Chương 4
“Executive office was accessed at 6:12 this morning by Mrs. Hayes’s card. At 7:48 by Mr. Hayes’s president credential. At 2:14 this afternoon by a guest credential issued to Northstar Meridian.”
Eleanor looked at Grant.
“Peter was here?”
Grant hesitated.
“Yes.”
“You said the meeting was in Denver.”
“It moved.”
“You told me you were in Denver.”
“I was yesterday.”
“What happened here at two fourteen?”
Grant’s voice flattened.
“Due diligence.”
Marcus continued.
“At 2:19, the document room was accessed by Mr. Hayes. At 2:47, a print job of one hundred eighty-six pages ran from the guest network. At 3:03, Mr. Hayes left the document room. Guest credential exited the hangar at 3:17.”
“That proves nothing,” Grant said.
Marcus nodded.
“It proves those access events.”
“Exactly.”
Eleanor looked at the security director.
“Can you preserve the logs?”
“They’re automatically retained. I can flag them so routine rollover doesn’t touch the related camera references.”
Grant pushed away from the table.
“You’re talking about me like I’m under investigation.”
Claire said, “Maybe because you should be.”
He turned on her.
“Do you want this company to survive?”
The question silenced her.
Grant pointed at the folder.
“Ask her what the operating account looks like after Friday payroll.”
Eleanor felt something unpleasant move through her chest.
Claire looked at her.
“Mom?”
Grant’s voice stayed controlled now.
“We have four hundred and twelve employees across three states. There’s a debt payment Monday. There’s a fuel contract adjustment Wednesday. Denver has another contractor draw due next week. Northstar brings in twenty-eight million dollars.”
“And takes control,” Eleanor said.
“And keeps the doors open.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“Am I?”
Eleanor reached for her phone.
Grant laughed quietly.
“Call Lydia.”
She did.
Lydia Chen had been chief financial officer for six years and had recently developed the unnerving habit of answering calls with the exact tone of someone who had already read the bad news.
Tonight she answered on the fourth ring.
“Eleanor?”
“Where are you?”
“Home. Watching my backyard attempt to become a lake.”
“Can you speak privately?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Eleanor put the call on speaker.
Grant stared at the phone.
“Lydia, what is unrestricted cash tonight?”
Another pause.
“Which definition are we using?”
“Useful one.”
“About six point three.”
Claire looked at Grant.
He shook his head.
“Ask her after committed outgoing.”
Eleanor did.
Lydia sighed.
“Closer to three.”
“How much do we need through next Wednesday?”
“With payroll, debt service, fuel settlement, and Denver? Just under five, assuming receivables land on schedule.”
The office became very quiet.
Eleanor rubbed the side of her thumb with one fingernail.
“Why wasn’t I told three?”
“You were.”
Grant looked away.
Eleanor’s stomach tightened.
Lydia continued.
“I sent the revised cash forecast Monday morning. We discussed Denver exposure in the finance committee Tuesday.”
“We discussed a temporary draw.”
“Yes.”
“How much capacity?”
“Under the revolver? About two point eight, but that assumes the lender accepts the updated collateral schedule.”
Grant said, “Which they haven’t.”
Lydia went silent.
Eleanor looked at him.
“Don’t help.”
“Sorry.”
Eleanor returned to the phone.
“Lydia, has anyone submitted documentation connected to Northstar using my approval?”
This time the pause was longer.
“I was hoping that was why you called.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“What happened?” Eleanor asked.
“Bank operations flagged a change-of-control package about an hour ago. It included what appeared to be your electronic signature. They called me because one ownership schedule didn’t match the last certified filing.”
Grant whispered something under his breath.
Eleanor heard only one word.
Damn.
“Did the bank process it?”
“No.”
“Did you know Grant was sending it?”
“I knew Grant was trying to keep Northstar alive. I did not know he was submitting a final control document tonight.”
Grant leaned toward the phone.
“It wasn’t final.”
Lydia said, “Grant?”
“Yes.”
“What did you send?”
“Bridge documentation.”
“With a fifty-one-percent voting conversion?”
Grant did not answer.
Lydia’s voice changed.
“Grant, what did you send?”
Eleanor watched him.
His confidence did not vanish. That would have been easier.
Instead it narrowed.
He looked like a man recalculating how much truth he could afford.
“The term package Peter needed for committee.”
“Using Eleanor’s signature?”
“I used the stored corporate signature image.”
Lydia inhaled.
“Without her approval?”
Grant stared at the glass.
“Lydia.”
“Without her approval?”
“Yes.”
Claire turned away.
The rain seemed suddenly louder.
Lydia said nothing for several seconds.
Then: “I need to call outside counsel.”
Grant’s head snapped around.
“No.”
“That is not your call.”
“Lydia, if counsel notifies the bank before we stabilize this, they can freeze the amendment.”
“They can do more than that if we conceal it.”
“We are not concealing anything.”
“You just told me you submitted the chairwoman’s signature without authorization.”
“I told you I used an authorized signature image on a transaction she had previously authorized us to pursue.”
Eleanor said, “At twenty percent.”
Grant looked at her.
Lydia said quietly, “Grant, stop talking.”
It was the first time that night anyone had spoken to him like an employee.
He heard it too.
He sat down.
Eleanor asked Lydia to preserve every version of the Northstar documents, every internal approval, and every message connected to the transfer package. Lydia agreed.
“Do not delete or modify anything,” she added.
“I know.”
“I’m saying it because I need to.”
“I know.”
After the call ended, Eleanor kept the phone in her palm.
She felt tired.
Not dramatic tiredness. Not the kind novels made elegant.
Her shoulders ached. Her knee hurt. She had eaten half a turkey sandwich at noon and nothing since. She wanted her own bed and the ridiculous heated mattress pad Claire had given her two Christmases ago.
Instead she was in an airport hangar during a thunderstorm discovering that the company she had spent thirty-three years protecting was short on cash and that her son-in-law had used her signature to sell control of it.
Grant leaned forward.
“You heard Lydia.”
“I did.”
May you like
“We need the money.”
“I heard that too.”
