Chapter 20
Prelude to Mayhem
Gareth hadn’t stopped grinning since Jack had texted his flight details on Monday afternoon. He hadn’t admitted it aloud, but he’d expected Aidan’s job to keep Jack in Japan all summer. Having him home in time for his birthday… that was a treat.
The chance to remove two of Julian’s cousins from Nancarrow’s board was another treat.
Both he and Aidan had long pushed for it, and Julian had finally agreed.
It wouldn’t help them identify their new, aggressive competitor, but it would remove a long-standing annoyance from the company’s board and strengthen Julian’s position.
Gareth would take that win. And just to prove that good news came in threes, his mother had told him in confidence that all the schools she worked with offering dance classes had ditched Barrington Manville and chosen different instructors for the new school year.
“When’s Jack landing?” Aidan asked as they made their way up the stairs to the boardroom.
“Just after three, all going well.”
“We should be done by then. You’re picking him up?”
“You bet. Did he do what you needed?”
Aidan stopped on the stairs and turned. “I don’t have the slightest,” he admitted. “I received a request for help and forwarded it to Jack. We’ll have to get him to explain what he’s been doing.”
“That’s nothing new. Can debrief wait until next week?”
“Unless Jack says otherwise, I don’t see why not.”
Gareth pushed foreign jobs, debriefs, and even Jack’s imminent arrival to the back of his mind. They’d orchestrated the coming meeting, but it wouldn’t do to be complacent. He followed Aidan into the boardroom and set his phone and notepad in their place.
Julian stood at the head of the table clad in black trousers and a black silk shirt—despite his well-known dislike of all-black outfits.
“At least he isn’t copying Jack’s leather getup,” Aidan murmured, catching Gareth’s thoughts. They did that sometimes, read each other’s minds the way friends did.
“He could pull it off.”
“And look fabulous doing so, I know.”
“Look fabulous doing what?” Alex arrived, wearing a sheath dress that made Aidan blink.
“Channelling Black Widow?”
She threw a pen at him. “I don’t recall you complaining in Reykjavik.”
“I’m not complaining now.”
Gareth had only heard snippets of Aidan and Alex’s first meeting, including mentions of Aidan ditching a helicopter in the Thames. Alex’s outfits had never come up. “One day, you’ll have to tell me the whole story,” he said.
“Not likely,” Aidan muttered. “You know far too much about it already. If we tell you more, Alex will have to shoot you.”
“Fine. I’ll ask Jack.”
“And aren’t we a cheerful sight?” Connie Nash, who headed Nancarrow’s services group, had also dressed in black. She greeted them all with a smile and looked Aidan up and down. “You should have worn your wig and gown.”
Aidan blinked. “That’d be… inappropriate.”
“They won’t know. And didn’t you say the more intimidating our lineup, the better?”
“There is that. Are the auditors coming?”
“They certainly are.” Julian shook hands with two newcomers. “Meet Helen Fink and Kurt Mandryk,” he introduced a man and a woman, both in smart suits, but not the foreboding black. “They’ve agreed to tackle the forensic audits.”
“Glad you could make it here so quickly,” Gareth said. “A touch of extra reality is always good. I’m Gareth Flynn.”
“Ah, yes. We spent the morning with your Mr Frazer. He walked us through the backup procedure and the complete data trail for the missing laptop.”
She didn’t mention the discussion between Ronald and Cecily Frazer had recorded, and Gareth grinned. “I look forward to your findings.”
Kurt grinned right back. “Unless something unexpected comes up, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. But kudos to your IT department. Your safety measures are quite something.”
“What can I say? Stiff competition in the mining industry.”
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Julian had returned to his space at the head of the table. “Shall we get this show on the road?”
They all took their places—a wall of black with the two auditors off to one side—and faced the screen.
One by one, the other participants came online.
Cecily, dressed to the nines as usual. Harper, joining from his desk in the City, in a business suit.
Donovan and Roland, more casually attired in open shirts and matching frowns.
“Thank you for joining us,” Julian greeted. “This won’t be a long meeting.”
“There wasn’t an agenda attached to the meeting call,” Cecily interrupted. “Most irregular. The Companies Act states that—”
“Quite right. My apologies for the oversight.” Julian talked right over her. “This won’t be a long meeting, as I said. A couple of questions and an announcement, followed by a vote. My first question is for Ronald. When did you lose your laptop? And why did you not report the loss?”
Gareth wanted to applaud. He approved of direct attacks, and Julian had delivered his with aplomb. It worked, too. Had Ronald been a carp, he might have won a beauty contest. He opened and closed his mouth, not emitting a single sound.
Julian left him hanging.
When he proved incapable of a reply, Julian turned to Cecily. “You knew in early December that the laptop had gone missing. Why did you not report it?”
She peered down her nose at him. “It wasn’t my issue to report. It wasn’t my problem. Reporting something that isn’t my problem… that’d be… that’s interference.”
Gareth had never heard her sound so incoherent.
“According to the Companies Act, you’re obliged to exercise due care and diligence and act in the best interests of the company,” he pointed out.
“Ignoring data loss isn’t exercising due care.
Neither is disabling the security features on a laptop containing sensitive information.
That unprotected laptop contained reports for all fourteen projects that are now under attack.
Some are as far along as the permitting stage, and we’re in danger of losing that investment. ”
Julian gave a brief nod, then turned his attention back to the screens.
“I have hired a firm of forensic auditors who will establish the impact of Ronald and Cecily’s failure to safeguard business sensitive information and warn us of the loss.
Once we have a better understanding of the scale of the damage, Nancarrow Mining will be pursuing legal action for damages.
” Julian took a breath. Then he continued.
“Because Ronald and Cecily Nancarrow have knowingly endangered company operations, I propose their immediate removal as non-executive directors of Nancarrow Mining.”
“There’s no doubt that the laptop’s security was turned off?” Donovan Nancarrow glowered from the screen.
“None,” Gareth answered the question. “The laptop connected to the network with all security features disabled. If it was lost or stolen in that state, anyone who turned it on could access the data on it.”
“Bloody idiot,” Donovan muttered, but said nothing further.
“Any other questions?” Julian didn’t take his eyes off the screen. “Then we’ll put this to the vote. In favour of removing Ronald and Cecily from their non-executive directorships?”
The result of the vote was not in doubt.
Harper already had his hand up, and everyone in the conference room followed suit.
The only one Gareth wasn’t sure of was Donovan, who scowled at something on the desk in front of him.
Jack had commented once that Donovan had debts and needed his non-executive director’s pay and the dividends his shares produced to keep the wolf from the door.
He also dabbled in politics, which wasn’t a cheap hobby.
Would he support the family, or vote with his wallet?
Muttering under his breath, he put up his hand.
“Motion carried. Cecily, Ronald—please forward all company materials and assets at your earliest convenience. I’m sure you’ll understand if I do not express my thanks for your service and support.”
It was the most unforgiving speech Gareth had ever heard Julian make to members of his family, and he wanted to cheer.
Before he could do so, his phone rang.
Correction.
It screamed.
And so did Aidan’s.
Gareth snatched the phone and took in the map, flashing red. “Break-in at mine,” he said, pushing away from the table. “Need to go.”
“I’m right behind you.” Aidan was standing, too. “You talk to the boys. I’ll raise the cavalry.”
“Anything we can do?” Julian understood the emergency. Maybe Alex had briefed him at some point. Or Jack.
“Thank you,” Gareth managed, mind already in Kingston. “I just need to get home.”
“Drive safely.”
Gareth sprinted from the room, blew past his office to collect his car keys, and took the stairs to the garage, because running beat waiting for the lift—or that was what Jack always said.
Gareth gunned the car out of the garage and joined the traffic heading west. He pushed his speed and kept his mind on the road, the traffic, the stupid idiot who cut in front of him without a care…
His finger flickered over the call button, switching from number to number, but neither Daniel nor Nico replied. Not on their home phones, or their mobiles.
“Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.”
Gareth repeated the words like a mantra, repeated his actions while hoping for different results.
It was like Jack lost in the Romney Marshes, but a thousand times worse.
What the fuck was going on over there that Daniel and Nico couldn’t call for help?
Were they hiding? Running dark? But even then, they had instructions to keep their phones on so Gareth could listen in.
He wanted to plan his approach, optimise each step before he got there, but to do that, he needed data. Without it, he’d be walking blind into a situation. With Aidan right behind him.
He reviewed the equipment he had in the car—tyre irons, road flare, jump leads, fire extinguisher. Windscreen washer fluid was useful in a pinch. He carried an extensive toolkit, and—of course—he had knives. Nobody who lived with Jack would ever be without a knife or several.
Tyres screeched, and a horn blared as he ruthlessly cut in front of a lorry. That lumbering crate could take its time delivering its load. Gareth didn’t have that luxury.
Ten miles. He needed to cover ten miles, and he’d be home.
Nothing and nobody would get in his way.