Chapter 8 - The Interim CEO
Rebecca’s first morning as interim CEO began with applause from executives who were terrified of her.
She hated applause.
It sounded too much like surrender.
She entered the boardroom and announced three actions.
First, the Titan Meridian merger would proceed Friday.
Second, all employees were prohibited from communicating about Project Raven outside authorized legal channels.
Third, Sloan Dynamics would sue Samuel Carter for theft of trade secrets, breach of contract and conversion.
General counsel Melissa Ford hesitated.
“Some of those claims may appear retaliatory.”
Rebecca looked at her.
“Are they valid?”
“Possibly.”
“Then file them.”
Melissa did not move.
Rebecca’s eyes narrowed.
“Is there a problem?”
“Yes.”
The room went silent.
Melissa had worked for Sloan only four years.
She had no loyalty to Richard.
No childhood fear of Rebecca.
“No one in legal reviewed your courthouse conduct before you destroyed documents.”
Rebecca’s expression chilled.
“You are questioning me in front of senior management.”
“I’m documenting my advice.”
“Then document this. File.”
Melissa closed her notebook.
“I’ll seek independent board direction.”
Rebecca dismissed everyone.
When the room emptied, Martin Hale remained.
“You’re losing discipline,” he said.
Rebecca turned.
“Excuse me?”
“Throwing Carter’s documents in front of a federal courthouse.”
“He surprised me.”
“You don’t get surprised.”
“I did.”
Martin approached.
“Daniel is talking.”
“He’s weak.”
“He knows enough.”
“He knows pieces.”
“So does Carter.”
Rebecca looked out at Detroit.
“We close the merger Friday. Titan absorbs defense operations. Legacy liabilities move into a runoff subsidiary. Banks release covenants.”
“And Raven?”
“Becomes a historical claim against an entity with finite assets.”
Martin studied her.
“That was always the plan?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“You knew the plan.”
“I knew the legal structure.”
“Don’t become moral now.”
He flinched.
Good.
Rebecca’s entire power depended on remembering what everyone had once agreed to become.
Meanwhile, Judge Harrison ordered accelerated discovery.
Titan Meridian’s merger had turned the dispute into a race.
Priya subpoenaed Bolton Strategic Laboratories’ successor custodian.
Bolton itself had gone bankrupt in 2018.
Its digital archives had been purchased by an asset-storage company in Ohio.
Those archives could contain the original Project Raven test data.
Rebecca’s lawyers objected.
Judge Harrison ordered preservation.
Samuel sat beside Priya.
“If the original tests are there—”
“They could corroborate Thomas.”
“Could?”
“Fifteen-year-old electronic evidence is messy.”
He hated that word.
Messy.
Truth seemed simple until lawyers touched it.
Daniel arrived without the entourage he used to have.
His temporary removal meant corporate security no longer reported to him.
“I found something in my father’s estate records.”
He placed a trust memorandum on the table.
Richard Sloan’s family trust contained an unusual provision.
If any beneficiary used corporate assets to strengthen personal voting control through fraud, the independent trust protector could suspend that beneficiary’s voting rights.
“Who’s the protector?” Priya asked.
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
“Judge Harrison.”
Samuel stared.
“What?”
“Before he became chief judge, he was my grandfather’s outside counsel. Dad appointed him personally in 2009.”
Priya shook her head.
“That creates an issue.”
“Meaning?”
“He cannot adjudicate matters directly affecting a private trust role.”
Daniel understood.
“Rebecca could force his recusal.”
Exactly.
Within two hours she did.
Rebecca’s attorneys filed a motion arguing Judge Harrison’s trust-protector role created an appearance of conflict.
Harrison disclosed the relationship on the record.
“I have never exercised powers under the trust and have received no compensation since taking the bench.”
But federal ethics rules were strict.
To protect the integrity of proceedings, he transferred the corporate civil aspects to Judge Elena Martinez while retaining only limited administrative control over the old sealed docket until reassignment was complete.
Samuel felt as if something had been taken from him.
Harrison had remembered.
Believed him.
Now Rebecca had removed him without technically doing anything wrong.
Priya said, “Do not panic.”
“I’m not.”
“You’re grinding your teeth.”
Judge Martinez, fifty-four, had no history with the Sloan family.
That frightened Rebecca too.
She could not predict her.
The first hearing under Martinez lasted ninety minutes.
Rebecca’s attorneys argued the merger should not be delayed by “recycled accusations.”
Priya produced the forensic signature comparison.
Daniel’s declaration.
Thomas’s voicemail.
The Riverbend video.
Judge Martinez ordered the merger documents produced under seal.
Rebecca lost that round.
Then she won another.
The judge refused to enjoin the merger immediately.
“There is not yet sufficient evidence that the transaction itself constitutes fraud.”
Friday remained alive.
Outside court, Daniel approached Samuel.
“Titan’s board could walk if the risk gets too high.”
“Will they?”
“No. They’re getting the defense division at a discount.”
Samuel nodded.
“Money.”
“Money with lawyers.”
Daniel looked tired.
Then his phone rang.
It was Rebecca.
He answered on speaker without warning her.
“You embarrassed the family,” she said.
Daniel looked at Samuel.
“No. We did that years ago.”
Rebecca went silent.
Daniel continued.
“Why was Thomas Keene’s signature copied?”
“Ask Martin.”
Martin.
The first direct deflection.
Samuel and Priya looked at each other.
Daniel asked, “Did Martin create the false agreement?”
Rebecca replied:
“You are asking the wrong question.”
“What’s the right one?”
“Who told him to.”
The call ended.
Samuel stared.
Priya’s expression changed.
Because Rebecca had just implied someone above Martin had authorized it.
May you like
In 2011, only one Sloan stood above Rebecca.
Richard.
