Chapter Twelve
Derek stretched and snuck a look at his watch.
They’d been working for an hour and a half but hadn’t gotten very far.
Mostly because it took forever to set up her equipment, which was copious, but he was grateful she had a full system on-site to work with.
When she told him this was her travel system and he should see the one she used at Secure Watch, he couldn’t help but smile.
It was easy to picture her in front of four monitors while keeping track of the data on all of them without a problem.
“Do you have somewhere to be?” she asked as she sat on the desk chair that was retrofitted with the booster seat from her SUV.
The desk wasn’t low enough for her, so it was the only solution.
Besides, it allowed her to prop her leg up and keep ice on the ankle.
In an hour, Selina would check on them, and she wanted the swelling to be minimal so she wouldn’t get hauled to the ER.
A waste of precious time, if you asked her.
He couldn’t blame her. That was the last place he wanted to go.
Thankfully, his headache had resolved, and his face no longer pounded with every beat of his heart, so he was on the upswing.
“The only place I have to be is here. Is Cal on his way?”
“They should be here momentarily. Have you heard from the detective this morning?”
“Nope, but I don’t expect it to stay that way, which is another reason to get this sorted as quickly as possible. I could be hauled in at any moment for that formal interview they threatened me with last night.”
“If they had anything on you, they would have done it already,” she said. “Now they know you have a good lawyer, which means they can’t try to use fear against you. They’ll have to do the police work before they can bring you in, which takes time.”
“I hope you’re right,” he said as there was a knock on the door.
He walked to it and, after checking the peephole, pulled it open for Cal and Roman.
They were formidable men, and he could see why they ran a successful security business.
He certainly wouldn’t mess with them and he was never accused of being small himself.
“All set up?” Cal asked as they walked in.
“Ready to go, boss,” Alayah said. “Derek was just about to give me the breakdown on Hugo’s business.”
“Right,” he said, hand in his hair as he tried to put his thoughts in order so it would make sense to someone who didn’t live in his world. Roman and Cal grabbed chairs from the table and sat. “Hugo owned the business but had a four-person board he worked with.”
“Does the board hold any shares?” she asked as she typed, but he shook his head.
“No. Hugo maintained full control of the business. At least, he did the last I heard.”
“Which means Hugo called the shots and the board was along for the ride? Not sure I understand the need for a board then,” Cal said.
Derek made a so-so gesture as he walked toward Alayah. “Hugo had control of the business in terms of money, but he created a board to help keep him in check.”
“I don’t understand if it was his business,” she said, turning to him, and he was once again struck by her beauty.
Her bright smile made her blue eyes sparkle, and her petite nose sat above the perfect pair of kissable lips.
He’d likely never have the chance to kiss them, but that didn’t change the fact that he wanted to.
“Okay, so Hugo was known for his—” he motioned his hand around in the air, looking for the right word “—impulsiveness. He liked shiny new things, but they quickly became dull once he started working on the project and realized it would take longer than overnight to complete.”
Roman spoke up. “You’re talking about apps or something else?”
“Yes, apps and programs that interested him or that he heard about at a conference or in a magazine. Hugo was brilliant but extremely ADHD, and I mean that was a medical diagnosis he carried.”
“Is that why he set up a board to keep himself in check?” Cal asked and Derek nodded.
“He was self-aware enough to know that jumping from one thing to another without finishing anything wouldn’t make for a lasting business plan.”
“That’s kind of the nature of the beast with ADHD, though,” Alayah said. “Not finishing things is the struggle.”
“Fair, but Hugo could focus when he wasn’t given a choice.
Hence, the board. They had monthly meetings to discuss Hugo’s latest inspiration, programs and apps that were in progress within the company, as well as ones that were nearing completion and going to marketing.
Then they’d discuss what project they’d start next.
Sometimes, it was a unanimous decision, while other times, it required negotiation until an agreement was reached.
At least, that was how it was during my first year as his assistant.
I always sat in on the monthly meetings to take notes because Hugo was often lost in thought.
He would forget the finer points of things they’d talked about. ”
“And after the first year?” Cal asked as Alayah typed.
“The company was already a multimillion-dollar company when I joined it, but around the second year I was his assistant, he sold several apps for billions of dollars each. Suddenly, the company hit the Forbes list, and that changed the landscape. Hugo was less involved in the day-to-day coding and app development, and he had the financial freedom to work on his own little pet projects while his app developers worked hard to keep the business solvent.”
“What are the board members’ names?” Alayah asked with her fingers on the keyboard.
“Curtis Clemons, Joel Hill, Salma Barker and Charlie Grant.”
“And Hugo made five,” Roman said. “Was that so there was always a tiebreaker, or was it so Hugo’s vote could always be nullified?”
“I can’t answer that, though I suspect a bit of both,” Derek said.
“Hugo had big dreams, as is obvious by the way Black Marlin Technologies has become one of the largest companies in the tech industry outside of Silicon Valley.” Alayah rolled her eyes, which made him curious. He’d have to ask her about that later.
“Black Marlin Technologies. That’s an interesting name for a company in Minnesota,” Cal said. Derek wasn’t surprised that he’d pick up on something so subtle.
“Hugo was fascinated by black marlins. They’re the most sought-after fish but the most difficult to catch. They’re also giants of their ocean. That’s what he wanted to be. Sought after, difficult to catch, and a giant in the business. And he was, until yesterday.”
For a moment, that overwhelming grief for the man who had become like a father to him, despite all his flaws, overtook him.
In hindsight, a fresh understanding dawned on him about how important Hugo was to his life.
He cleared his throat to force away the emotion, so he could focus on helping Secure Inc. find Hugo’s killer.
“If I understand this correctly, we have four other suspects in Hugo’s murder,” Alayah said, giving him a moment to collect himself, for which he was grateful.
“I guess?” Derek asked. “But Curtis flew to California two days ago, so he’s certainly not in Duluth. I don’t know about the rest of the board, but I would assume they’re at the office working.”
“It’s only a hair over two hours from Minneapolis to Duluth,” Roman said. “An easy trip to make without raising anyone’s suspicions or anyone even noticing their absence. We need to track their whereabouts over the last two days. Curtis included.”
“He’s in California,” Derek said adamantly. “I drove him to the airport, so he doesn’t even have a car.”
“Did you see him board?” Cal asked, and Derek shook his head. “Then you don’t know that he’s in California. Where can you rent a car?”
“The airport,” Derek answered with a groan. “It’s not Curtis. He doesn’t stand to gain anything by killing Hugo.”
“That you know of,” Roman said, holding up a finger. “Until we know who gains control of the company after Hugo’s death, we must look at everyone in the company. Including yourself.”
“I have no secrets,” Derek assured them. “Do you want my social security number? You got it. Do you want my phone records? I’ll call and get them for you. Do you want my banking records? I can show you those right now.”
Cal held up his hand to stem his angry words. Actually, they were more desperate than angry. “Listen, son, I want you to understand that we’re not trying to pin this on you. Just the opposite is true. At the very least, we need to prove that you have no financial gain from Hugo’s death.”
“I don’t. I’m now unemployed, so I’ll have to take a lower-paid position within the company, if they’ll rehire me, or move on.”
“Mina is working to learn who gets controlling power for the company now,” Roman said.
Derek shrugged. “I would assume it’s Curtis or the entire board for a period of time. That’s how it’s usually done so that things can continue to run smoothly in the interim. From there, I would think the company would be sold via the terms are stated in the will.”
Alayah paused her typing to turn to him. “You don’t think Hugo would just leave it to someone in the company?”
“It doesn’t work that way in business,” Derek said. “Though…” He frowned, and Cal motioned for him to spit it out. “The board members have a salary, but they don’t have shares in the business. Hugo owns the business himself. Owned the business himself,” he corrected.
“Which means while you may not be privy to who the company goes to upon Hugo’s death, the board might be.”
“Maybe, but I just remembered an argument that broke out at the last board meeting. Honestly, it was the reason Hugo agreed to speak at the conference. He wanted to get away from the office for a few days and decide how to approach the matter.”
“Was it a serious argument or something minor that could be easily fixed with open communication?” Cal asked.
“This was the most serious argument I’d ever heard in that boardroom. The board wanted to take the company public, but they couldn’t do that without Hugo’s agreement.”
“And Hugo didn’t want to do that?”
Derek shook his head as he bit his lip. “He threatened to fire them all and said the only way they’d get his company was—”
“Over his dead body,” Alayah finished, and he nodded.
“Looks like they got their wish,” Cal said.
Derek didn’t want to believe that one of the people he worked closely with every day was responsible for Hugo’s murder. Then he remembered what Ryland had said last night in the car. Everyone was capable of murder in the right circumstance.
They might have just found their motive.