“Here’s where my annoyance started. I don’t like secret servers. I don’t like locked files. Especially not when I know there’s ten million dollars basically unaccounted for. Since I’m acting interim CEO, I tasked IT with getting me access.”
“You had no right to do that,” Brady said.
I leaned across the table. “Wrong. I have every right. Especially when I saw the other massive expenditure that LuTek had already agreed to also in those files. The buyout that was announced today to the tune of fifty million dollars. To be honest, I’m pissy about the fact LuTek has that kind of money and I had no clue.” I paused. “No, that’s not true. I’m livid that if I hadn’t accessed the files in the server late last night, I would’ve had to read in the fucking newspaper, like everyone else in the general public, that a subsidiary of the company where I’m currently acting interim CEO spent fifty million dollars acquiring a cable network. Let me repeat. Fifty. Million. Dollars.”
Silence.
“So let’s do the show-of-hands thing again. Who knew that LuTek has been in negotiations with All Sports Central for two months to purchase Wolf Sports North?”
Brady’s hand went up.
Ash’s hand went up.
My dad’s hand went up.
“Great. Who knew about the purchase only after it was a done deal?”
Monte’s hand went up.
Archer’s hand went up.
My mom’s hand went up.
“Awesome. Last really fun thing . . . who didn’t know until today that we now own a cable network?”
Everyone else at the table raised their hand.
“Annika, none of the press releases announcing the acquisitions came through Lund Industries PR?”
She shook her head. “Frankly, on a ‘don’t fuck with my department’ note, I’m pissed off we weren’t tasked with creating a much better way to announce the acquisitions.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing personal, as I’m so often told.”
My dad cleared his throat. “If I may.”
I nodded.
“Nothing we did was illegal. We are allowed to make financial decisions in closed-door executive committee without board approval because LuTek is a subsidiary.”
“So you don’t regret your fellow board members—as well as your family—finding out about our business deals via the newspaper?”
My father looked me dead in the eye and said, “No. We did what we had to do. The cable network was a steal at that price.”
“Brady? Ash? Care to share your opinions?”
“I stand by what Archer said,” Ash said.
Brady said, “I concur with the CEO.”
“I know that sounds like a lot of money,” my dad continued, “but Brady and Ash deal with numbers higher than those every day in the buying and selling shell game. They don’t always have time to call a board meeting and get approval or the opportunity is lost.”
“Then why have a board at all?” Jensen asked. “Sounds to me that any objections we raise, you’ve already designed a work-around.”
Jax nodded. “It’s been a point of pride that we don’t have infighting on the LI board, so maybe we’ve become a rubber stamp for the executive officers’ decisions.”
Little discussions broke out and I had to rein them back in. “I agree some of this could stand for a deeper look, but that’s not our focus today. Does anyone have any questions regarding LuTek’s purchase of Wolf Sports North and ESP?”
No one said a word.
That tiny kernel of bitterness arose that my two-million-dollar screwup had garnered way more criticism and suggestions. But the executive officers outright hiding sixty million dollars’ worth of deals doesn’t even get a WTF from anyone on the board?
Just proved I was about to do the right thing. “Well, I have something to say. I understand the need for covert discussions when it comes to business deals. During the past few months after I was named future CEO, I’ve tried to take a more positive attitude anytime I’ve been dismissed from a discussion due to privacy issues. I’ve done my research on acquisitions prospects after the Digi-Dong disaster. Anytime I’ve asked specifics on actions or purchases or sales that didn’t make sense, I basically received a pat on the head and have been told I’d understand if I had real-world experience. Several of you have commented that my time at LI has been so insular that I’ll always be two steps behind. The lack of faith in my abilities has forced me to ask some hard questions of myself.
“So since Archer is on the mend and will likely be back in the big chair as early as next week, I officially tender my resignation to Lund Industries as well as resigning my position on the board of directors. Effective immediately.” I floated the typed resignation to Ash. “Sam, my PA, has agreed to stay in my office until everything on my docket has been cleared. If I might suggest adding Zeke, Zosia or Zach to fill my seat on the board, it’d show solidarity for all the branches of the Lund family, not just those Lunds fortunate enough to reap the rewards of Jackson Lund’s machinations. Thank you.”
I bailed out of the room and nodded at Sam on my way past him. He’d detain them long enough for me to make my getaway.
But where to go? No idea.
* * *
* * *
Gabriella wasn’t answering her phone, which was just as well. I needed to think about what her omission regarding her job meant for the trust we’d begun to build.
I loved her. I knew she loved me. But I also knew that if she lost out on her dream job because of me, we might not ever get past it.
So I was wallowing. Sipping a glass of my most prized scotch, Tullibardine 1952.
The doorbell rang at nine P.M. I knew it wasn’t Gabriella since I’d given her a key.
Maybe she’s here to return it.
Cheery thought.
I snagged my phone and opened the door cam app.
In the image my mom and dad stood on my welcome mat.
As soon as I opened the door, my mother flung herself into my arms.
“Ah, hello, Mom.” I glanced at Dad. “Shouldn’t you be in bed? I’m pretty sure you’ve had enough excitement for one day.”
“Being a bit bossy to your old man for being a former acting interim CEO, doncha think?”
I couldn’t help it; I laughed. “Anyone ever told you you’re an asshole?”
“Lots of people. Every damn day. Now, you gonna let us in, or what?”
My mom finally released me. She wiped under her eyes before looking up at me. “I’m so mad at you right now, Nolan Finnegan Lund.”
Full-name mad. “Come in anyway.” I shut the door and followed them into my living room. Might make me selfish, but I was happy I’d put away my spendy bottle of scotch because I didn’t feel like sharing it. “Can I get you something to drink?”
My dad saw the finger of amber liquid remaining in my glass, opened his mouth to ask for the same thing I was having, but my mom shook her head at him.
Defiant, he locked his stare to hers. “Nothing for me, thanks.”
She said, “Oh, don’t be such a baby, Archer,” and steered him to the couch. “Doctor’s orders.”
Mom perused my space as Dad and I avoided eye contact. “I forget how perfectly you this house is. I love it.”
“It’s funky but it works for me.” I took a tiny sip of my scotch, closing my eyes for a moment to savor the complex flavors.
“Does this place work for Gabi?”
“It did. I haven’t heard from her after the earlier revelations about the new ownership at Wolf Sports North.”
“Son. We had no idea Gabi had gotten a job offer from them.”
“Wasn’t something she could share, given she already had a job with Jax.”
“LuTek wasn’t supposed to announce it until next week. If you want, I could—”
>
I held up my hand. “The absolute worst thing you could do is speak on her behalf. Current management at Wolf has already accused her of getting the job offer due to nepotism. You forcing them to hire her would just prove that. She has to live with their final decision either way, but she knows she got the position on her own merit, even if they opt to pass on employing her now.”
“I wish the best for her. I really do. The only reason All Sports Central came onto our radar was because LuTek had purchased ESP. They believed we might be expanding operations in Duluth and they approached us. Initially, we turned them down. Then the LuTek financial team sent the breakdown of the increased revenue stream that could only happen with an FCC-approved merger. Brady said the numbers more than held up so that’s how it came about.”
“Which is why it makes no sense that you would hide that.”
He sighed. “Damn, son, you should’ve been a detective.”
“Excuse me?”
“We thought we’d buried that paper trail for the ESP acquisition, but little bloodhound you just kept sniffing and digging until you uncovered it.”
Stay calm. “I don’t like being locked out of information that by rights shouldn’t have required me to become a goddamned cyber detective to find.”
Mom put her hand on my knee. “We know. That’s your dad’s way of saying he’s proud of you. We both are. But you are missing several pieces of the puzzle and you deserve to know the truth.” She nudged Dad. “Go on. Tell him.”
“Six months ago no one at LI or LuTek had heard of ESP. I received a cold call email that said I needed to buy the company for twenty million dollars. I sent the email to spam and forgot about it. Two days later, I got the same type of email, a little more strongly worded. Again, I ignored it. The next time, the email came with a picture.”
“Of what?”
“Of Winita Lund. Beat to shit. It was an old picture, but it was very clear who was in it.”
Winita Lund was Zosia, Zeke and Zach’s mother. “Who would have that kind of picture?”
“That’s what we didn’t get. It was sensitive info, so I brought Ash and Brady in on it. The next thing that arrived via email was a handwritten account from some woman who we knew wasn’t Grover’s wife, detailing how Grover Lund had raped her.”
A chill went down my spine. “Jesus. Who sent it?”
“Be patient. I’m getting there. This person claimed to have photographic evidence going back almost forty years of Grover Lund’s psychopathic behavior. That’s when I knew we were being blackmailed. The prevailing wisdom is refusing to give in to these kinds of demands. Normally I would’ve turned it over to our lawyers, but I suspected the blackmailer’s reaction would be swift and harsh. When we found out who was sending us this stuff . . . to be honest, it knocked us for a loop.”
Mom leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I’ll get you a drink of water. Keep talking.”
“Who was blackmailing us?”
“The daughter of the woman Grover had raped. Scarlet Biersbach.”
“Meaning . . . Scarlet was his kid?”
Dad nodded. “Scarlet didn’t know that Chris Biersbach, the man she’d called Dad, wasn’t her biological father until he told her the whole story after he went into hospice. Leda, her mother, had become pregnant and was terrified of Grover, so Chris agreed to marry her and raised the baby as his.”
“How old is Scarlet now?”
“Two years older than Zeke. And yes, we demanded a DNA test and it came back with the biological markers that indicated Scarlet is closely related to Grover’s other kids.”
My eyes searched his. I didn’t know how he managed to get our cousins’ blood to verify the tests, but I wasn’t shocked that he’d done it. “Do any of them know they have a half sister?”
“As far as she’s indicated to us? No. Chris Biersbach built ESP into a successful business. The only part Scarlet told us about her childhood was Leda committed suicide when Scarlet was eight. Chris knew Grover had married and had a family. He’d see Grover around town. Drunk. Rude. Lecherous. Since Chris was in a position of power as a business owner in Duluth, he set out to negatively affect Lund Fisheries contracts and covertly smear Grover’s name. Grover wasn’t liked in the community and didn’t care about his reputation, so it was easy for Chris to obtain pictures of Grover being abusive to his own kids, his wife and even a few of the younger guys who worked for him on the docks. As well as stories of the other horrible things Grover had done after he and your grandfather had a falling-out.”
“And Scarlet knew about none of this?”
“Beyond that her dad had turned bitter after her mom died? No. After his deathbed confessional, he told her where to find the files with all the pics and stories about Grover’s atrocities. When she saw the phrase ‘Make the Lunds pay,’ she took it literally. She’d inherited ESP from Chris and was struggling keeping it afloat. She promised to turn over the file if we bought her out.” He paused and took the glass of water from my mom. “LI could’ve weathered the storm from that information going public. But it would’ve been different for Zosia, Zach and Zeke. They’ve worked hard to earn the respect Grover never had nor cared about. That had the potential to ruin the fishing and charter business, not to mention make their lives in Duluth hellish.”
Mom handed me a glass of water and it hurt as I chugged it down, my chest was so tight with anger.
“Yes, we, the executive officers, buried that information, but we had good reasons for doing so. We also felt we needed a plan for how to bring this to Grover’s kids, which is why Monte and Cilla and Ward and Selka were told about the situation after we’d made the acquisition.”
“That’s why no one would meet with Zosia when she came to LI?”
He nodded. “She’s shrewd. She’d take one look at our faces and know something was up, because some of that stuff in the file . . . Christ, son, you can’t unsee it.”
Mom reached for my hand. “I don’t know what happened to Jackson, Lincoln and Grover Lund. Their father—your great-grandfather Magnus—amassed the wealth that built the Lund family name. They had every advantage growing up. Jackson refused to talk about him and given the fact both Jackson and Grover turned out to be nasty bitter men . . . I’m thankful every day for Alice Lund’s resolve to not let her sons turn out like their father. They’re all warmhearted, loving men, and that’s worth more than the Lund fortune—in my eyes, anyway.”
“Eeds . . .” my dad said softly.
At that point I had to get up, giving them a moment while I tried to wrap my head around the information. I snagged the Macallan 15, my go-to cheap scotch—which wasn’t cheap at all—and poured myself three fingers.
I paced as I sipped, letting all the information roll through my head.
When I returned to my seat, I was surprised to see on the clock that half an hour had passed.
My parents looked at me, then exchanged a bemused glance.
“What?”
“You have that stubborn set to your jaw that indicates we won’t like what you’re about to say.”
I raised a brow. “And that amuses you?”
“No, son, it makes us proud. Because you’re about to tell us how to fix this mess.”
“You’re right. I could rail at you for your stupid decision to give a goddamned blackmailer ten million dollars without blinking an eye, but in the years I’ve been at LI, you never would’ve given the Duluth Lunds that kind of money to improve their business or their lives. They’ve languished and we’ve let them. That’s about to end. The only logical and ethical solution is to give Grover Lund’s other children ten million dollars. Each.”
When my dad opened his mouth, I held up my hand. “You, yourself, said that LI deals with sums much larger than fifty million dollars every day, so thirty million bucks . . . is a drop in the fish bucket, right?”
He snorted at that.
“LI will also give the Duluth Lunds financial advice—for free—on how best to protect their inheritance.”
“Done.”
“The LI board of directors will expand to include all three members of the Duluth Lunds. And someone from LI will contact the Lincoln Lund branch of the family to open a dialogue about some of them serving on the board too.”
“I’ll agree to that as long as you rescind your resignation from the board.”
I tapped my fingers on the couch. “Agreed. But my resignation from the company stands.”
My mom looked stricken. “Why?”
“While I’d like to believe I’ve been spinning my wheels at LI because the executive officers were trying to keep me from uncovering the reasons behind LuTek’s acquisitions, the truth is I need practical experience running a company. Not a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate.
“Dad, you’ve said it yourself that you were pretty seasoned by the time you took the CEO position. You’d bought and sold and merged several businesses to expand LI’s platform. I need to learn how to do that, and sitting behind a desk, double-checking all potential empire-building options that are brought to my attention by someone else, knowing that Brady will triple-check the bottom-line numbers anyway . . . renders my time there useless. So I’m taking the leap to sink or swim on my own.”
“Define ‘on your own,’” my dad demanded.
“I’ve been searching for ventures for investment, but I will focus my search for owner/operator-type businesses. I don’t need to remind you my Lund trust accounts give me plenty of capital.”
“You’d turn down partnerships and use your own money?”