Chapter Thirteen
Derek inhaled deeply as he stood on the hotel balcony.
Fresh air was exactly what he’d needed after a long day of making lists and questioning everything he knew about the man he’d worked with for years.
When the conference had resumed as promised, he and Alayah had stayed in his room to hunt down the Black Marlin Technologies board members.
All had been accounted for in Minneapolis except for Curtis, who was accounted for in California at the time of Hugo’s murder.
Upon hearing of Hugo’s death, he took the four hour flight back to Minneapolis.
Derek expected a call from him soon. Was he dreading it?
Yes. He expected to be blamed for Hugo’s death.
The terse text he’d received from Curtis saying he’d be calling was enough for Derek to question his choices.
Rather than guess, he called Ryland for advice.
Should he even talk to him, or should he let his calls go to voicemail?
Ryland suggested he answer and get a feel for the temperature at the main office.
There was little Curtis could do to him, so he should approach the call calmly but not offer any information that wasn’t already public knowledge.
While he waited for the call, he worked on compiling a list of anyone with deep enough pockets to purchase Black Marlin Technologies.
Derek was certain it wouldn’t be Curtis or anyone else on the board.
They didn’t have the capital. Hugo was unlikely to leave the company to a single individual, but the possibility existed that he would leave it to the board as a whole.
If that happened, the board would take the company public and protect everyone’s job.
He understood their argument, but he also saw Hugo’s side.
He’d started the company with nothing and had built it into what it was today.
Hugo knew that taking a company public was often a nightmare scenario that destroyed friendships, not that his refusal not to hadn’t resulted in possibly the same thing.
Hugo had told Derek on the way to Minneapolis that he was making plans for semiretirement.
He wanted to live a little before he was too old to enjoy a sunset cruise in Alaska or the company of a beautiful woman.
Had that surprised him? Yes. Honestly, he figured his boss would work until he’d had a heart attack on the job.
Ironically, he had, but it wasn’t of his own doing.
It left Derek to wonder who else knew about his retirement plans.
Hugo never came out and said he was selling the company, but it wasn’t a business you could give only part-time attention to.
He would have to sell or hand over his control of the business to someone else for it to run smoothly.
Suddenly, Derek wished he had asked more questions.
He’d just thought it was Hugo being Hugo, and there was no way the man who was so consumed by work would ever walk away from it.
Thinking back over the last few years, he could see Hugo moving toward retirement.
He attended fewer conferences and was less excited about every little development that came across his desk.
He relied on Derek to keep things running while he took long lunches and early dinners.
Maybe that was why he had started to feel so jaded about his work over the last year.
His work had frequently become him doing Hugo’s work.
He stood up straight on an inhale. Why hadn’t he thought of that until now?
Maybe because when in the trenches, a person didn’t see anything around them until they climbed out.
His phone rang, and he glanced at the number, taking a steeling breath before answering. “Curtis,” he said as a greeting. “Thank you for getting back to town so quickly.”
The man on the other end was silent momentarily. “I’m still in shock. What the hell happened?”
“I wish I could tell you,” Derek admitted. “We did the same thing we do for every conference.”
“But somehow, a lethal dose of antifreeze ended up in his water? The water you poured into the bottle?”
Derek had already braced himself for the accusation, but it still hurt to hear it from someone he’d worked so closely with.
He was not about to discuss this with him, as Ryland warned him the call may be recorded.
“I don’t know when I’ll be able to return to the office,” he said instead.
“It could be a week, but hopefully less. Once I’m cleared to leave town, I’ll head back. ”
“Whatever for?” the man asked, disdain lacing the two words. “Your employment here has been terminated based on Hugo’s death. Your personal effects will be shipped to your house.”
“I see.” Derek had been prepared for that scenario, but it still hurt.
He had considered them friends and had hoped they’d look out for him.
He would get his final pay, as per his contract, but then he’d be on his own.
“Maybe we should sit down and talk about this. You may need my help until Hugo’s will is read and the business secured. ”
“As though we’d need help securing the business from a glorified secretary. I think we can manage while Hugo’s lawyer sorts out his wishes. You may leave your work computer and phone at the front desk. Your credentials have been pulled, so don’t bother trying to log in.”
“Since the Duluth Police Department has my work computer and phone, they may have an issue with being unable to access them. I’ll be sure to let them know who to call. Goodbye, Curtis.”
He jabbed the red button on his phone in anger and groaned, letting his head fall back to face the sky. In the span of a five-minute phone call, he had become a pariah in the industry, and there was nothing he could do to change that. Forget starting his own company. No one would touch him now.
* * *
ALAYAH KEPT AN EYE on Derek through the patio doors from where she sat on the bed, icing her ankle.
Selina had stopped by after they’d arrived at the hotel to check on her.
Satisfied that it was a simple sprain they could manage with ice and an elastic bandage, Selina had agreed she didn’t need to see the doctor.
Since Alayah couldn’t wear an adult-sized ankle brace, and Selina didn’t have access to anything smaller, she had no choice but to use the elastic bandage.
That meant she had to allow Derek to help her rewrap it whenever it had to be removed for icing.
It also meant having his hands on her body.
That sent tendrils of heat through her, even if his touch was innocent.
The biggest thing she’d learned about him today was that he had no reason to kill his boss.
Not that she ever thought he had, but when she’d listened to him speak about Hugo and heard the emotion that laced each word, she’d understood that Hugo was more than a boss to him.
Derek would most certainly mourn Hugo’s loss.
Their relationship had begun as a working one, which over time evolved into a more father-and-son-like relationship.
Derek had told her multiple stories about helping Hugo out with projects he needed done at home.
That wasn’t part of his job description, but he’d said he knew Hugo couldn’t do it alone.
While he could afford to hire it done, sometimes it couldn’t wait, so Derek had stepped up.
Hugo had told him that he was the closest thing he ever had to a son, and he was so grateful for him.
It was for that reason she suspected he had struggled so much with the decision to leave Black Marlin Technologies for greener pastures.
He was worried about leaving Hugo, knowing their relationship was special and Hugo was unlikely to find someone like Derek again.
Part of her also wondered if he was worried about Hugo’s mental health.
Derek had mentioned several times that Hugo had been forgetful recently, and his health seemed to be worsening.
He’d encouraged him to see his doctor, but Hugo had refused.
Despite that, Derek was worried enough to go behind his back and schedule a doctor’s appointment next week. An appointment that came too late.
She could tell something had changed when he walked back through the patio doors. The fight had gone out of him after that phone call, and she suspected Curtis had thrown around accusations that he’d killed Hugo.
“How did that go?” she asked, removing the ice from her ankle.
Rather than answer, he tossed the phone on the bed and started to rewrap her leg without her asking.
When he was finished, he sighed. “He told me my employment was terminated since Hugo is dead. My personal effects will be sent to my home, and my credentials are revoked. I have no place there anymore.”
Frowning, she stood up on the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. “I’m sorry.”
When he wrapped his arms around her, she leaned into him, the hug doing as much for her as for him. “He called me a glorified secretary and said my time with Black Marlin was done.”
“I guess this is your chance to break out and start your own company without guilt,” she said, running her fingers through the soft hair at the nape of his neck. She swore he shivered, but she couldn’t be sure.
He leaned back with a smile and helped her sit again before he sat beside her on the bed.
“Unfortunately, that phone call tells me that ship just sailed. I can start my own company, but no one will want to work with me if they think I had something to do with Hugo’s death.
If Curtis starts spreading lies about me, my time in this business will be over. ”
Alayah hoped that would be the worst of his problems. She wondered if it had crossed his mind that he could still be arrested for Hugo’s murder.
He grasped her hand in his, as though it was the only thing keeping him from drowning.
She glanced at his handsome face, now marred with a frown, and she vowed to do whatever was necessary to prove his innocence.
If she couldn’t, he could lose a lot more than his job.