CHAPTER 9: The Emergency Board Meeting
The boardroom was full by eight o’clock.
Twelve directors sat around the long glass table. Attorneys lined the walls. Security officers stood outside both doors.
Eleanor entered wearing a dark blue suit, her injured hand covered by a thin bandage.
Daniel walked beside her.
No one spoke.
At the opposite end of the table sat Raymond Cole, the board’s vice chairman and Malcolm’s closest ally.
“We are concerned about your health,” Raymond said.
“You attempted to remove me without speaking to me,” Eleanor replied. “That is not concern.”
Raymond presented the medical report, records of the warehouse fire, and evidence that Eleanor had transferred company files without board approval.
He described her investigation as paranoid and dangerous.
Three directors nodded in agreement.
Daniel placed Lydia’s folder on the table.
“Before anyone votes, you should review Malcolm Sterling’s financial transactions.”
Raymond did not touch it.
“Documents obtained from a frightened secretary with a criminal son are hardly reliable.”
The boardroom doors opened.
Lydia entered with two federal investigators.
Her face was pale, but her voice remained steady.
“My son has already spoken with prosecutors. Malcolm can no longer use him against me.”
The investigators distributed authenticated banking records.
Several directors began reading.
One quietly removed his support for the motion.
Then another.
Raymond’s confidence weakened.
Eleanor stood.
“My brother believed our father denied him his inheritance. Perhaps he was right to feel abandoned. But pain does not excuse fraud, betrayal, or what happened to my husband.”
A screen at the front of the room suddenly came to life.
Malcolm Sterling appeared through a secure video connection.
His silver hair was neatly combed. He wore a dark suit and sat inside an unknown room.
“Beautiful speech, Eleanor.”
Security officers moved toward the computer.
The signal had been encrypted.
“You burned that warehouse,” Daniel said.
Malcolm smiled.
“You have no proof.”
“You arranged my father’s transfer.”
“I saved Thomas from a public scandal.”
“You caused his death.”
Malcolm’s expression hardened.
“Your father was going to destroy everything our family built.”
“Our family?” Eleanor asked. “You tried to steal it.”
“It was stolen from me first.”
Malcolm revealed that he still controlled several offshore accounts and had access to Reed International’s largest overseas division.
Unless Eleanor resigned within twenty-four hours, he would release fabricated documents linking the company to illegal military contracts.
The scandal would collapse the stock price and destroy thousands of jobs.
Then Malcolm leaned toward the camera.
“And Daniel, before you decide to be a hero, ask your mother why Thomas was investigating Reed International before he ever investigated the Wynn family.”
The screen went black.
Every director turned toward Eleanor.
May you like
Daniel saw the answer in her face.
Malcolm was telling the truth about something.
