Clayton felt the threat beneath the pleasant words. Peton had named three things he had no natural reason to know were worrying him. "Then you shouldn't be surprised when I follow the contract to the last line," Clayton replied. "Good afternoon, Mr. Peton."
Peton left without another offer. Sherman watched the sedan pull onto Route 9 and shook his head. He reminded Clayton that Ambrose had lost a city maintenance bid to Peton's business in 2004 after being told that the competitor was the safer choice. Ambrose had not known how to prove what he suspected. He had simply taped his handwritten warning to the desk so the next generation would remember.
By Tuesday morning, the pressure was no longer limited to city hall. A distributor in Fort Wayne called to say two customer SUVs could not be released from the delivery truck because Reed's floor-plan financing line had been frozen. The bank had placed the account under a risk review after receiving information about suspected vehicle theft.
A floor-plan line was not money Clayton could casually replace with savings. It was the revolving credit that allowed a dealership to buy inventory, sell it, and repay the lender as each vehicle left the lot. When the line stopped, new vehicles stopped arriving. Customer deposits still had to be honored, and invoices on cars already sold did not disappear.
Clayton drove to First Tallest Bank and found the lobby crowded with people waiting for tellers. Loan officer Kendra Whitlow came out holding a photocopy of a police incident report. She was forty-seven, precise, and familiar with the Reed account. She did not invite him into her office as she normally would; instead, she asked him to speak quietly by a side counter.
"Your board requested an immediate review," she told him. "The report describes a suspected vehicle theft involving the dealership and its owner. Until the risk committee finishes, the line is unavailable."
"Who sent you the report?" Clayton asked. "My lawyer hasn't even been given a copy yet."
Kendra looked down at the paper. "It arrived by fax this morning. I'm not authorized to disclose the sender before compliance verifies the source."
"You suspended a long-standing credit relationship before checking whether the paper was accurate?" He was careful not to raise his voice, but other customers had begun listening. "My father and I made payments through this bank for more than twenty years. Not one late. What did I do that changed the facts of that account?"
Kendra's discomfort showed. "I believe you want to resolve this, Clayton. But the risk committee has authority over the line. I don't."
"Then ask them whether they have one document proving I stole a car. Ask them whether they know who owns the silver SUV in the police report. Ask them why they received that report before the person accused in it did."