Peter Phillips and the four men with him all stood as May and Jessup entered the room. 

“Ms. Major,” Phillips began, extending his hand, “my name is Peter Phillips.  The men with me are my attorneys. The man to my right is Adam Sims. He’s my lead counsel.”

May did not smile or shake his hand.

“Gentlemen,” Jessup said. “We will need the room to speak with Mr. Phillips privately.”

“What?” Sims blurted incredulously.

“This is outrageous,” Phillips barked. “Who the hell are you?”

“My name is Jorge Jessup,” he said. “In case you don’t recognize the name let’s say until four hours ago I was Preston Marbury’s… personal guest.”

The look of anger and disbelief faded from Phillips’ face. He was shocked.

“What is your role in this transaction?” Attorney Sims asked.

Jessup ignored Sims, “Mr. Phillips, the room, please? The conversation takes on a whole new direction if they remain.”

Phillips glared at Jessup as the wheels turned in his head.

“Adam, you and the boys wait downstairs,” he said.

“Peter, you need an attorney present when…”

“Now, Adam!” Phillips barked.

The men all left the room. Ray was waiting to escort them downstairs. Once the conference door was closed, only Jessup, May and Peter Phillips remained.

“So…” Phillips began in a soft whisper, “if everything you just said is true and you have been free for four hours, why haven’t I heard…”

“You mean, why didn’t Marbury call you and tell you?

“You said that, I didn’t,” Phillips interjected.

“Because Stan the Man was… persuaded… to call Marbury just a half hour ago and tell him, everything was… just… fine.”

Phillips sighed, clearly taken aback.

“Ok, you have my full attention,” Phillips said. “What do you want?”

“For the moment, I want you to listen,” Jessup said. “My good friend Commander Horner is standing outside. About four hours ago, he rescued me from four thugs who were planning to kill me. Preston Marbury orchestrated the entire thing.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Phillips said, smugly. “What does that had to do with the price of tea in China.”

“Bear with me,” Jessup said. “When Commander Horner acquired my position, he called a friend of his, from the FBI, Special Agent Gil Lattimore… along with an efficient SWAT team.”

“This is all leading to a point, I assume…” Phillips interjected.

“Oh, yes,” Jessup assured. “The SWAT team busted in and saved my bacon without firing a shot. We captured Marbury’s thugs, including a Stan Manford, aka Stan the Man.”

“I’m so relieved,” Phillips mocked.

“The SWAT team apprehended Stan the Man unharmed,” Jessup said. “What we found on him was surprising. It turns out that Stan had a vial of Aconite poison on him. Do you know what Aconite is, Mr. Phillips?”

“Never heard of it,” Phillips said.

“I believe you. Before today, I never heard the term, either,” Jessup admitted. “But it’s a real thing. They also call it aconitum. It’s a poisonous substance derived from wolfsbane.  They also call the plant monkshood and blue rocket among other names.”

“So, what?” Phillips barked.

“The product, when administered properly, can induce a fatal heart attack, and it is undetectable in a normal autopsy.”

Phillips paused. The smug expression disappeared from his face. Jessup smiled.

“However, there’s good news,” the former SEAL continued. “There is a test that will detect aconite in the system. It’s not normally used in an autopsy because only a few places in the country has the means to test for it and because the use of aconite as a poison is so rare.”

Phillips cleared his throat feeling very uncomfortable. Jessup noticed the discomfort and smiled again.

“I see I still have your attention. Good,” Jessup continued. “Agent Lattimore put the squeeze on Stan, who was screwed and knew it.  When Lattimore mentioned a deal, Stan the Man started singing like a bird.”

Phillips sat back and sighed.

“That’s right,” Jessup continued. “He implicated Preston Marbury and Roger Cavanaugh.  Funny thing is, he didn’t implicate you, Mr. Phillips. We both know you’re involved though. Maybe not in the whole thing, maybe not as deep… but involved. My guess is, you’ve been involved in the conspiracy to manipulate the sale of the company but shielded from the backchannels—the ones that involved the murder of Mike Major.”

“I had nothing to do with any of this. You can’t prove a thing,” Phillips insisted.

“That’s true… for the moment,” Jessup said, “But when we squeeze Preston Marbury, do you think he’ll want to go down alone?”

Phillips looked long and hard at Jessup, “What is it you want?”

“We need for you to back off this sale, today… now,” Jessup said.

“I can’t do that,” Phillips insisted. “The board of directors wants to expand into this territory. We’ve sunk millions into laying the foundation for entry into this market. Even if I wanted to back off the board would not allow it.”

“I think we can show you a way it will work,” Jessup said. He waved at Mrs. Sweeney through the window. She opened the door and handed him a large paper map, rolled neatly. Mrs. Sweeney left again.

Jessup unrolled the map onto the table, “Mike Major had a plan to discuss with you. Preston Marbury found out about the plan which would have led to his certain financial demise.  Marbury and Cavanaugh had serious debt issues. If the sale didn’t go through, it would have ruined both men. So, Marbury poisoned Mike Major and made it look like a heart attack.”

May gasped.  Peter Phillips looked shocked as well.

“Jesus!” exclaimed Phillips. “I had no idea Marbury killed Mike Major, I swear. He and I…”

“Relax, Mr. Phillips, I believe you,” Jessup interjected. “This was all carefully planned by Marbury and Cavanaugh.  We both know you are not guiltless though. This conspiracy to manipulate this sale is pretty wide spread. You agreed to pay Marbury tens of millions on top of what he would have cashed out as an investor in order for Marbury to convince a very hesitant Mike Major to sell.”

“You can’t prove that,” Phillips said.

“Maybe not at the moment,” Jessup said, “but if you and I don’t come to an arrangement, the FBI may have to cut a deal with Marbury to implicate you. Think of that, Mr. Phillips. Everything you’ve worked for your entire life—gone just like that. You’d be in jail. Your children would be fatherless. Your company stock would bottom out…”

Phillips raised his hand motioning for Jessup to stop, “I’ve heard enough. Even if I agree, it doesn’t change the fact that the board will not let me back off.”

“But this will,” Jessup said. He rolled out the paper onto the table. “This is a map of the state. The colored areas represent the 165,000 acres of land owned by Major Timber. This is what Mike Major was working on before his death.”

“What’s the difference between the red and green areas?” Phillips asked.

“Good question, and I have the answer,” Jessup said. “Marbury tried to delete all of Mike Major’s emails but we recovered them. Within those emails were dozens of threads between Mike Major and real estate consultants and attorneys. This is what he intended to propose to you, Mr. Phillips.”

“Tell me,” he said.

“The red areas are approximately 80,000 of the east side acres owned by Major Timber,” Jessup said. “Mike Major intended to sell those acres to you at a very reasonable price, I might add. It would allow Redwood Timber to have a presence in the territory that would keep you churning timber for twenty years to come.”

“But?” Phillips asked.

“Major Timber would decline to sell. They would keep 85,000 of the far west acreage, which is more timber than they really need. Mike Major planned to use the revenue generated from the sale of the land to buy out his investors and assume full ownership again.”

Phillips looked at the map carefully and looked up at Jessup, “If that was the case, Marbury and Cavanaugh would have recouped their investments. Why didn’t they settle for that?”

“Because Mike Major intended to exercise a clause from the original agreement allowing him to buy out the investors at the company’s current market value. The investors would have lost twenty-five percent or more of their initial investment. In the end, this is what got him killed. Both Cavanaugh and Marbury were in debt up to their eyeballs. This would have ruined them.”

“What about the other investors?” Phillips asked.

“It looks like they were innocent pawns, along for the ride.”

“So, Marbury came up will this bullshit plan to sell the company and cash in,” Phillips said. “And it would have worked, too, if you didn’t happen along.”

“So, can you take this plan to your board?” Jessup said.

He paused and breathed in deep reflection.

“I can,” Phillips replied. “It will give us the presence in the state we need and save us a great deal of money. It would have cost a fortune to acquire Major Timber’s assets and liquidate them. This will be a win-win.”

Jessup smiled, “That’s what I thought.”

“And none of this will blow back in my direction?” Phillips asked.

“The FBI will cut a deal provided you testify against Preston Marbury and Roger Cavanaugh,” Jessup said. “The rest is up to you.”

Phillips sighed and nodded. He turned toward May, “Miss Major, does this work with you?”

She nodded, trying unsuccessfully to force back a smile, “Yes.”

Phillips stood and walked to May. She stood. He extended his hand. “We have a deal,” he said.

“I hired Miss Major a new corporate attorney,” Jessup said. “I think you know him. He’s from Seattle. William Winthrop.”

Phillips rolled his eyes and sighed, “Yeah I know him—a real ball-buster that one.”

“He’s outside waiting for the go ahead. Miss Major, Mr. Winthrop and our CFO will join your attorneys to draft the agreement. We will need it signed by you and May Major before you leave here today, Mr. Phillips.”

“Is that it?”

“No, there is one last thing.”

“Figures.”

“I hear a rumor of pricing shenanigans and plans to poach Major Timber’s clients. There will be none of that. If we get a hint of it, we may suddenly discover some information the SEC would find interesting about the side deal you agreed to with Marbury.”

“Understood,” he replied. “Don’t worry. That will not be a problem. I’ll call my attorneys back up here. May we borrow your conference room?”