The computer screens whined as they booted up.

My phone, sitting on the desk where I had left it, began to vibrate against the wood.

The screen showed Malcolm Sayer’s name.

I snatched it up and pressed it to my ear.

“Malcolm,” I said. “What’s happening?”

“Avery, thank goodness you answered,” Malcolm said, his voice unusually tight. “Are you at the office?”

“Yes, Calvin and I are here,” I said. “Someone just cut the power and broke in.”

“Did they take anything?”

“I don’t think so,” I said, looking at the ledger still in my hand. “We frightened them off.”

“Listen to me very carefully,” Malcolm said. “Your father has made his move.”

My stomach tightened into a hard knot. “What did he do?”

“He just called an emergency meeting of the board of directors,” Malcolm said. “It is scheduled for nine o’clock tomorrow morning.”

“He can’t do that,” I said. “I am the designated successor.”

“He can if he has enough voting shares backing him to challenge the transition,” Malcolm explained. “He has Marcus Sterling.”

I looked down at the handwritten note in Elliot’s ledger.