Liar, Liar – Episode 4: The Danger Escalates

“Are we ready to vote?” Lester Pruitt, the COO of Pemberton Enterprises, looked around the table at the other shareholders. He was in his sixties, with black hair and wrinkles at the corners of his clear blue eyes behind a pair of thick lenses.

Two days after the meeting with Charles, Nora sat at the opposite end of the table from Lester in the Pemberton Enterprises boardroom. In between were the rest of the shareholders: Kendrick Junior, Malcolm, CFO Justice Ingram, and Tilda Hilton, an old friend who’d been with the company from the beginning and helped her and Kendrick get the business off the ground. Tilda no longer worked at the company but had a close personal relationship with the family in addition to holding five percent of the shares.

This evening’s shareholder meeting had been called to take a final vote on the board’s recommendation to move forward with the purchase of Pemberton Enterprises by Radex, Inc. The vote had been postponed at the last meeting because Nora had some questions, which she knew had annoyed everyone present, including her sons. Junior had been particularly upset.

Though her sons had run the company since their father’s passing, it was clear they wanted this deal wrapped up because of the handsome payout, and then they’d no longer have to deal with the day-to-day operations. Lester would remain, as would some of the other executives, but getting bought out by Radex would provide a financial windfall and bring major changes to the company’s corporate structure.

One by one, Lester went around the table, asking for each person’s vote. Renata Green, Kendrick’s executive assistant who was now Junior and Lester’s executive assistant, sat off to the side keeping the minutes and noting each person’s vote.

Finally, Lester came to Nora.

“Nora?” He looked expectantly at her. She could almost see him holding his breath. “This is a good offer, and I think Radex addressed all your concerns from the last time.”

He sounded reasonable, but she heard the underlying testiness in his voice, and he had done a terrible job at smiling. His face appeared tight and uncomfortable, like someone trying his best not to fart in public.

Nora straightened her shoulders. “I vote no. I’m not satisfied with the offer.”

Low moans went up from the table, and Lester’s face tightened. “With all due respect—”

“Yes, Lester?” she interrupted in a syrupy sweet voice.

The room fell quiet and everyone went still. Renata looked up from writing on her notepad and watched the exchange along with everyone else.

“Are you telling me you have more questions?” Lester asked with barely controlled annoyance.

“No.”

“Then why won’t you vote yes? The board has already approved the purchase.”

How could she explain that she had a hunch? It sounded ridiculous even to her, but that’s exactly why she was holding back. She couldn’t shake the words her husband had said to her during one of their late-night conversations.

Our greatest value isn’t in the products and services we have to sell. We need a true assessment of our worth. Then he had winked. What had he meant by that?

The people sitting around this table were missing something vital, and she wasn’t in a rush to sell the company her husband had built from the ground up. Each of her sons had fifteen percent of the shares, and her daughter held ten percent. Kendrick had entrusted his shares to Nora and her alone, giving her forty-five percent voting power in the company, and she refused to give in easily. She would go over everything with a fine-tooth comb, the way he would have.

“I need more time to go over the financials,” Nora said.

“Mother, this isn’t your area, and Justice has already gone over the financial statements,” Junior said.

“I’m sure you did a great job, as usual, Justice. But… I would like a little more time. I can’t explain everything right now, but you’ll all have to trust me.”

“What are we supposed to tell the board? And Radex?” Lester demanded.

“Tell them the widow needs more time,” Nora said calmly.

“She only has forty-five percent of the shares. She can’t stop us from moving forward,” Tilda said.

“On the contrary, Tilda, I have fifty-five percent voting power,” Nora said in a cool tone.

Tilda’s head whipped in her direction, the hairs of her gray bob swishing across her cheek. “How?” she demanded.

“She has Angelica’s proxy,” Lester said, slumping in his chair.

The room fell silent again, and Nora folded her hands in her lap. “If there’s nothing else, why don’t we reconvene in thirty days once I’ve had time for a deeper review?”

Thankfully, her voice maintained its strength, though she didn’t feel strong at the moment. She worried that she was overstepping, but since her daughter, Angelica, had entrusted her with her proxy, thereby giving her a majority share of votes, she could delay the acquisition a little longer.

“We can’t keep putting this off. Radex will walk if we don’t give them a ‘yes’ soon, and this is a very good offer. It would be foolish to pass this up. We should move on it right away,” Justice warned. He was balding and wore glasses and had been with the company for over a decade.

“We won’t keep putting it off. I only need thirty more days,” Nora said, refusing to budge.

Malcolm looked at her with frustration, which made her a little sad that even he was upset with her.

Moments later, the meeting adjourned, and they all rose from the table. Before Nora could file out, Tilda’s skinny fingers bit into her arm.

“Please reconsider.” The thread of desperation in her voice alarmed Nora.

“Tilda, is something wrong? If you need money—”

Tilda jerked back. “I run a very profitable boutique with my kids. Don’t insult me.”

Nora waited until the last person, Justice, had left the room. “I didn’t mean to insult you. I’m concerned, that’s all.”

“I’m fine, but delaying is ridiculous. I’m tired of coming in for these meetings, and the bylaws don’t allow remote voting. Let’s get this done at the next meeting, once and for all.” Tilda’s lips firmed before she stalked toward the elevators with heavy steps and a rigid back.

Feeling deflated, Nora made her way down the hall to Kendrick’s office, unlocked it, and then closed the door. Leaning against the cool slab of mahogany wood, she took a deep breath. No one had been in there for weeks, so the air was stale and heavy. It no longer smelled of Kendrick’s cologne and those Cuban cigars he loved to smoke.

Nora sighed. “Dammit, Kendrick, I hope I’m doing the right thing,” she whispered. She was either making a very wise decision or jeopardizing a lucrative deal.

She marched over to the closet and removed the foldable luggage cart her husband used to use. She would go through the paperwork herself. She had no doubt the other shareholders thought she was a busybody, but she intended to do her due diligence. Now she needed boxes to put the files in.

A knock sounded on the door, and Renata poked her head in. “Hey. You okay?”

Nora waved her in, and the executive assistant quietly closed the door. Though she had been Kendrick’s assistant, she and Nora had developed a solid friendship years ago when Renata’s husband had divorced her, leaving her a single mother with a two-year-old son to raise alone. Nora had given her as much support and advice as she could during those early years. Lawrence was now eighteen and planned to start college in the fall.

“Do you think I’m crazy to postpone the vote?” Nora asked.

Renata rested her hands on her hips, looking at Nora through her dark-framed glasses. “Absolutely not. You did the right thing. You have to protect the company you and Kendrick built.”

Nora let out a relieved breath. “Thank you. Sometimes I feel as if I’m overstepping.”

“You’re not.” Renata looked at the luggage cart. “What’s that for?”

“I’m going to do some research. I’m taking home the files from this cabinet. I thought if I could go through the paperwork Kendrick left behind, maybe I’d see something that would help.”

“Do you know what you’re looking for?”

“No,” Nora admitted, her cheeks heating with embarrassment. “But I feel as if I’ll know it when I see it.”

Renata nodded her understanding. “You probably need boxes, don’t you? I can bring you some from the copy room and get one of the guys to help you take the files to your car.”

“I’ll take the boxes, but I’ll be fine carrying them to my car alone.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.” She squeezed Renata’s arm. “Thanks.”

“Okay. Be right back.”

Renata disappeared and returned with three boxes and helped Nora pile the files into them. When they finished, Nora attached the stretch bands to hold the boxes in place.

“You have plenty of homework,” Renata said with amusement.

“I do,” Nora said with a laugh.

“Will you be in tomorrow?”

“No, I have plenty to do, and I won’t be back until I get finished with all this.”

She tapped the top box, though truth be told, she didn’t know if she’d have time to review the contents this week. She had a packed day tomorrow, which included a doctor’s appointment in the morning, a luncheon with the heads of an organization that wanted a donation for their women’s and children’s charity, and her writing class in the afternoon. Since Friday was the Oscar party, she’d be busy most of that day too, with an appointment for a deep tissue massage at the spa and getting her hair and nails done.

“If you need help with anything, let me know,” Renata said.

“I will. Thanks.”

Renata went back to her office to type up the minutes, and Nora left, taking the elevator down to the parking garage. As she walked through the almost empty deck, dragging the boxes behind her and her clicking on the concrete, she realized she had forgotten to call Charles to let him know she was leaving the office.

She’d have to get used to checking in and constantly having a shadow. A tall, handsome shadow.

As she neared her Mercedes, the piercing squeal of tires bounced off the walls.

Good grief. Who could be driving that fast in the deck? It was dangerous.

Nora glanced over her shoulder.

A white van barreled toward her. The driver wore a cap pulled low on his face. She was in his direct path, and he wasn’t braking.

Eyes widening with terror, she froze.

Something slammed into her from the side, and her hand fell away from the luggage cart. A strong arm wrapped around her waist as she was spun around and taken to the concrete, landing hard on top of a solid body. The van slammed into the cart and sent papers flying and scattering across the garage floor. It screeched past them without slowing down.

Sucking in a shaky breath, Nora lifted her head.

Charles. Where had he come from?

He had cushioned her fall. Staring up at her, he gripped her arms.

“Are you all right?” he asked tersely.

“Yes. I-I think so.”

He surged to his feet and pulled her with him. His gaze veered toward the vehicle speeding away.

“Don’t move,” he commanded, his voice grim.

Before she could reply, he took off running, his suit jacket flapping behind him like a cape as he raced after the van.