Chapter 6: The Deal That Was Never Supposed to Surface
Michael Grant was waiting when Thomas returned upstairs.
He stood alone in the hallway outside his office.
"Where were you?""
Thomas stopped.
"Talking to an employee.""
"About?""
"Nothing important.""
Michael watched him carefully.
"You've been asking questions.""
Thomas smiled.
"That seems to be upsetting people.""
"It is.""
"Why?""
Michael didn't answer.
Instead, he opened his office door.
"Come in.""
Thomas entered.
The CEO closed the door behind him.
Michael's office was enormous but strangely empty.
No family photographs.
No personal decorations.
Just a desk, several chairs, and a wall of windows overlooking Chicago.
Michael walked to the window.
"You think I don't know what's happening?""
Thomas said nothing.
Michael turned.
"I know exactly what you're thinking.""
"That would save time.""
"You think Vanessa is part of something bigger.""
"She is.""
"You think Ethan Cole is involved.""
"Possibly.""
"And you think I'm involved.""
Thomas held his gaze.
"I haven't decided.""
Michael nodded slowly.
"Good.""
He sat behind his desk.
"Because if you had decided, I'd probably ask you to leave.""
Thomas remained standing.
"Why did you hire me?""
Michael didn't answer immediately.
Finally he said, "Because I needed someone who wasn't afraid of the internal politics.""
"That's not all.""
"No.""
Michael leaned back.
"I needed someone who understood operations.""
Thomas waited.
"And?""
"And someone told me Lakewood was being mismanaged.""
Thomas's eyes narrowed.
"Who?""
Michael looked toward the window.
"Someone inside the company.""
"Name.""
"I can't.""
"Can't or won't?""
Michael looked at him.
"Does the difference matter?""
"It does to me.""
Michael sighed.
Then opened a drawer.
He removed a thick envelope.
Thomas recognized the paper immediately.
"What's that?""
"The original Lakewood assessment.""
Thomas took it.
Inside were operational reports, equipment audits, maintenance schedules, employee efficiency statistics, and inventory figures.
He read the first few pages.
Then stopped.
"This isn't a failing facility.""
"No.""
"These numbers are better than the corporate report.""
"Much better.""
Thomas looked up.
"Then why does everyone think it's failing?""
"Because someone has been building a case.""
Thomas turned another page.
"Who?""
Michael said nothing.
Thomas continued reading.
Maintenance costs.
Energy consumption.
Production downtime.
Staffing.
Everything indicated Lakewood had problems.
But they were manageable.
More importantly, none justified closure.
Thomas looked at one chart.
"Someone changed the maintenance allocation.""
Michael nodded.
"How?""
"They redirected preventive maintenance expenses to a corporate restructuring account.""
Thomas stared at the page.
"That's why equipment costs look inflated.""
"Yes.""
"And production delays?""
"Some were deliberately classified as equipment failures.""
Thomas's jaw tightened.
"So they made the plant look worse.""
Michael nodded.
"Exactly.""
Thomas closed the envelope.
"Why didn't you stop it?""
Michael's expression changed.
"Because I didn't know who was doing it.""
"You knew enough.""
"I knew there was manipulation.""
"Then why hire me?""
Michael looked at him.
"Because I needed someone outside the chain of command.""
Thomas understood.
Someone independent.
Someone with nothing to lose.
Someone who couldn't easily be threatened into silence.
Michael continued.
"There was one other reason.""
"What?""
"I wanted to know whether the person manipulating the reports would panic.""
Thomas thought about Vanessa.
"She did.""
"No.""
Michael shook his head.
"She panicked after you found the evidence.""
Thomas frowned.
"What happened before that?""
Michael stood.
"She made one mistake.""
"What mistake?""
"She asked me whether I'd hired you to investigate her.""
Thomas said nothing.
Michael walked toward the window.
"That was before you ever met her.""
Thomas's eyes narrowed.
"So she knew.""
"Yes.""
"How?""
Michael turned around.
"I don't know.""
Thomas's mind raced.
Then the voice on the phone came back to him.
Ask yourself why Michael Grant hired you.
It had been meant to create doubt.
And it had worked.
Thomas hated that.
Not because the accusation was convincing.
Because it was smart.
The person behind all this knew exactly how to make people question each other.
Michael watched his expression.
"Someone called you.""
Thomas looked at him.
"How do you know?""
"Because you're looking at me differently.""
Thomas considered lying.
He decided against it.
"An unknown number.""
"What did they say?""
"They told me I was warned.""
Michael's face tightened.
"Anything else?""
"They asked why you hired me.""
Michael went silent.
Thomas noticed.
"That means something.""
Michael nodded.
"It does.""
He walked back to the desk.
"I never told anyone why I hired you.""
Thomas frowned.
"Who knew?""
"Only three people.""
"Who?""
"My chief of staff.""
Thomas waited.
"And Richard Cole.""
The name hung in the air.
Thomas immediately understood the significance.
"Richard knew?""
Michael nodded.
"Before you even signed the contract.""
"Why?""
"Because he opposed it.""
Thomas stared at him.
"Why would a board member oppose an independent operations consultant?""
Michael gave a humorless smile.
"That's exactly what I wanted to know.""
The office door suddenly opened.
David Mercer stepped inside.
"We have a problem.""
Michael turned.
"What now?""
"The board meeting moved up.""
"To when?""
"Today.""
Thomas looked at David.
"Why?""
David lowered his voice.
"Richard Cole requested an emergency session.""
Michael's face became unreadable.
"What does he want?""
David looked at Thomas.
"You.""
Thomas raised an eyebrow.
"Me?""
"He's asking for your immediate removal.""
Thomas almost smiled.
"That's fast.""
David placed a document on the desk.
"They claim you've breached confidentiality, accessed restricted systems, and interfered with executive operations.""
Thomas looked at the accusation.
All three were based on the same manipulated evidence.
He smiled faintly.
"They're building a case.""
Michael nodded.
"Yes.""
Thomas handed the document back.
"Then we need to give them something they can't explain.""
David looked confused.
"What?""
Thomas pulled the Lakewood assessment from the envelope.
"This.""
David read the first page.
His expression changed.
"Where did you get this?""
Michael answered.
"I gave it to him.""
David looked at Michael.
"Richard doesn't know we still have the original.""
Thomas immediately looked at him.
"Why?""
David took a breath.
"Because the board was shown a different version.""
Thomas opened the report.
There were two signatures on the final page.
Michael Grant.
Richard Cole.
Thomas stared at them.
The original assessment was dated three weeks before Thomas was hired.
And beneath Richard Cole's signature was a handwritten note.
*Proceed with Lakewood closure after quarterly results are finalized.*
Thomas looked up.
"So Richard knew.""
David nodded.
"But that's not the worst part.""
He turned the page.
Attached behind the assessment was a confidential acquisition proposal.
Lakewood wasn't simply going to be closed.
Its land was scheduled to be sold.
To a private development company.
Thomas scanned the document.
Then he saw the buyer's name.
*Cole Strategic Holdings.*
His eyes went cold.
The same person pushing the closure plan owned the company positioned to purchase the property.
Vanessa's inflated numbers would justify the closure.
The closure would depress the property's value.
The sale would transfer the land.
And the buyer would profit.
Thomas looked at Michael.
"How much?""
Michael answered quietly.
"Estimated profit?""
Thomas nodded.
"Over forty million dollars.""
No one spoke.
Then David whispered, "There's more.""
He opened another page.
A list of transaction beneficiaries appeared.
Thomas read the names.
Richard Cole.
Ethan Cole.
Vanessa Blake.
Three senior executives.
And one final name.
Thomas stared at it.
His own name.
For a moment, he couldn't breathe.
*Thomas Reed — consulting compensation: $750,000.*
He looked at Michael.
"What is this?""
Michael's face hardened.
"I didn't authorize that.""
Thomas stared at the document.
Someone had created a payment arrangement in his name.
A fake consulting contract.
A fake compensation package.
A perfect explanation for why he had accessed restricted files.
A perfect motive.
A perfect setup.
And if the board believed it, Thomas wouldn't just lose his job.
He could be accused of participating in the entire scheme.
Thomas slowly set the document on the desk.
Then he smiled.
Not because it was funny.
Because he finally understood the trap.
"They don't want me fired.""
Michael frowned.
"What?""
"They want me blamed.""
The office fell silent.
Thomas looked at the forged contract.
Then at Richard Cole's signature.
Then at the names of the people who stood to make millions.
"They've been building this case from the moment I walked through the door.""
David asked, "Why you?""
Thomas answered without hesitation.
"Because nobody would question an old consultant's greed.""
Michael stared at him.
"They made me look like the man who came here for money.""
Thomas nodded.
"And they made Vanessa look like the victim.""
His eyes hardened.
"Which means by the time the board meets, they won't be asking who manipulated Lakewood.""
He picked up the forged contract.
"They'll be asking why I did it.""
Outside the office, footsteps approached.
Several voices.
The board members were arriving.
Thomas straightened his jacket.
For two days, they had treated him like an outsider.
An old man who didn't understand modern business.
A man nobody noticed.
Now the doors were about to open.
And for the first time, Thomas wasn't walking into a meeting to defend himself.
May you like
He was walking into a room where someone had already prepared his downfall.
He intended to find out exactly who signed it.
