Chapter 7 - Derek Kane
Derek Kane denied everything.
Caleb confronted him in a conference room with no cameras.
"That's insane."
"Helen has your initials."
"So do twelve people in this company."
"You moved my Atlanta meeting."
"My staff did."
"You approved the change."
"Because Malcolm requested it."
"He said you had a family issue."
"You didn't call me."
"You were in a meeting."
"My father needed me home at 3:18."
"Did you know?"
"No."
"Wrong answer."
"I knew he wanted you back early. I did not know why."
"What else have you done for him?"
"Nothing illegal."
"That was not the question."
"This company existed before you learned to read. Your father built it. Sometimes I help keep peace."
"By moving my calendar?"
"Yes."
"By moving Julia's?"
Caleb felt the room sharpen.
"The night she died," he said. "You arranged her car."
"Caleb."
"What changed that night?"
"She asked for a different driver."
"Why?"
"She didn't want Whitcomb security."
Caleb's stomach tightened.
"Who canceled her driver?"
"Who?"
"Malcolm."
The name landed like weight.
"Julia called me at six. She said she was taking documents to a lawyer downtown. She asked for an outside car."
"And?"
"Your father heard about it."
"How?"
"I told him."
"You told him."
"He was chairman. Julia was threatening litigation involving the company."
"What did he do?"
"He said he would handle transportation."
Julia's outside driver never arrived.
Instead, a Whitcomb sedan picked her up.
The same car that later crashed.
"Who drove?"
"Security said Owen Price."
Owen had disappeared from company employment the next week.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
"Did police interview him?"
"Of course."
"Did you read the report?"
"No."
"What are you doing?"
"Calling the detective who handled Julia's crash."
"Caleb, don't."
That was all the confirmation he needed.
"Why not?"
"Because your father paid to keep that report closed."
Caleb stared at his oldest friend.
May you like
Then Derek said the sentence that broke what remained between them.
"And I signed the transfer."
