Chương 11
Instead it felt like watching a building burn after wishing somebody would turn the music down.
“You knew about Martin?” she asked.
Nathan shook his head.
“No.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I didn’t.”
“North Vale was your vendor.”
“Yes.”
“Owen Reese was your former boss.”
“Yes.”
“You approved six million dollars.”
“Yes.”
“And you never asked why Martin kept defending the invoices?”
“I thought he was defending me.”
Claire paused.
Nathan gave a tired laugh.
“Yeah.”
His lawyer shifted.
Nathan rubbed his face.
“Owen was good.”
“At what?”
“Fixing things.”
“Specific.”
“He could get suppliers moving.”
“How?”
“Pressure. Relationships. Sometimes money.”
“What does that mean?”
“Expedited freight. Advance payments. Retention bonuses.”
“Bribes?”
“No.”
“You hesitated.”
“Because you hear words differently than normal people.”
Claire felt the old reflex rise.
She wanted to hit back.
Instead she said, “Try again.”
Nathan looked at her.
Then nodded.
“Fair.”
He folded his hands.
“I never authorized a bribe.”
“Did you ask enough questions to know?”
Silence.
There it was.
Claire leaned back.
“Did you know Martin’s brother-in-law was involved?”
“No.”
“Would you have approved North Vale if you knew?”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“Eight months ago? Probably.”
That answer was worse than denial.
“Why?”
“Because we were drowning.”
He looked toward the floor.
“The sensor issue was bigger than engineering admitted. We had customers threatening cancellations. One supplier had lost a production line after a fire. Another was about to breach. If the launch slipped, two large orders could terminate.”
“So you paid North Vale.”
“Yes.”
“And moved liabilities.”
“Yes.”
“And reclassified deposits.”
“Yes.”
“And fired me.”
He looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Did Richard tell you to fire me?”
“No.”
“Did anyone?”
“No.”
“Why did you do it?”
Nathan swallowed.
“You made me feel exposed.”
Claire waited.
His attorney stopped taking notes.
Nathan continued.
“Every time you walked into a meeting, I wondered what you had found.”
“That sounds like a you problem.”
“It was.”
She had expected defense.
The admission gave her nowhere to put the line she had prepared.
Nathan looked toward the window.
“I told myself you didn’t understand operations. That you liked rules because rules gave you power. That you’d never had to make payroll.”
“I hadn’t.”
“I know.”
“Some of that was true.”
He looked back.
Claire said, “I was arrogant too.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“Don’t look so shocked.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“A little.”
Claire almost smiled.
Then stopped.
“You still fired me to remove a problem.”
“Yes.”
“You told people I was unstable.”
Nathan’s eyes shifted away.
“Yes.”
“You said I had become emotionally fixated.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if I said you were competent and disagreed with me, people might listen.”
Claire felt something inside her settle.
Not heal.
Settle.
A fact finally reaching the place where an old wound had been.
“Thank you,” she said.
Nathan looked confused.
“For what?”
“For saying it plainly.”
His mouth tightened.
“I’m sorry.”
Claire looked down at her notes.
She had imagined this apology too.
In every imagined version, it felt larger.
The real one barely filled the room.
“I believe you,” she said.
Nathan’s eyes lifted.
“That doesn’t fix it.”
“I know.”
His lawyer glanced at the clock.
Claire closed the folder.
“Nathan, I am terminating your employment for cause, effective today.”
He became completely still.
She continued before he could speak.
“You will have access to counsel and whatever benefits you are entitled to under the plans. The company will not characterize disputed facts publicly beyond what counsel approves. You are required to preserve records and cooperate with the review under your existing obligations.”
Nathan looked at her.
“So that’s it.”
“No.”
“What else?”
“You’ll be invited to provide a full written statement to the independent board committee.”
He laughed once.
“You think I’m helping Richard?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I’m asking you to decide whether you want the record to show what actually happened.”
“Why would you care?”
“Because I know what it feels like when somebody else writes your reason for leaving.”
Nathan stared at her.
For several seconds he looked like he might say something sharp.
Then his shoulders dropped.
“Victoria left.”
Claire did not react.
He nodded as if she had.
“She told you.”
“Yes.”
“Of course.”
“Nathan.”
He stood.
His lawyer stood with him.
Claire remained seated.
At the door he stopped.
“I really did think I was saving the company.”
Claire looked at him.
“I know.”
He seemed almost relieved.
Then she added, “That’s what scares me.”
He left.
Richard arrived twenty minutes later.
“You fired him.”
“Yes.”
“You should have done it yesterday.”
“No.”
Richard frowned.
Claire handed him a copy of the termination memorandum.
“He admitted enough today that yesterday I only suspected.”
“You already had cause.”
“I had anger.”
“Sometimes they overlap.”
“That is exactly the problem.”
Richard put the memorandum down.
“What happens to Martin?”
“Independent committee.”
“And me?”
Claire looked at him.
Richard smiled faintly.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The part you’ve been postponing.”
Claire stood.
She walked to the cabinet where the sapphire box had been placed that morning.
Richard watched.
She opened it.
The stone was darker away from the hangar lights.
Almost black.
“Your wife wore this?”
“Yes.”
“What was she like?”
Richard looked surprised by the question.
“Impatient.”
Claire smiled.
“With you?”
“With everyone.”
“Good.”
“She hated aviation dinners.”
“Better.”
“She said people who owned airplanes spent too much time congratulating themselves for arriving places.”
Claire laughed.
Richard’s expression softened.
Then Claire closed the box.
“You transferred control because you thought I’d clean this up.”
“Yes.”
“Why me?”
“I told you.”
“Say it again.”
Richard looked annoyed.
“Because I trust you.”
“That isn’t enough.”
“Because you were right.”
“Also not enough.”
He stared.
Claire waited.
Finally he looked away.
“Because I knew you wouldn’t protect me.”
The room became very quiet.
Claire felt no triumph.
Just sadness.
“Did you know the audit would reach your email?”
“I assumed it might.”
“So you transferred control before it did.”
May you like
“Yes.”
“Was I a firewall?”
