A Brother's Honor (Grangers) - By Brenda Jackson Page 0,102
before his attorney arrived.”
“What sort of evidence?” Caden wanted to know.
“Various airplane designs that belong to this company. It seems he was selling those designs to Barnes Aerospace. We have a search warrant for their premises, as well, and the search is taking place as we speak.”
“Where do you think Freeman is?” Shana asked.
“Not sure, but his photograph is out there in case he decides to leave town or the country.”
Pushing away from his desk, Jace stood and walked over to the window and gazed out. Shana knew he was upset and rightly so. Those who’d been arrested were employees his grandfather had trusted.
He turned back to them, shaking his head. “I just don’t get it. Freeman was bright, intelligent and excited about taking Granger to the next level. That’s the main reason Granddad made him second-in-command. If my brothers and I hadn’t decided to stay, he could have run the company whatever way he saw fit. He was CEO, and we would not have interfered.”
“But that’s just it,” Marcel said somberly. “The three of you did decide to stay, which messed up his plans.”
“And just what were his plans?” Caden asked.
“That under his leadership, Barnes would have initiated a merger, one he would have agreed to. According to Swanson, a deal had been made, a fellow’s agreement, so to speak, between Freeman and the people over at Barnes months ago, before your grandfather’s death. His job was to convince your grandfather to go along with it. In doing so, your grandfather might have become suspicious.”
Jace sighed. He was almost certain Richard had.
“And it seems that he might have deliberately set the company up to fail so your grandfather had no choice,” Marcel added. “That’s where Arrington came in.” He paused a second then said, “I know this is not good news to have to deal with on a Monday, or any other day for that matter.”
“No, it’s not,” Jace agreed.
“And just so you know, there might be others involved, others willing to take cash under the table for the company’s failure. We’re trying to develop a paper trail. Swanson is telling all now, trying to paint herself as a woman taken advantage of. Right now, Arrington’s refusing to say anything. We believe Freeman is the mastermind, but I can’t guarantee we’ve gotten him and all his troops. Hopefully, someone will want to make a plea deal.”
“So, in other words, until this case is completely solved, we have to continue not to trust anyone,” Shana reiterated.
Dalton stood. “Shit. I need a drink. All this spy, knife-in-the-back stuff is too much for my blood,” he said, heading for the door.
“It’s early, but I think I’m going to have that drink with him,” Caden said, following Dalton out the door.
Marcel stood and chuckled as he rubbed a tired hand down his face. “I think your brothers have the right idea with that drink, but some of us still have work to do, and I have a feeling this case is far from over.”
He headed for the door. Before opening it, he turned and said to Shana and Jace, “I’ll keep the two of you informed of anything I think you need to know.” He then left.
Jace glanced over at Shana. “I need to call a meeting of my executives immediately to let everyone know what’s going on before they get wind of it in the media.”
Shana nodded. “There’s something else you might want to do, as well.”
At the lifting of his brow, she added, “Get prepared to hold a press conference.”
* * *
Several hours later, Jace sat at his desk with his head thrown back. This had been one hell of a day. It was amazing the difference a few hours made. He had awakened that morning after such a wonderful weekend feeling on top of the world. Never had a day started off so right to end up so wrong.
He felt tired, drained. Although he’d felt the same way several times over the weekend, at least he could claim during those times the exhaustion had been pleasurable and enjoyable. This time, it was not. He had been on the job a little more than a month, and already he’d been thrown in the line of fire. He was glad both the meeting with his management staff and the press conference had gone well.
“Granddad, I hope you know what the hell you were doing by asking Caden, Dalton and me to make that promise,” he muttered quietly to himself. Luckily, his brothers