The Business Partner
Chapter 06 - The Business Partner
Hale Industries occupied twelve floors of a glass building in Northbrook, though the lobby still displayed black-and-white photographs of Daniel's grandfather standing beside steel presses.
Emily arrived ten minutes early.
Marcus Voss came down himself.
He wore a navy suit without a tie and carried two paper cups. Silver threaded his hair at the temples in a way that looked expensive rather than accidental.
“Coffee,” he said. “You still take it black?”
“I didn't know you knew.”
“Daniel knew. He told everyone everything.”
Marcus handed her a cup.
The lid smelled faintly of cinnamon.
Emily didn't drink.
He guided her through security with one hand hovering near her back, not touching. He had always been careful that way.
Too polished to offend openly.
His office overlooked bare winter trees and the interstate. A framed photograph of him and Daniel stood beside a model of a manufacturing plant.
“Poppy?” he asked.
“With a sitter.”
“And you? How are you holding up?”
Emily rotated her ring once.
“I came about Daniel's shares.”
“Of course.”
Marcus sat across from her rather than behind the desk.
“We've delayed long enough. Grief makes paperwork feel obscene, doesn't it?”
“That depends on the paperwork.”
A small smile.
“I forgot how direct you are.”
“You didn't spend much time with me.”
“Daniel was protective of home.”
The phrase caught.
Not family. Home.
Marcus opened a blue folder and slid a valuation summary across the table.
“Hale Industries can repurchase Daniel's interest under the operating agreement. The number is fair.”
Emily read the first page.
It wasn't fair.
The valuation excluded two pending contracts and discounted a warehouse Daniel had refinanced eight months before his death.
“You're valuing the logistics division at last year's revenue.”
Marcus blinked.
“It's been volatile.”
“Revenue increased eighteen percent in the quarter before Daniel died.”
“You've done homework.”
“I'm a nurse. I can still read columns.”
Marcus leaned back.
“Of course.”
He picked up his coffee.
“Daniel and I had disagreements near the end. Business disagreements. I don't want those spilling onto you.”
“What kind?”
“Expansion. Debt. He became cautious.”
Emily heard Daniel's voice from a night three weeks before the crash.
They were in bed, Poppy asleep in the bassinet, rain touching the window.
Marcus is pushing again, he'd said.
“About what?” Emily asked.
“Control.”
Daniel stared at the ceiling.
“He thinks grief made my mother soft. He thinks having a baby made me cautious.”
“You are cautious.”
“I'm responsible.”
He'd smiled when he said it, but his hand stayed closed on the blanket.
Emily returned to the office.
“Was there a buyout offer before Daniel died?”
Marcus set his cup down.
“Preliminary discussions.”
“Did he refuse?”
“Daniel rejected the structure.”
“Which would have given you control.”
“Which would have simplified decision-making.”
Emily turned her ring a second time.
“How much did you offer?”
Marcus's smile faded at the edges.
“That information belongs to the company.”
“His shares belong to his estate.”
“And the estate has counsel.”
“So do I.”
The heater clicked on beneath the window.
Marcus stood and walked to the model plant.
“Emily, I liked Daniel. I loved him like a brother.”
“Brothers fight over money every day.”
“He was under pressure.”
“From you?”
“From becoming a father. From Barbara. From trying to preserve a company built for a different century.”
He faced her.
“I don't want you turning normal conflict into something darker because the accident feels senseless.”
Emily's fingers stopped.
“I didn't mention the accident.”
Marcus glanced at the folder.
“No. I suppose you didn't.”
There it was.
A skipped beat.
In the ER, patients lied with their mouths and told the truth with timing. Marcus had answered the question he expected, not the one she'd asked.
Emily closed the valuation packet.
“Where were you that night?”
He didn't ask which night.
“At home, eventually.”
“Eventually?”
“I was actually at Barbara's, dropping something off.”
The room became very quiet.
“What?”
“Company papers.”
“What time?”
“Late. I don't remember.”
“The nursery camera does.”
Marcus looked toward the framed photograph of Daniel.
Then he laughed softly.
“Barbara kept that old thing running?”
“You knew about it?”
“Everyone knew. She watched the nursery even before there was a baby.”
Emily stood.
“Daniel told you to leave.”
“We argued.”
“About the buyout?”
“Among other things.”
“Did you follow him when he left?”
Marcus's face went still.
“No.”
One syllable.
Clean.
Too clean.
Emily tucked the packet into her bag.
“Then you won't mind telling the police that.”
“Police?”
“The crash report shows black paint transfer.”
Marcus looked down at his coffee.
His thumb rubbed once over the cardboard seam.
“A wet road throws debris,” he said.
“That's what the report says.”
“You think the police missed another car?”
“I think people miss what they're encouraged not to see.”
Marcus walked toward the door but didn't open it.
“Barbara is frightened for Poppy.”
“This meeting wasn't about custody.”
“Everything is about custody now.”
Emily stepped close enough to smell his cologne, cedar and something sharp.
“Did Barbara tell you she filed?”
“She's Daniel's mother. We speak.”
“How often?”
His eyes held hers.
“Don't turn grief into suspicion, Emily.”
“That sounds like advice for someone with nothing to hide.”
He opened the door.
The receptionist outside looked down at her keyboard.
Emily walked to the elevator without hurrying.
Marcus followed as far as the lobby.
“The offer expires in thirty days,” he said.
She pressed the call button.
“Send the full valuation.”
“You won't get a better number.”
“I wasn't asking for a better number.”
The elevator arrived.
Emily stepped inside and faced him.
“I was asking what Daniel refused to sign.”
The doors closed on Marcus's smile.
In the parking garage, Emily sat behind the wheel and wrote down every sentence she remembered.
At the bottom, she added one line twice.
Marcus was at Barbara's that night.
May you like
Marcus knew which accident she meant.
Keep reading Part 7 — because the custody attack gains an anonymous witness who knows Emily's private routine.
