Chapter 17 - THE MEETING BEFORE THE VOTE
Owen wanted to meet me at his office before the board session.
His attorney had contacted Leah during the night.
He called it a final attempt to resolve the dispute.
According to Elise, he planned to demand that I approve the sale in exchange for destroying material he claimed implicated my father.
The police decided the meeting could proceed with safeguards.
I was not to be alone with him.
Leah would attend.
Officers would be nearby.
Everyone would be told the meeting was recorded.
Owen agreed.
He thought whatever he held mattered more than anything he might say.
His office overlooked the city.
I had spent hundreds of hours there discussing investments, hiring decisions, the future.
Now I noticed how few personal objects he kept.
No family pictures.
No signs of a life that could embarrass him.
He set the recorder on the table.
“Your father knew about Briar.”
“Then let me hear it.”
“Authorize the acquisition first.”
Leah spoke.
“No.”
Owen ignored her.
“Your father was proud of you.
You want his name dragged through hearings?”
“I want to know what he did.”
“You always did have the luxury of wanting the truth.”
He slid a document toward me.
I left it untouched.
“Were you on my landing?”
He smiled faintly.
“Elise is trying to save herself.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“You fell.”
“Did you touch me?”
His eyes moved toward the recorder.
That was enough to tell me where his concern lay.
Leah asked him to play it.
He refused.
She stood.
“Then this meeting is over.”
Owen put his hand on the recorder.
I remembered something he didn’t know.
It had internal storage and a removable card.
My father had taught me to keep the card out when recording confidential notes.
The office cleaning staff knew the small labeled envelope where I kept it.
Elise knew too.
“You took the device,” I said.
“Did you check where it saved?”
For the first time, Owen’s expression broke.
My phone vibrated.
A message from the investigator.
CARD RECOVERED.
Owen saw me read it.
May you like
Then he rose from his chair.
And reached for the recorder as though smashing it could still change what happened.
