“This is a strategic discussion.”
“I understand.”
“You’re no longer involved in operations.”
“I know that too.”
Richard glanced toward the others.
“Perhaps you and I should speak privately afterward.”
“No.”
The single word changed the room.
Daniel rested both hands on the table.
“You can continue after I finish.”
Nobody interrupted.
Daniel reached into his inside jacket pocket.
He removed a folded sheet of paper.
Soft.
Yellowed.
Creased dozens of times.
He unfolded it carefully.
“This is the first payroll list from Mercer Industrial Supply.”
Several people leaned slightly forward.
Daniel placed it on the table.
“Six names.”
He touched each line.
“Evelyn Price. Harold Benton. Maria Lopez. Frank Dawson. Linda Shaw. And me.”
Nobody spoke.
“One truck. One warehouse. One telephone. Enough cash to survive maybe four months if every customer paid on time.”
He smiled faintly.
“They didn’t.”
A few people shifted.
Daniel continued.
“Evelyn used to call suppliers from a desk beside the furnace because that was the only warm corner in winter. Frank drove deliveries during the day and helped load orders at night. Maria once delayed cashing her own reimbursement check because she knew the account was tight.”
He looked toward Richard.
“None of that appears in revenue history.”
Richard said carefully, “Daniel, nobody is denying the company’s past.”
“That isn’t what worries me.”
“What does?”
“That you think it is only the past.”
Richard’s expression tightened.
Daniel turned toward the screen.