The chairman looked toward him.
“Please wait outside. No one is to interfere with Miss Carter while we're determining the facts.”
Graham stared.
“You're protecting a maid over your own executive team?”
Arthur turned.
His expression had become cold.
“I'm protecting the company from executing a document we have reason to believe contains a false certification.”
Then he looked toward Naomi.
“Miss Carter, you may remain long enough to provide your contact information to independent counsel if you wish. After that, we'll arrange an appropriate way to obtain your statement without putting you under pressure from anyone involved in the transaction.”
Naomi nodded.
“Thank you.”
Arthur looked toward the directors.
Then spoke the words Graham had feared more than any insult.
“This meeting is adjourned. No signing will proceed until the board's independent advisers have examined the consent and the underlying authority.”
The secretary closed the final folder.
The sound was small.
But Graham felt it like a door slamming shut.
His $2.4 billion transaction had just been stopped by a woman carrying a coffee tray.
And the worst part was that she had not needed to know the entire contract to do it.
She had recognized a single impossible date.
Naomi lost her job forty-seven minutes after leaving the boardroom.
Her staffing supervisor called while she was standing outside Northstar's service entrance, still wearing her navy-blue uniform beneath a borrowed coat.
The October wind moved between the skyscrapers, lifting loose strands of hair from her bun. Traffic filled the avenue, and office workers passed without noticing the woman holding a phone against her ear.
“Naomi, what happened up there?”
Her supervisor sounded furious.
Naomi closed her eyes.
“I raised a concern about a document.”
“A document?”
“Yes.”
“You interrupted a confidential board meeting!”
Naomi looked toward the glass tower.
“I understand.”
“Do you have any idea what kind of client this is?”
She swallowed.
“Yes.”
The supervisor exhaled sharply.
“Northstar has requested that you never be assigned to its offices again.”
For several seconds, Naomi didn't speak.
Then she asked.
“Does that mean I'm being removed from the agency?”
“We're suspending assignments while we review the complaint.”
Naomi felt cold.
She'd expected consequences.
But the speed still hurt.
She looked toward the passing traffic.
Then answered quietly.
“Please send the decision in writing.”
Her supervisor hesitated.
For a moment, the anger seemed to falter.
Then she said she'd send the necessary information.
The call ended.