McDonald? Fuck him.

KRESGE WOULD LOSE HIS JOB ALONG WITH THE REST. Unlike the others, hed walk with something in the range of an after-tax forty million dollars. And hed be free.

In two weeks, Kresge would sit in a courtroom and solemnly swear that his marriage was irretrievably broken. His wife had agreed not to seek alimony. In return for that concession, shed demandedand hed agreed to give her better than seventy-five percent of their joint assets. Eight million dollars. Letting go of the eight million had been one of the hardest things hed ever done. But it was worth it: thered be no strings on him.

When shed signed the deal, neither his wife nor her wolverine attorney had understood what the then-brewing merger might mean. No idea that thered be a golden parachute for the chairman. And his ex wouldnt get a nickel of the new money. He smiled as he thought about it. Shedhired the wolverine specifically to fuck him on the settlement, and thought she had. Waitll the word got into the newspapers about his settlement. And itwouldget in the newspapers.

Fuck her.

Forty million. He knew what hed do with it. Hed leave the Twin Cities behind, first thing. He was tired of the cold. Move out to L.A. Buy some suits. Maybe one of those BMW two-seaters, the 850. Hed been a good, gray Minnesota banker all of his life. Now hed take his money to L.A. and live a little. He closed his eyes and thought about what you could do with forty million dollars in the city of angels. Hell, the women alone…

KRESGE OPENED HIS EYES AGAIN WITH A SUDDEN awareness of the increasing cold: shivered and carefully shook the stiffness out. Looking to the east, back toward the cabin, he could see an unmistakable streak of lighter sky. There was a ruffling of leaves to his right, a steady trampling sound. Another deer went by, a shadow in the semidark as the animal picked its way through a border of finger-thick alders at the fringe of the swamp. No antlers that he could see. He watched until the deer disappeared into the tamarack.