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Here she goes, Gerard thought. His sister had something up her sleeve, and he knew it was about to fall in his lap like a chunk of cement.
Emersyn smiled at Gerard, a cat-with-cream-on-her-whiskers smile. Then she pointedly looked at every member of the board, nine-tenths of whom were male. His sister had fought like a banshee for respect from this group, and it had been hard won. In some cases, like Richard Silverman, the admiration jury was still deliberating.
“I have one word for you. Scott Cybersecurity. Well, okay, that’s two words.” Her grin increased.
Scott was the world leader in cybersecurity. They’d jumped into protection detail when the internet was in its infancy, learned faster than anyone else, and had grown exponentially ever since. Gerard had researched the company, but they’d never strayed from using Murdoch Financial as their money gurus.
“Why do you mention them?” Silverman said with a touch of spite in his voice.
Gerard was grateful he’d asked because no way would he show Emersyn his interest, no matter how bad he wanted to know what she had up her sleeve.
“Because a little birdie—actually, a not so little birdie—told me that they might be open to bids.”
Stealing Scott away from Murdoch would be a badly needed boon for Gerard, not to mention sticking it to the company that had been a thorn in the Barrett family’s side since his father’s early days .
“Who told you this?” Silverman asked, a deep scowl on his face.
Even Rowan sat forward. He’d seen enough of her expressions to know Emersyn’s information had surprised her. She’d worked for Murdoch, so wouldn’t she have known this was coming? She never mentioned a thing about Scott. If she knew, why would she hold back that information? Bringing Scott to Barrett Investment Group would be a feather in her cap.
“I can’t tell you where this information came from,” Emersyn said. “It’s confidential. But I’ve been made aware that the Scott family is not happy with some recent decisions by Murdoch Financial. They pride themselves on great retirement packages, and their investments have lost money—a significant amount—two years in a row.”
Rowan’s eyes widened. Could she have been so naïve that she hadn’t seen this coming while at Murdoch? Gerard had given in to Emersyn about hiring Rowan. Emersyn found her eminently qualified for this job. Rowan must have had a comparable position at Murdoch, so why hadn’t she known about this? Emersyn always performed thorough checks on employees. Had she missed something with Rowan? Maybe he should recheck with Murdoch and verify exactly what Rowan McCarthy’s job there had entailed.
“We would’ve heard if that was the case,” Silverman said, looking deceptively relaxed, except for an increased ruddiness in his face. What was going on with the man?
Gerard seemed to be coming up with more questions than answers today, and he didn’t like it one bit.
Emersyn shook her head. “It’s very much on the q.t. Somehow, Murdoch got Scott to keep this under wraps.”
“I can’t believe that some inkling wouldn’t have filtered out to the general public. A disgruntled retiree or employee who changed jobs.” Gerard glanced at Rowan, whose rosy cheeks told him she either knew more than she’d let on, or she’d let something big slip through her fingers at Murdoch.
Hands on hips, Emersyn glared at her brother, then stared down the board members, lingering on Richard Silverman. “Look, we can argue validity, or we can start putting together a bid. What do you want to do?”
Gerard looked around the table. Rowan’s head was down, and she didn’t look up from the frenetic notes she wrote on her pad. Silverman sat there with a furious look on his face, something Gerard couldn’t figure out.
If there was even an iota of truth to his sister’s information, they needed to act on it. This could be the coup of the century and would set Barrett up as one of the major players in the world of finance, not to mention getting them back on the right financial trajectory. They couldn’t afford not to take it seriously.
“Let’s put together a bid.”
With a satisfied nod, Emersyn returned to her seat.
“Any idea how much time we have to put this together?”
“Not long. I get the impression they’ll be going public in a couple weeks, so if we want to get in the door before that…” She let her words trail off. Everyone knew being the first to bid carried a lot of weight.
“All right then. Why don’t you and I meet right after this and put together the skeleton.”
“Oh, no, brother. Not me. I won’t be available.” A flash of humor crossed her face before she hid it.
Gerard planted his hands on the meeting table and stared at his sister. “You’re what?”
“I’m not available.”
Another conversation they should be having in his office instead of here, but Gerard couldn’t stop his immediate response. He clenched his teeth. “Why not?”
“Because I am going on a well-deserved vacation.”
Gerard glanced at Richard Silverman. Despite his earlier agitation, he now sported a smug look that Gerard wanted to wipe off his face. The man seemed to revel in Barrett’s CEO’s going at each other.
