Chương 10
“You can’t contact me,” Nathan said.
“I am not employed by human resources.”
“You represent Adeline.”
“I represent myself when carrying baked goods.”
She held up a paper bag.
Nathan stepped aside.
The bag contained two blueberry muffins and a hotel notepad covered in Mara’s handwriting.
“What is this?”
“A memory aid.”
“For what?”
“The sequence of events last night.”
“You are giving a witness notes?”
“I am giving a man with no attorney a reminder that details matter.”
Nathan read the first lines.
Time Claire called security supervisor.
Time Adeline tore invitation.
Time Rosie taped invitation.
Time Nathan entered ballroom.
“Why?” he asked.
“Because Julian’s statement claims you arrived intending to threaten him.”
“I didn’t.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because thirty minutes before the ceremony, you were in Adeline’s suite asking whether the hotel could find applesauce for Rosie.”
Nathan looked at the notes.
Mara removed her glasses.
Her eyes were bloodshot.
“Do not coordinate testimony,” she said. “Do not memorize language. Tell the truth. But truth under pressure gets disorganized, and Julian is betting on that.”
Nathan placed the paper on the counter.
“How is she?”
Mara looked toward the living room.
“Do you have coffee?”
“Yes.”
“Is it good?”
“No.”
“I’ll take some.”
They sat at the kitchen table.
Nathan poured coffee into two mismatched mugs. Mara drank hers black and made a face.
“You were honest,” she said.
“How is Adeline?”
“Angry.”
“At me?”
“At the board. At Julian. At herself. At you in smaller amounts.”
“Why smaller?”
“You are not important enough to receive the full allocation.”
Nathan smiled despite himself.
Mara tore a muffin in half.
“She asked about your suspension before she asked whether Daniel Price had accessed her office.”
“He has?”
“He requested records from her executive team.”
“Can he?”
“Temporarily.”
Nathan’s smile disappeared.
Daniel had spent the past year advocating for rapid expansion through Ashford financing. Adeline wanted slower growth funded through retained earnings and a smaller credit facility. The board viewed her caution as increasingly personal because Julian supported the larger deal.
Nathan had agreed with Adeline for operational reasons. Cross’s main Ohio plant was already running above ideal capacity. Expanding sales without upgrading distribution would create delays and quality risk.
Daniel called that thinking defensive.
Julian called it fear.
“Does she think the wedding was connected to the financing?” Nathan asked.
“She thinks everything is connected when frightened.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s wrong.”
“No.”
Mara brushed crumbs from her fingers.
“Claire sent Vivian the planning files. Vivian sent copies to her attorney. We may get them.”
“May?”
“Vivian has no reason to protect Adeline.”
“She has a reason to hurt Julian.”
“That is not the same thing.”
Nathan looked at the notepad.
“Why did Adeline attend?”
Mara studied him.
“You know why.”
“I know the professional explanation.”
“She wanted to prove she could.”
“To Julian?”
“To herself.”
He nodded.
Mara leaned back.
“She spent years letting people believe his version because correcting it felt undignified. Now his version is useful to people who want her removed.”
“Daniel?”
“Daniel wants the financing. Robert wants stability. Celeste wants governance reform. Harrison wants access to Cross’s medical transport contracts. Julian wants all of those things and something he has never named honestly.”
“Her attention.”
Mara looked at him.
“Yes.”
Nathan rubbed a thumb over a scratch in the table.
“What does Adeline want?”
“That depends on the hour.”
“What does she want right now?”
“To call Julian and destroy him.”
“That sounds healthy.”
“I took away her personal phone.”
“You do that often?”
“More than you would expect from a woman who runs a public company.”
Cross Aeromedical was not publicly traded, but its private shareholders included pension funds, family offices, and employee trusts. The distinction rarely mattered to reporters.
Nathan took a drink of cold coffee.
“Tell her I’m sorry Rosie was there.”
“You can tell her after HR releases you.”
“She’ll think I regret everything.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
Mara nodded.
“That is why you should not speak to her now.”
On Monday morning, Nathan sat across from outside counsel in a conference room at a law office downtown.
The attorney asked the same questions in different shapes.
Who first suggested attending the wedding with Adeline?
No one.
Why had Nathan been in her suite?
Mara asked him to help when Adeline considered leaving the event.
Why was Rosie present?
Childcare arrangements failed, and the hotel had offered guest childcare that later closed because of a staffing problem.
Why did he carry the invitation?
Rosie handed it to him after repairing it.
Why did he approach Julian?
Julian told security to remove him and Rosie from the ballroom after Adeline had confirmed he was her guest.
Why strike the table?
Nathan paused.
The attorney waited.
“Because I was angry.”
“On behalf of Ms. Cross?”
“Yes.”
“Did she ask you to intervene?”
“No.”
“Did you believe intervention would benefit her?”
“At that moment.”
“And now?”
Nathan looked at the small red light on the recording device.
“No.”
The attorney shifted.
“Do you have a personal relationship with Ms. Cross?”
“Yes.”
“What is the nature of that relationship?”
“She is my employer.”
“That is a professional relationship.”
“She is also my friend.”
“How close a friend?”
Nathan almost asked how friendship was measured for legal purposes.
He stopped himself.
“We speak outside work. She knows my daughter.”
“Have you had a romantic relationship?”
“No.”
“Do you want one?”
Nathan looked at the attorney.
“That is not relevant.”
“It may be relevant to motive.”
“My motive was that a man invited someone to his wedding in order to humiliate her.”
“You cannot know his motive.”
“He wrote come alone.”
“That establishes an instruction.”
“It establishes more than that.”
“To you.”
Nathan sat back.
There it was.
The problem with motive was that everyone carried one and only the person carrying it knew its true weight. Facts could be collected. Motive had to be argued.
May you like
The attorney asked whether Nathan had consumed alcohol.
Half a glass of wine.
