“How desperate?” I asked.

“Desperate enough to sell his remaining business assets,” Sterling replied. “We received word an hour ago that he has reached out to an intermediary. He is looking for an anonymous corporate buyer to liquidate everything he has left.”

I leaned back in my chair, looking at the bright Dallas sun streaming through the blinds.

“He wants to run,” I murmured.

“It appears so,” Sterling said. “He wants to dump the assets, take whatever cash he can get, and clear his personal debts before the federal investigators look too closely at his books.”

“Let him think he has a way out,” I said. “Who is the intermediary he contacted?”

“A broker named Harrison,” Sterling said. “He doesn’t know we own the entity he is negotiating with.”

“Perfect,” I said. “Have our acquisition team make an offer. Keep it low, but just high enough to make him think he can escape.”

“I will set it up immediately,” Sterling said.

I hung up the phone and looked at my computer screen.

A new email notification popped up in the bottom corner of my monitor.