Naomi turned toward the conference room.
Through the glass wall, she could see several people.
One of them was Grant Ellison.
He had his back to the hangar, talking to a banker over a laptop.
If Naomi raised her voice, he would hear.
She chose not to.
Not yet.
Mercer reached toward her arm.
Naomi stepped back.
“Do not touch me.”
He stopped.
For half a second.
Preston laughed.
“Oh, come on.”
Then Mercer placed a palm against Naomi’s upper arm and pushed her away from the aircraft stairs.
Not violently.
Not enough to knock her down.
Enough.
Her handbag struck the side of a tool cart and fell onto the polished floor.
The sound changed the room.
Even Preston stopped smiling.
Naomi looked down at the handbag.
Then slowly looked toward Mercer.
“Take your hand off me.”
Mercer removed it.
Avery muttered:
“Jesus, Doug.”
Naomi crouched and picked up the bag.
As she did, another executive standing near the worktable glanced at the black acquisition folder Preston had thrown down.
“Is this hers?”
Preston said:
“Yeah.”
The executive nudged it with his shoe jokingly.
The folder slid off the lower shelf.
He kicked it lightly across the polished floor.
“Return to sender.”
The men nearest him laughed.
The folder traveled twenty feet.
Stopped beneath the nose landing gear of the white jet.
Naomi stood.
Her expression had changed.
The anger was gone.
That was worse.
She picked up her phone.
Preston gave an exaggerated sigh.
“Calling somebody?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Naomi tapped one contact.
The line connected immediately.
“Renee.”
Carter Meridian General Counsel Renee Lawson answered.
“We’re ready whenever you are.”
Naomi looked toward Preston.
“Cancel the transfer.”
Silence on the other end.
Renee knew Naomi well enough not to ask whether she had heard correctly.
“The entire authorization?”
“Yes.”
“Closing or pause?”
“Cancel.”
A brief silence.
“Understood.”
Preston frowned.
“What transfer?”
Naomi ignored him.
Renee asked:
“Reason code?”
“Buyer discretion under Section Eleven.”
“Confirmed.”
Naomi ended the call.
Preston stared at her.
Something about her calmness finally began to scare him.
Inside the glass conference room, a banker leaned toward his laptop.
His face changed.
Then another screen changed.
The large closing dashboard mounted on the conference wall flashed from green to red.
BUYER PAYMENT AUTHORIZATION WITHDRAWN
Below it:
$770,000,000
Grant Ellison turned so quickly his chair rolled backward.
Inside the hangar, the change appeared simultaneously on a second display used for the transaction presentation.
Conversation stopped.
One champagne glass clicked against a table.
The senior banker rushed out of the conference room.
“Who canceled the Carter Meridian authorization?”
Naomi looked toward him.
“I did.”
The banker stopped.
Preston’s face changed.