Page 85 of Due Dilligence (Takeover)
“Well, shit,” Sam said. “No one should be subjected to that.”
“But you’re going to ask us to keep working,” Eli said.
Fazil could almostseeSam’s cringe. “Yes.” A pause. “Let me talk to the board again.”
Eli’s shoulders drooped. “Think you can make them deep-six the asshole?”
“I can’t promise anything, but Iamthe man who withstood a deposition on a fraud case. I believe I can get them to see my view... unless they want to be in that hot seat, too.”
Eli chuckled, but there was no mirth in it. “Good luck with that.”
“Can you stomach another day there, E?”
Eli’s hardened expression slipped away into something that twisted Fazil’s gut. Too open and too wounded. “To be honest, no.”
There was silence on the other end.
“I can work from the hotel.”
“Eli...” Deep concern in Sam’s voice.
He clicked his tongue. “I’ll be fine, Sam. I’ve been through worse. I’m just tired.”
“Okay,” Sam said. “What about you, Fazil? I know you have personal reasons for wanting to stay, but can you work in that environment?”
He didn’t know—not yet. “I need to see how things are tomorrow before I decide.”
A grunt from Sam. “If we need to fly you back this weekend...”
He’d need to know now to get him a Saturday flight. “Before the extension, I’d been planning to ask Justin to shift the ticket to Monday and take a day of PTO.”
“That would work,” Sam said. “But let Justin know as soon as you’re sure.”
“Understood.”
“Anything more?”
There wasn’t, so they said their good-byes and hung up.
“Sam’s been brought up for fraud?” He’d never seen anything in his research to indicatethat.
Eli waved the question away. “No, of course not. He uncovered shady dealings at Four Rivers while grooming it for Sundra’s acquisition. Took the case a while to grind through the legal process, and eventually Sam was called to give his statement.”
“And get grilled?”
“Depositions aren’t fun.”
He wouldn’t know. Hoped he never had to know. “That has to be fairly recent.”
Eli nodded. “This past winter. Right before the company party.”
The cruise. God, that had been a day and a half worth of fun packed into a couple of hours. No wonder Sam had let loose harder than he normally did. “That explains a few things.”
This time there was warmth to Eli’s laugh, and his humor was slower to drain away. “We still have a few hours left. Let’s see what we can get done.” He leaned his cane up against a neighboring chair and opened his laptop.
Fazil pulled his computer over and did the same. He was almost surprised not to see an e-mail from Todd. Then again, there were some things you didn’t send over a corporate net, even from private accounts.
He desperately wanted to talk to Todd, but Eli was right—best to keep that cool, at least until after quitting time.
