Chapter 13 - The Proxy War
Charles called an emergency shareholder meeting for the following Monday.“He can’t call it while the court order is active,” Samantha said.“He did.”“Then he wants a confrontation.”Victoria sat in the company conference room with Priya and Courtney. “What happens if he wins?”“He could vote to remove you from operational control,” Priya said.“Even with the fraud clause?”“The clause protects ownership. It doesn’t automatically make you competent to run six hundred trucks.”Courtney laughed softly. “That’s what he’ll argue.”Victoria looked at her. “What would you argue?”“That you should fire half the board and promote Priya.”Priya blinked. “I’m standing right here.”“You’re the only one who understands the numbers.”Samantha opened a folder. “We need a proxy campaign.”“With whom?”“The minority shareholders. Many inherited their shares from Lucas’s father. Charles has been pressuring them for years.”Priya pulled a list from her laptop. “Twenty-three shareholders control thirty-one percent.”“We need fifteen percent,” Samantha said.“I can call them,” Victoria said.Samantha hesitated. “They may be hostile.”“Then they can be hostile to my face.”The calls lasted six hours.Some shareholders remembered Victoria as a quiet girl who sat beneath the boardroom table during holiday parties. Others remembered Charles’s charm and believed every rumor he spread.One man asked, “Why should we trust a widow who has never worked in logistics?”Victoria answered, “You shouldn’t trust me because I’m a widow. Trust the records. Charles moved seven million dollars into shell companies and forged my signature. If you vote for him, you are voting for a theft you can already see.”By evening, they had secured nineteen percent.“Enough to block him,” Priya said.“Not enough to control the meeting,” Samantha replied.Courtney entered carrying a folder. “I found the mechanic.”Victoria stood. “Ray Danner?”“He’s alive.”“Where?”“A rehabilitation center in Rochester.”“How did you find him?”Courtney looked uncomfortable. “I paid someone.”“With what money?”“Money Charles gave me.”Samantha took the folder. “He was injured?”“A hit-and-run. Two days after Lucas’s crash.”Bell arranged an interview.Ray Danner lay in a hospital bed with one leg in a brace. His voice was thin.“I didn’t cut the brake line,” he said.“But you inspected it,” Bell replied.“I was told to sign off on a faulty part.”“By whom?”Ray looked at Victoria. “A woman.”Victoria’s stomach tightened. “The woman in the red coat?”“She wore a red coat.”“Did you know her?”“Not at first.”“Who was she?”Ray closed his eyes. “I thought she was Courtney.”Courtney stepped forward. “It wasn’t me.”“I know that now.”“How?”“She wore a wedding ring.”Everyone looked at Courtney’s bare hand.Ray continued. “The woman told me Charles wanted the vehicle disabled, not destroyed. She said the part was temporary. I refused.”“What happened?” Bell asked.“She told me she’d ruin my family.”“Did you tell Charles?”“I called him.”“What did he say?”Ray’s face twisted. “He said, ‘Do what you’re told.’”Victoria felt the room go silent.“Did Charles order the brake failure?” she asked.“He ordered me to make Lucas stop driving.”“Why?”“To force him to hand over the account access.”Samantha asked, “Who was the woman?”Ray looked at Victoria.“Your mother.”Victoria stared. “My mother was dead.”“Then it wasn’t her.”He reached under his pillow and pulled out a photograph.The woman in the red coat stood beside the company garage.Her face was turned away, but the ring on her left hand was visible.It bore a distinctive black stone.Victoria recognized it.Samantha wore the same ring.
