Page 100 of My Sister is Going to Kill Me

Mandy could see what her dad was doing, and still she was taken aback by his glib adaptability. Guy had admired Babette. Mandy remembered how he’d raved about CareFree, and her, and how this time, a CEO truly appreciated his skills. They were both risk-takers, and Babette had been the rare businessperson who met Guy’s maverick energy with her own unorthodox methods. Just yesterday, he’d hiked down into the middle of the earth to help her fend off a threat to her business. And now here he was, commiserating with her backstabbing brother about how she’d blocked him from achieving his dreams.

“There was nothing secretive about my work with Stefan,” Charlie said. “His firm made a major investment in our company. And yes, he preferred a more data-driven approach. Like me.”

“So you suggested you might do a better job running the show than your sister.”

“Not the show. Just the shop. Frankly, at first, Stefan wasn’t interested. Then he called me a few weeks ago, talking about a succession plan and a smooth transition so Babette could still have a role as spokeswoman.”

“What changed his mind?”

“Can’t say. Maybe it was because Babette switched the launch location to align with the position of the moon? Or when she fired our marketing director two days before the campaign was set to start? Whatever his exact reason, Stefan said it was time for the business to mature. He drew up the papers and brought them on this trip, so we could break it to Babette here, far from cameras and media. To give her time to acclimate before the rest of the world found out. Between Stefan, me, and Devon, we had the board votes to push it through.”

“You were going to fire her here?” Mandy asked. “On her own Essence Quest?”

“We were giving her a promotion. To chairman. An opportunity for her to focus on what she does best.”

Now Charlie was the one lying, in the crudest way. Not inventing a story or flipping the narrative—just telling a version that suited him. Even if Mandy didn’t know Babette personally, she was certain taking away the CEO title would have killed her. Breaking the news deep in the Grand Canyon wouldn’t have been compassionate. It would have been a form of damage control, a way to prevent Babette from fighting back with the full arsenal of her loyal following.

Babette had always ferociously defended her work and grown her business. Maybe she didn’t do it in exactly the way Charlie would have, but there was no question that she’d been more than just a well-moisturized face. She’d built an alternative to the corner-cutting, planet-harming corporations that controlled the cosmetics industry. Under Babette, CareFree would have been a liberation cry. With Charlie and Stefan at the helm, it sounded like just another way to make a buck.

Maybe that was extreme. Charlie had been Babette’s partner since the beginning. But old scars could open fresh wounds, especially between siblings.

“What will you do with CareFree now that you’re CEO?” she asked.

Charlie’s response surprised her. “I’m not the new CEO. I was never going to be. Like your dad said, I work best in the background. It would be Devon. She was just as frustrated with Babette as I was.”

Devon. Mandy thought back to how the steely older woman had consoled her brother after Babette died. How she’d steadied him after they fell into the river that first day and applied aloe to his sunburned neck later that evening. Every time Charlie struggled, Devon planted herself like an iron rod beside him. Mandy had seen her as a caring older sister, but maybe that was misguided. Maybe Devon hadn’t been supporting Charlie but forcing him to stay in line.

“Was Stefan’s boss involved in this plan?”

It was Thor who asked the question. The others turned to the back of the raft in confusion, as if they’d forgotten the guide was there.

“Stefan told me he wasn’t the investor,” Thor continued. “He worked for the big money person. Said he was hired help, like me.”

Mandy seriously doubted any multinational firm would employ someone whose chief skill seemed to be diving headfirst into waterfalls.

“I don’t know.” Charlie turned to Guy. “Did you ever meet Stefan’s boss?”

“No. My connection was with Stefan, and their firm was set up such that the investments he managed were air-gapped from the rest of the business. Every department at the Regent Group works that way. I met him a few years ago when we were both vetting an IQ-boosting candy company. Ultimately, I didn’t invest—the value prop didn’t set me on fire—but I liked Stefan. He was always looking to make big moves. With his boss’s money, of course.”

“Is it typical for big investors to have someone like Stefan who manages their business?” Mandy asked. “I thought part of being a shark was getting to show your teeth.”

“That’s just how it looks on TV,” Guy said. “Big money is whale money. And whales like to hide way down deep.” He looked at Charlie. “Of course, with Babette and Stefan dead, that whale’s going to come sniffing at you now. CareFree’s in your hands.”

“Devon’s hands,” Charlie corrected him. “But I don’t know that the whale will choose to get involved. As you say, they compartmentalize everything at the Regent Group. We were lined up to make the leadership transition this week. I assume they’ll assign a new representative from Stefan’s division and we’ll move forward as planned.”

Mandy wondered if Charlie was aware how this sounded, like he was already getting back to business as usual. He’d presented himself as a humble ambassador striving to make the company the best that it could be. But what if he was lying? What if there was no transition planned? If Stefan didn’t want to replace Babette, if he’d resisted the ouster, it could be a good reason for Charlie—and Devon—to shove him out of the way.

She thought back on what she and Stefan had discussed on the hike to Thunder Spring, hunting for anything that spoke to his intentions. But all she remembered was the strange comment he made about the threats, his sense that the messages in the hats were intended to misdirect. “Stefan told me he managed a portfolio on distraction.”

“That’s right,” Charlie said.

“He said it was one of a few divisions at their firm. Do you know what the other ones are?”

“There are four of them,” Charlie said. “Hard to forget, because they’re so odd. Babette liked the idea that our chief backer had a creative streak. The Regent Group focused on four different investment areas: love, attention, distraction, and yearning. Apparently their founder believed that each could be a gold mine.”

“Smart whale,” Guy said.

“What do you mean?” Mandy asked.