“That is, Jaimie.”
“If everyone was working so hard, as you say, why did it take so long? John was right under our noses this whole time.”
I turned back to my father, angling my head, waiting to hear the answer as well.
“Things like this take time. Unfortunately, John was extremely stealthy in his—”
“Stealthy?” William, another board member, questioned.
“Yes, Will. As I described before, John worked to keep his liaisons a secret. Frankly, I am surprised that after years of service to this company, and the amount of money he made off of it, that he would betray us in this way. But, as I stated, our security staff—”
“The ones who took nearly two years to figure out that John, who was right under our nose the entire time, was attempting to bring this company down from the inside?” Will demanded angrily.
I remained silent, slowly turning from Will back to my father. His mouth was ajar, face red as he ran his finger around the collar of his shirt, trying to loosen it. He looked over at me, eyes searching, silently asking me to speak up, to intervene in some way. He was feeling the pressure.
I pressed my back against the chair even more firmly, sitting up straighter, but kept my mouth shut. I had strict instructions not to speak during the meeting. I was doing as I was told.
“Yes. As I stated—”
“As you’ve stated to each of us over the phone, in private conversations, that John knew this or that, but you haven’t explained to any of us whatyouknew,” Michael, another member, spoke; his voice was tight with agitation.
“What I knew?” my father repeated.
“Yes,” came a chorus of responses from the entire room.
Again, my father stumbled on his words, looking to me before blinking and turning back to the men seated around the table. He was stuck. He knew if he told the truth and spilled what he did know, he was out on his ass. However, if he lied and said he knew nothing, then he’d look incompetent, and again, he’d be out on his ass. They had cornered him with their line of questioning.
“I think it’s apparent to all of us in the room, you’re either holding something back, Robert, or you were in cahoots with John from the beginning.”
“That is absolutely ridiculous thinking!” my father retorted. “Townsend Industries is my life. It’smyfamily’s legacy. Why would I, of all people, seek to destroy it?”
“That’s precisely what all of us would like to know?” That was Graham again.
“Because it’s clear to us that you’ve been hiding a lot from the board.”
“Which is why we have come to the unanimous conclusion that your tenure as CEO of Townsend Industries has come to an end. Effective immediately,” Graham, the obvious ringleader of the board, spoke his piece.
You could hear a pin drop as eleven pairs of eyes pinned my father, awaiting his reaction.
“This is preposterous!” he yelled, pounding his fist on the hardwood table.
I lifted an eyebrow. Clearly, he was losing his cool. My father often lost it at home, behind closed doors, but never in front of the board. He knew the end was here and he was not equipped to handle it.
“Townsend Industries will die without me. You don’t even have a suitable replacement.”
“We do, actually,” James Cooley interjected.
The room shifted and everyone turned to me, including my father.
“We’ve found a more than adequate replacement.”
My father’s eyebrows nearly touched his hairline as he sputtered for a few heartbeats. His face was beet red.
He was pissed.
I grinned.
“You can’t do this!” he yelled, again pounding his fist as if his little show of force meant anything. “Robert, what the hell are you doing?”
