Chapter 2 - THE WARRANT THAT DIDN'T EXIST
I waited until Teresa drove Chloe to school before calling Daniel again.
“Friday,” I said.
“What about Friday?”
“My wife received a message saying a warrant is ready.”
Daniel went silent.
Then he asked, “Did it identify the sender?”
“No.”
“Did you photograph it?”
“No. I saw the preview.”
“Okay.”
I frowned.
“You don't sound surprised.”
“Because there are rumors that a federal task force has been reviewing Salazar Freight.”
My jaw tightened.
“What task force?”
“I don't know whether the rumors are true.”
“Then find out.”
“Dominic, listen carefully. If investigators are looking into your company, you need to preserve records. All of them. Don't delete anything. Don't confront employees. Don't interfere.”
I stared through the office window.
“And if someone fabricated evidence?”
“Then we prove it through the legal process.”
I almost laughed.
I'd spent years solving problems with phone calls that made people nervous.
Daniel was asking me to trust procedures.
Documents.
Courts.
People I couldn't intimidate.
But Chloe's face kept returning to me.
So I said, “Fine.”
By noon, Daniel had arranged a confidential meeting at his office.
I arrived alone.
He placed three documents on the table.
The first was a corporate resolution.
The second was a medical authorization.
The third was an amendment to a family trust.
My signature appeared on all three.
I recognized two.
The third made my stomach turn.
“What's this?”
Daniel pointed.
“The trust amendment appoints Teresa as temporary controlling trustee if you're detained, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to manage your affairs.”
I stared.
“Temporary?”
“That's what the title says.”
“And the details?”
He turned to the next page.
“Under certain circumstances, the transfer could become permanent.”
I looked at my signature.
“I signed this?”
“Apparently.”
“I thought it was for Chloe.”
Daniel nodded.
“That's what concerns me.”
He showed me the medical authorization.
It gave Teresa authority to request evaluations related to my fitness to manage the company.
I felt cold.
“She wants me declared incompetent?”
“Possibly. Or she wants multiple ways to remove you.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
Daniel hesitated.
“There's something else.”
He slid a printed email across the table.
It was from our chief financial officer, Martin Keene, to Teresa.
Once Dominic is unavailable, the board should approve the emergency restructuring within forty-eight hours.
I read it twice.
“Martin?”
Daniel nodded.
“He's been meeting privately with Teresa.”
Martin Keene had worked for me for twelve years.
I had paid for his son's medical treatment.
Helped him buy his first house.
Trusted him with millions.
I stared at the email.
“What restructuring?”
Daniel looked grim.
“A sale of your freight terminals.”
“To whom?”
“A holding company called Red Mesa Capital.”
I knew that name.
My stomach tightened.
Red Mesa was connected to a businessman named Calvin Rourke.
A man I'd refused to work with for years.
A man whose money had a way of arriving clean after passing through places nobody wanted to examine.
I stood.
“I'm going to see Martin.”
Daniel rose immediately.
“No.”
“He's stealing my company.”
“Then we document it.”
“He's betraying me.”
“Yes.”
I looked at him.
Daniel's voice hardened.
“And if you walk into his office threatening him, you'll make their case for them.”
That stopped me.
He continued.
“Whoever is doing this may want you angry. They may need you to behave exactly the way your reputation says you will.”
I sat down slowly.
At four thirty, I picked Chloe up from school.
She climbed into the truck carrying a science project shaped like a volcano.
“Dad?”
“Yeah, peanut?”
“Are you mad at Mom?”
I looked at her.
“Why would you ask?”
She stared at her hands.
“Because you were quiet this morning.”
I swallowed.
“I'm dealing with some grown-up problems.”
“Is Mom in trouble?”
I considered my answer carefully.
“I don't know yet.”
Chloe looked relieved that I hadn't lied.
Then she asked, “Are you going away?”
My chest tightened.
I pulled into a parking lot and turned toward her.
“Listen to me. If anything happens that changes our plans, I'll make sure you know who to call and where you'll be safe. But you are not responsible for fixing this.”
Her eyes filled.
“I just didn't want Grandpa's jacket thrown away.”
I reached across the console.
“You did something kind.”
She leaned into my arms.
And I realized I had spent my life trying to make men fear me while my daughter was teaching me what courage actually looked like.
That evening, Teresa announced she had booked a couples' weekend at a resort outside Fredericksburg.
“For us,” she said brightly.
I looked up.
“When?”
“Saturday.”
I held her gaze.
“Saturday?”
“Yes. We need time together.”
I nodded slowly.
“Sounds nice.”
Her smile widened.
May you like
But when she turned away, I noticed something.
She wasn't wearing her wedding ring.
