Chapter 5 - The Man George Trusted Twice
Caleb Sloan did not answer his phone.
By evening, police had issued a preservation request for his office records and begun locating him.
George sat beside Laura’s hospital window watching rain streak the glass.
“I hired him.”
Laura looked over.
“Caleb?”
“I approved him.”
“Nathan recommended him.”
“And I approved him.”
George rubbed his temples.
The list of his mistakes was becoming unbearable.
Nathan had impressed him.
Caleb had impressed him.
Both men spoke the language George valued: efficiency, leverage, growth.
Laura had questioned both.
George had called her cautious.
Laura said quietly, “Beating yourself up won’t find the folder.”
George almost smiled.
“You sound like your mother.”
“That should frighten you.”
“It does.”
For the first time in two days, they both laughed.
It lasted only seconds.
Rebecca entered.
“Nathan made bond.”
George’s smile disappeared.
“What?”
“Two hundred fifty thousand secured. GPS monitoring. Passport surrendered. No contact with Laura, Hailey or you. He cannot enter Mercer property.”
“He tried to take a child across state lines.”
“The judge considered the pending investigation and his lack of prior record.”
George stood.
“So he goes home?”
“Not here. He’s required to stay at a condominium he owns downtown.”
Laura looked frightened.
“Can he come near the hospital?”
“No.”
“Can he call?”
“No.”
“Can he send someone?”
“Also prohibited.”
George asked, “And Caleb?”
“Police located his car at Dulles Airport.”
Laura’s head snapped up.
“He left?”
“Maybe.”
“Flight?”
“None booked in his name.”
George looked at Rebecca.
“Then why leave the car?”
“To make us think he flew.”
A knock interrupted them.
Detective Torres entered carrying an evidence bag.
Inside was a small silver key.
Laura stared.
“Where did you get that?”
“Hailey.”
George looked confused.
Torres explained.
“She told the interviewer you gave it to her before your fall.”
Laura’s face changed.
“I did.”
“What does it open?”
Laura sat very still.
“A safe-deposit box.”
George looked at his daughter.
“You had one?”
“I opened it four weeks ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I wasn’t sure I could trust anyone at the company.”
The words landed between them.
George nodded slowly.
“Including me.”
Laura’s eyes softened.
“I trusted you as my father.”
“But not as chairman.”
“No.”
George accepted it.
“What’s in the box?”
“Copies.”
“Of the vendor payments?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Laura looked at Rebecca.
“Emails Nathan didn’t know I had.”
Rebecca leaned forward.
“Between whom?”
“Nathan and Caleb.”
George felt his pulse quicken.
“What do they say?”
“I never read all of them.”
“Why?”
“I was gathering evidence before I confronted him.”
Rebecca asked, “Which bank?”
“First Dominion on King Street.”
Torres held up the key.
“We’ll need to document custody if the contents may be criminal evidence.”
Laura nodded.
“It’s under my name.”
George looked toward the hallway.
“Can we go now?”
Rebecca gave him a look.
“You have a bruised face, your daughter has a concussion and your granddaughter hasn’t slept. Nobody is going anywhere tonight.”
George hated her because she was right.
Later, after Hailey fell asleep on a small sofa beside Laura’s bed, George walked into the hall.
Torres followed.
“You think Caleb is running?”
“I think he knows he’s exposed.”
“What’s his relationship with Nathan?”
“College friends.”
“Business?”
“Caleb handled transactional work for us. Nathan handled finance.”
“Did they ever own companies together?”
“I don’t know.”
Torres studied him.
“Mr. Mercer, I’m going to ask something you may not like.”
“Get in line.”
“When did you begin preparing to retire?”
George frowned.
“Two years ago.”
“Who was supposed to replace you?”
“Eventually? Laura.”
“Not Nathan?”
“No.”
“Did Nathan know that?”
“Yes.”
Torres nodded thoughtfully.
“Then control of Laura’s voting interest matters.”
George looked through the glass at his daughter.
“He couldn’t become CEO simply because he controlled her shares.”
“No.”
“But he could influence the board.”
“Especially if other shareholders were pressured by debt.”
Torres nodded.
George suddenly remembered a conversation.
Nathan had approached him months ago about selling Mercer Development to a private equity consortium.
George had refused.
Nathan had called the offer “once in a generation.”
George had called it vultures circling a healthy animal.
“Blackridge,” George whispered.
Torres looked at him.
“What?”
“Nathan wanted me to sell the company.”
“To whom?”
“A group he never fully identified.”
“When?”
“January.”
“Seven months ago?”
“Yes.”
“And you refused?”
“Immediately.”
“What did he say?”
George searched his memory.
Nathan had smiled.
He had said George was emotionally attached to buildings and names.
Then he had said something else.
Eventually, numbers make choices for people.
George’s stomach tightened.
“Detective.”
“Yes?”
“Find out whether Blackridge Capital was involved in that acquisition proposal.”
Torres wrote it down.
George returned to Laura’s room.
Hailey had awakened.
She was staring toward the door.
“Grandpa?”
“Yes?”
“Can you leave the light on?”
“Of course.”
“And the door open?”
“As wide as you want.”
George pulled the door farther open.
Hailey watched him.
“Nathan always closed doors when he was angry.”
George sat beside her.
“He won’t close this one.”
She nodded.
Then whispered, “Grandpa?”
“Yes?”
“I remembered something.”
George leaned closer.
“About the blue folder?”
She shook her head.
“About the phone call.”
George felt his pulse increase.
“The man Nathan talked to said something before they hung up.”
“What?”
Hailey stared at the ceiling.
“He said, ‘You already have the old man’s signature. Get the girl and finish it.’”
George did not move.
Hailey looked at him.
“Grandpa… how did Nathan get your signature?”
George suddenly remembered an object he had not seen in months.
His encrypted corporate signing token.
A device small enough to fit inside a pocket.
May you like
A device Nathan had once borrowed during a board meeting because George’s laptop had failed.
And George had never asked for it back.
