Chapter Forty-One
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Anton stood silently outside the grand doors of his grandfather’s home office. Even though the double doors were tightly closed, he could hear the voices from the other side. His father insisted Anton be excluded from the conversation within. As far as Anton was concerned, that was ridiculous. Something big was happening, and it had to do with his name and the company he’d been told would be his. Samuel could shelter him from the discussion and knowledge of the business dealings, but Anton wasn’t ignorant. He could read a NYSE ticker. Rawls Corp. stock had plummeted from 79.8 to 56.4 at the close of trading. The news release proclaimed rumors of wrongdoings within the corporation. The four men within the office weren’t drinking beer and playing cards; this was deadly serious. It felt like everything was crashing down around them. Someone opened a dam and the water couldn’t be stopped.
Inside the cherry-paneled, regal office, Nathaniel questioned Clawson, “You said no one would ever know. What the hell happened? Where did these allegations come from?”
“Mr. Rawls, I don’t know. We’ve covered our tracks for almost ten years. You’ve made a bloody fortune. Maybe the feds got nervous because you were making too much profit.”
“What the hell is that, too much profit?” Nathaniel couldn’t sit. He paced every inch of the plush carpet. “Have they investigated Trump or Gates? I’m nowhere close to those men.”
“It doesn’t matter who else has been investigated.” Samuel tried to bring the men back to the task at hand. “What matters is that we get our ducks in a row and meet the investigation head-on.”
Clawson gazed over to his assistant, Cole Mathews. Mathews was busy organizing stacks of paper and utilizing a shredder to reduce the paper overload. Clawson addressed both Rawls men. “Cole and I are making sure there is no evidence linking Rawls to any of the allegations.”
“You said no one would know. Why is Mathews shredding papers? There shouldn’t be anything that needs to be shredded.” Nathaniel watched as Mathew’s green eyes briefly met his. He seemed to be working as fast as the shredder would allow.
Samuel spoke above the grind of the shredder, “Instead of shredding, we need to be open to the investigation. Be honest, take our fines and penalties and move on.” He might as well have been talking to the walls. His father and Clawson were devising a strategy as Mathews shredded without pause.
Cole Mathews entered their inner circle about two years ago. He didn’t talk much, but was a whiz at research. Tell him a stock or a company, and bingo, he would have more insider information than one would believe humanly possible. Suddenly, Nathaniel regretted not having Clawson and Mathews sign some kind of power of attorney or non-disclosure statement, a way to distance him from them.
These two men helped make him mega-wealthy. At this moment, if possible he would hang them both out to dry to save himself and his family. Hell, Samuel wouldn’t even meet his eyes.
Briefly, Nathaniel thought about the recent news. The space shuttle “Challenger” had blown up during takeoff. That was a damn shame. Just maybe that news would overshadow the unfortunate false allegations regarding Rawls Corp.
The sudden disappointment of a hope leaves a scar which the ultimate fulfillment of that hope never entirely removes.
—Thomas Hardy