course, if someone assassinates the President? Or IBM goes belly-up ?"

Coz had his answer ready. "I wouldn't place any bets on the President. But IBM?" He shook his head, " Nothing to worry about at IBM."

He fussed with the knot in his tie while Ucciarde watched, " Could be another three-hundred-million-share day tomorrow. Full steam ahead."

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***