Chapter 9 - The BoardroomWalter entered the Mercer Ridge boardroom at exactly nine.
Seven directors were present.
Caleb arrived thirty seconds later.
Walter raised an eyebrow.
“You’re no longer authorized to attend executive meetings.”
Caleb dropped a folder onto the table.
“I’m still a shareholder.”
“Barely.”
“I’m also your son.”
“That has never entitled you to incompetence.”
The directors stared at their papers.
Nobody wanted to be in the room.
Caleb took a seat.
Walter began.
“Over the past eighteen months, company funds totaling approximately five point eight million dollars have been diverted through unauthorized accounts.”
He projected spreadsheets onto the screen.
Caleb recognized them.
The fake transfers.
“Access logs identify Caleb Mercer.”
Caleb looked at the board.
“Those records were fabricated.”
Walter sighed.
“This is painful for me.”
“No. It isn’t.”
“Caleb.”
“My ten-year-old son says you pushed him from Blackstone Ridge.”
The room froze.
Walter’s voice sharpened.
“This meeting concerns corporate governance.”
“It concerns exactly the same thing.”
Caleb stood.
“You need control of Blackstone before Elliot turns eleven.”
One director, Thomas Keene, frowned.
“What does Elliot have to do with Blackstone?”
Walter turned off the projector.
“Nothing.”
Caleb laughed.
“That’s why you never told them?”
Walter’s expression tightened.
Caleb distributed copies of Edwin Lane’s trust summary.
“Twenty-one days from now, one hundred sixty acres transfer into a trust benefiting Elliot.”
Thomas read quickly.
“This includes the west geothermal parcel.”
“Yes.”
Another director looked at Walter.
“You told us Mercer Ridge controlled all development rights.”
Walter’s tone remained calm.
“We effectively do.”
“No,” Caleb said. “You don’t.”
He connected Nora’s flash drive.
Walter’s eyes changed.
Caleb noticed.
“I also have internal correspondence concerning Halcyon Peak Development.”
Walter stood.
“Where did you get that?”
There.
The mistake.
Several directors looked up.
Caleb smiled grimly.
“I thought there was nothing to get.”
Walter realized too late.
The room shifted.
For the first time in Caleb’s life, he watched his father lose control of an audience.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Caleb projected an email.
FROM: W. MERCER
TO: HALCYON PEAK DEVELOPMENT
CLEAR TITLE WILL BE DELIVERED BEFORE SEPTEMBER 17.
Elliot’s birthday was September 18.
Thomas looked stunned.
“What happens if title doesn’t clear?”
Caleb displayed the next document.
“Mercer Ridge owes Halcyon an eighteen-million-dollar penalty because Walter used their advance to cover company debt.”
The room erupted.
Walter’s fist struck the table.
“That information is privileged!”
“You lied to the board.”
“I saved this company.”
“You bet it on land you didn’t own.”
Walter pointed at Caleb.
“And you would have let the company collapse.”
Caleb stared back.
“Better a bankrupt company than a dead child.”
Silence.
Walter’s face became white.
“You should be very careful.”
“You said the same thing to Elliot?”
Walter’s attorney whispered urgently beside him.
Caleb continued.
“You’re done controlling me.”
Walter laughed softly.
“You think one flash drive makes you brave?”
“No.”
Caleb looked around the table.
“My son made me brave.”
Thomas Keene called for an immediate vote to suspend Walter’s authority pending an independent investigation.
Four directors voted yes.
Two no.
Walter could vote his own shares.
Tie.
No suspension.
Walter smiled.
“Meeting adjourned.”
The directors began leaving.
Caleb packed his papers.
Walter came around the table.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“For once, I do.”
Walter lowered his voice.
“You think Tessa will stay when she learns what you signed three years ago?”
Caleb stopped.
Walter saw the reaction.
His smile returned.
“There it is.”
Caleb whispered, “Don’t.”
“Does she know, son?”
“Walter.”
“Does your wife know you signed away Elliot’s rights yourself?”
Caleb’s face drained of color.
Walter stepped past him.
“Ask your husband about the 2023 consent agreement,” he called loudly toward the still-open conference-room door, though Tessa was nowhere near it.
May you like
Then Walter leaned close to Caleb.
“You helped build the trap.”
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