Chapter 3 - THE SECRET BEHIND THE ORION BID
Twenty minutes later, Emma sat at the end of Northstar’s smaller executive conference table wondering how a lunch surprise had turned into something that made three senior executives look terrified.
Madison sat across from her.
Grant sat at the head of the table.
Nolan stood near the window.
Claire Donovan, Northstar’s general counsel, had arrived with a legal pad and an expression that revealed nothing.
“Start from the beginning,” Grant said.
Madison shook her head.
“My relationship is private.”
“Your relationship is private,” Claire agreed. “Your statements about company ownership are not, particularly if those statements affected your conduct here.”
Madison looked toward Grant.
“Reed told me you would deny everything.”
Grant leaned back.
“Of course he did.”
“He said the filings were structured to hide his interest.”
Nolan laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Reed doesn’t have an interest.”
“He founded the original business with Grant.”
“A different business,” Nolan said. “That company dissolved.”
Madison’s eyes flashed.
“That’s what you tell everyone.”
Grant folded his hands.
“Did Reed approach you before or after you started working here?”
“After.”
“How long after?”
“A week.”
Nolan exchanged a look with Grant.
“Where?”
“A restaurant downstairs.”
“Did he know where you worked?”
“He said he recognized my badge.”
“And then?”
Madison hesitated.
“He introduced himself.”
Claire asked, “How quickly did the relationship become romantic?”
“That is none of your business.”
“It becomes relevant if the relationship was used to obtain company information.”
Madison went pale.
Emma saw it.
So did everyone else.
Grant’s voice was almost gentle now.
“What information did he ask you for?”
“Nothing important.”
Nolan moved away from the window.
“What does that mean?”
“Schedules.”
Grant said nothing.
“Meeting times.”
Still nothing.
“Names of clients.”
Nolan pulled out a chair and sat down.
“What else?”
Madison’s mouth tightened.
“Sometimes proposal details.”
Emma watched Grant.
His expression didn’t change, but she knew him.
His left thumb rubbed once against the side of his index finger.
He only did that when he was forcing himself to remain calm.
“What proposal details?”
“Discount ranges.”
Nolan whispered a curse.
Grant looked at him.
“Orion?”
Nolan nodded.
Madison blinked.
“What about Orion?”
Grant turned back to her.
“Did you send Reed information about the Orion project?”
“He asked me to verify pricing.”
“Did you?”
“He owns the company.”
Grant’s voice sharpened for the first time.
“No. He does not.”
Madison flinched.
Emma looked at the young woman who had called her a stupid cow less than an hour earlier.
The arrogance was disappearing.
Something worse was replacing it.
Confusion.
“Show me one piece of evidence,” Grant said. “One contract. One ownership filing. One share certificate. One board document. Anything proving Reed Mercer owns one dollar of Northstar.”
Madison opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Grant waited.
“He said the paperwork was deliberately hidden.”
Emma finally spoke.
“If he owns everything, why does he need you to secretly photograph documents?”
Madison turned toward her.
“He said Grant was keeping information from him.”
“Then why not demand it legally?”
No answer.
Nolan leaned forward.
“Madison, did Reed ask for the Orion floor price?”
Her face changed.
Grant saw it.
“So he did.”
“He said he needed to check the numbers.”
Nolan closed his eyes.
Three weeks earlier, Northstar had lost the first round of negotiations on the largest contract of the year because a competitor had underbid them by less than one percent.
At the time, everyone had called it bad luck.
Now Nolan whispered, “It wasn’t a guess.”
Madison stood abruptly.
“This is insane.”
Claire remained calm.
“Sit down.”
“I’m calling Reed.”
“No one is stopping you.”
Madison grabbed her phone and dialed.
It rang.
Once.
Twice.
No answer.
She tried again.
Nothing.
Then a message appeared.
Madison read it.
Her face drained of color.
“What did he say?” Grant asked.
“Nothing.”
Claire didn’t move.
“You are not required to show us your personal phone. But if the message relates to company information and you voluntarily choose to share it, we can document it.”
Madison stared at the screen.
Then slowly placed the phone on the table.
Everyone could read the message.
DO NOT TELL THEM ABOUT ORION. LEAVE NOW.
No one spoke.
Three seconds later, another message arrived.
IF THEY ASK ABOUT THE SPREADSHEET, SAY YOU TOOK THE PHOTO ON YOUR OWN.
Emma felt cold.
Madison’s breathing became shallow.
“He thinks I’m going to blame him.”
Grant stared at her.
May you like
“No.”
Emma said quietly, “He’s already blaming you.”
