Chapter 4 - TWENTY-THREE DAYS
Malcolm Reed looked like a man who had slept in his office.
He was fifty-three, precise, cautious, and had been CFO of Cross Precision for eleven years.
When Evelyn entered the conference room, he stood.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“All of it.”
“That’s broad.”
He nodded.
“Your father told me you know about the runway.”
“Twenty-three days.”
“Approximately.”
“I hate approximately.”
“You’ll hate the exact model more.”
Good.
No comforting.
Evelyn sat.
“Show me.”
Malcolm projected the thirteen-week cash forecast.
She spent twenty minutes saying almost nothing.
Cross Precision was not dead.
That was the first important fact.
Its core medical-device components division remained profitable.
Aerospace margins were improving.
Two major contracts had strong forward demand.
But the company had expanded too aggressively.
Howard had approved a new automated manufacturing plant in Pennsylvania eighteen months earlier.
The plant ran late.
Then over budget.
Debt increased.
A customer expected to anchor capacity delayed regulatory certification.
Inventory accumulated.
Working capital tightened.
The company drew more heavily on its revolver.
Then commodity prices moved against them.
No single disaster.
A chain.
“How close are we to covenant breach?”
“Technically?”
“Yes.”
“Already close enough that our bank requested weekly reporting.”
“Which covenant?”
“Net leverage.”
“When is formal testing?”
“Month-end.”
“So not twenty-three days.”
Malcolm shook his head.
“Liquidity becomes critical first.”
“Payroll?”
“Protected for two cycles.”
“Suppliers?”
“That’s where it starts.”
Evelyn understood.
Cross would not wake up bankrupt on day twenty-four.
It would begin dying earlier.
Vendors tighten terms.
Customers hear rumors.
Employees leave.
Bank becomes nervous.
Nervousness becomes self-fulfilling.
“What exactly does Whitmore provide?”
“A seventy-million-dollar senior secured bridge refinancing part of the revolver and funding working capital until Pennsylvania ramps.”
“Price?”
Malcolm showed her.
Expensive.
But not predatory.
“Why Whitmore?”
“They move faster than banks.”
“Other lenders?”
“We approached three.”
“What happened?”
“One withdrew.”
“Why?”
“Sector exposure.”
“Second?”
“Too slow.”
“Third?”
Malcolm hesitated.
“What?”
“They believed Whitmore had exclusivity.”
Evelyn looked up.
“Did they?”
“No.”
“Who told them?”
“No one formally.”
“Informally?”
Malcolm looked uncomfortable.
“Market impression.”
There it was again.
“Created by?”
“Howard and Logan both encouraged the perception that the families were aligned.”
Evelyn leaned back.
“How much leverage does Logan personally have over closing?”
“Unknown.”
“You’re CFO.”
“I know Whitmore’s committee structure. I don't know internal politics.”
“What approvals remain?”
“Final credit committee ratification, documentation, diligence confirmation.”
“Can Logan stop them?”
“He can certainly create questions.”
“Can Conrad override him?”
“Whitmore Capital does not operate by paternal decree.”
Good.
More complexity.
Evelyn studied the term sheet.
“Is marriage mentioned anywhere?”
“No.”
“Engagement?”
“No.”
“Change in personal relationship?”
“No.”
“Key-person provision tied to Logan?”
Malcolm almost smiled.
“No.”
“So legally, Logan’s romantic life has nothing to do with this.”
“Correct.”
“Economically?”
Malcolm became serious.
“Confidence does.”
“Explain.”
“Whitmore Capital believes Cross will have stable sponsorship and cooperative governance.”
“By sponsorship you mean my father.”
“And perceived relationship stability with Whitmore.”
“That sounds dangerously close to saying my marriage matters.”
“It matters if investment committee members believed the relationship reduced friction.”
“Did you tell them that?”
“No.”
“Howard?”
“Yes.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“How much can we raise elsewhere?”
“Not seventy million in twenty-three days without concessions.”
“What concessions?”
“Asset sale.”
“Which?”
“Logistics division.”
“Worth?”
“Fifteen to twenty.”
“Anything else?”
“Sale-leaseback of Pennsylvania.”
“Terrible timing.”
“Yes.”
“Private credit?”
“Possible.”
“At what rate?”
“Painful.”
“Equity?”
Howard would rather die.
Malcolm did not have to say it.
Evelyn said:
“Management change?”
He looked at her.
“That could help.”
“My father knows?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He told me to find financing that doesn't require his resignation.”
Evelyn laughed once.
There it was.
Cross could perhaps survive without Whitmore.
But Howard wanted a solution preserving Howard.
“What would you do?”
Malcolm hesitated.
“You asked me as former strategy director or as Howard’s daughter?”
“CFO to someone trying to save the company.”
He looked at the model.
“I would stop protecting optionality that no longer exists.”
“Meaning?”
“Sell something.”
“Cut Pennsylvania?”
“Slow it.”
“Seek private credit.”
“Yes.”
“And governance?”
Malcolm met her eyes.
“Howard steps back.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Would that save Cross?”
“It might.”
“Might.”
“Yes.”
No miracle.
Good.
“How long to approach alternative lenders?”
“Days.”
“Then why aren't we?”
“Howard believes doing so could spook Whitmore.”
Evelyn stared.
“So we are not looking for alternatives because the man threatening to trap me might be offended.”
Malcolm did not answer.
She stood.
“Start a list.”
“I need Howard’s approval.”
“You have mine.”
“I need his.”
Evelyn picked up her phone.
“Then let's go get it.”
For the first time since leaving Whitmore Estate, she felt something stronger than humiliation.
Purpose.
Not certainty.
Not revenge.
A problem.
May you like
And problems, unlike Logan, did not care how important he thought he was.
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