Chapter 5: Terms

On Monday morning I walked back into Hallam Freight Systems with a printed copy of my grant in a clear sleeve.

The guard at the front desk wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Jessamine, they told me not to let you up," he said. "Two of the building guys are coming."

"I'm a shareholder," I said. "The board votes on the sale at nine."

"I know. I'm sorry."

Two men in grey jackets came through the side door and each took one of my arms.

They weren't rough about it.

That didn't help.

"Please don't," I said. "I just want to sit in one chair."

"Ma'am, we have instructions."

"Gentlemen."

The voice came from the revolving door.

Emmett Stroud walked in out of the cold with two people from his firm behind him, a man and the woman in the navy suit.

He crossed the lobby without hurrying and put his hand over the wrist of the man who held my left arm.

"Let go of her," he said.

"Sir, you're not on the visitor list."

"I'm the buyer." He said it quietly. "The meeting is about my money. The shareholder stays, or I walk out and take the offer with me."

The man looked at his partner.

They let go.

My arm tingled where they'd been, and the hand on the guard's wrist moved to my sleeve, brushing it straight.

It was a small thing. It was a very deliberate small thing.

"Nine o'clock," Emmett said. "After you."

The boardroom had a long glass table and seven chairs. Five of them held the directors, who had all been at my first Christmas party.

Keaton sat at the head, and Sienna sat at the foot with a legal pad.

He saw me and went pale.