Chapter 21: Sixty-Five to Thirty-Five

Annika's POV

On Friday I walked into the boardroom with my ribs taped and a man in a wheelchair at my side.

The directors turned to look at us.

The table seated twenty, and every chair was full.

Augustin sat at the head in his charcoal suit, with Emmett on his right.

Delphine sat beyond Emmett, white-faced, in a plain gray dress.

Nobody spoke to her. She kept her hands in her lap.

Rhys took the chair beside mine.

Under the table his knee found mine, and his hand closed over my thigh and stayed there.

"Ms. Rowe has the floor," the counsel said. "She has moved to remove the chairman and the acting chief executive for cause."

"On what cause?" Augustin said, pleasantly.

"The fire at the Rowe Lakeshore," I said.

A director coughed.

"This is a board meeting," Augustin said. "Not a courtroom."

"You said that the last time, and I played you a recording. I'd like to start with a man."

The man in the wheelchair cleared his throat.

He had shaved. He had put on a clean shirt, and his sling was white.

"I kept the valves at the Rowe Lakeshore for eleven years," he said.

"On the night of the fire, a ticket came down from the chairman's office. It told me to close the riser on three."

"A drunk," Augustin said. "A drunk with a grudge."

"I haven't had a drink in twelve days, sir."

He laid the carbon copy on the table and slid it toward the counsel.

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