“Just a heads up.” Cameo glanced around as they entered the lobby of ESTY. “It’s not a good look for the Mayor and the CEO of Palmer Innovations to end up in jail.”
“When Trent Jr. took over as CEO he was still a little upset about his mother being put in a mental institution. Time has eased the tension some. Maybe this time we can have a civil conversation.”
“You and Trent Jr.?” Cameo shook his head. “This I have to see.”
“Hello, Mrs. Beckett. Is he in the office?”
Lawrence’s secretary glanced up. “Mr. Mayor, is he expecting you?”
“No. I’m just dropping off an invitation for him. It won’t take long.”
“I will let him know you are here.” Mrs. Beckett stood then walked into the office, closing the door behind her.
“An invitation?” Cameo raised an eyebrow.
“Just a ruse. I have no intention of inviting Lawrence to my wedding.”
“What about Mint?”
The question surprised LT. “Mint? What about him?”
“Do you plan on inviting Mint to the wedding?”
“Would you?” LT glanced around.
“No, but you are a softy,” Cameo chuckled.
Mrs. Beckett walked out the door. “He will see you now.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Beckett.” LT walked into the office. “Lawrence, it’s been a while.”
Lawrence leaned back in his chair. “What do you want, Palmer, I have a lot on my agenda today.”
“This won’t take long.” He reached into his inside jacket pocket. “This is an injunction to keep you from selling any more shares of ESTY until a full accounting has been done by an accounting firm assigned by the court.”
Lawrence jumped out of his chair. “You can’t do that. You don’t have the authority.”
“You’re right, I don’t. But a judge does and he did.” LT smiled.
“What in the hell do you want from me, Palmer? You said you did not want any part of ESTY. Okay, no problem because I have no plans of sharing any portion of it with you or any of the other bastards you find out there.”
“That’s the problem. You and your sister will do anything not to share any portion of your father’s estate. As I told you before, I will do everything in my power to ensure all of your siblings receive their fair share of this company. You selling shares and putting the proceeds in your pocket is not fair to the others.”
“You’ve gone too far, Palmer. I control this company, not you. I can dispense of resources in any manner I see fit. That means I can hire and fire at will and if we need an influx of income to stay in operation I do have the authority to sell shares of stock. So unless you want to finance the salaries of the employees, I suggest you remove this injunction and leave us the hell alone.”
“I cannot do that. I could not help but notice ESTY’s shares of stock have been selling at an abnormal pace. That leaves the company vulnerable to a possible takeover. If that happens all of the siblings will end up with little to nothing. A full accounting will identify any mismanagement of funds that has occurred since Trent’s death,” LT continued. “If what I suspect you have been doing is proven, I will have you prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
“You are a piece of work, Palmer. You dare to accuse me of misuse of funds, while inflicting misuse of your powers. How do you think the public will react when I tell them how you have been asserting your authority for a personal vendetta?”
“You do that, Lawrence, and I’ll be glad to share with the authorities about the rat poison your sister put in my fiancée’s tea at Mulberry Landings. Hmm…I wonder who they would believe, the Mayor or a man from a family of violence and mental illness?”
“That would be slander. I will sue you for every dime you have,” Lawrence declared.
LT glared at the man and spoke in a voice filled with venom. “Come anywhere near someone I care about again and you nor your sister will live to see another dime.” He held the glare for a moment longer to ensure he received the message, then he smiled. “Got to go. I have another appointment. Have a good evening.” LT turned then walked out of the office.
Cameo followed, chuckling after he closed the office door. “That was an invitation?”
“Yes,” LT explained. “An invitation for him to come for me so I can end this situation with the Trents once and for all.”
“Now I know why you asked me to come and not Grant.”
“This is personal. I don’t want the Mayor’s office connected to what I’m about to do.”
They reached the car. Before getting inside, someone called out to them. They looked up to see Mint walking towards them from the warehouse.
“Yo, what’s up? What y’all doing here?” Mint asked.
Mint was one of LT and Cameo’s childhood friends. When LT became Mayor, he elevated Cameo to the CEO of Palmer Innovations. Mint took offense. He unknowingly helped LT’s father infiltrate the city’s computer system to tamper with voting machines. The last time the three talked, it did not end well.
“Mint.” Cameo nodded.
LT waited, after all, Mint was the one who crossed the line when he put his hands on Phire. It was also Mint who quit his position at PI.
“Hey, LT.”
“Mint.” LT nodded.
“So what y’all doing here?”
“Handling some personal business,” Cameo replied.
“Oh yeah, the boss is your family, LT. I always knew you had a little White in your blood.” He chuckled.
LT glared at him. “I’ll be in the car.”
“LT, man, look,” Mint stopped him. “I ain’t mean nothing. I was just joking.”
“Do I look like I’m laughing?” LT raised an eyebrow.
“Man, look, that was a year ago. Can’t we just let that go?” Mint suggested.
“No,” LT declared, opened the car door, got inside then closed the door behind him.
“Cameo, man, come on,” Mint pleaded.
“You said some things, Mint. It may have been in anger, but you said them,” Cameo said. “To this day you haven’t apologized for anything you did to the man. Until you do that, it is what it is.” Cameo got into the vehicle, started the car then pulled off.
Lawrence watched them from the window of his office. It did not appear the conversation went well. He watched one of his workers walk back into the warehouse. Looked like he may have a resource he wasn’t aware of.