Marcus was very still. Where did you hear that? He said, I have sources inside the organization, Owen said. I want to be transparent with you. I'm not looking to write something damaging to you or to the Caldwell family.
The angle I'm pursuing is about corporate culture, specifically about what happens when someone inside a company tries to protect institutional power at the expense of a private individual. A pause. Your story is part of that, and I'd like to give you the opportunity to tell it in your own words before I write it with what I have. Marcus stood in the middle of his workshop with sawdust on his hands and thought very carefully about everything he was about to say. I appreciate the call, he said, but I'm going to need to think about this.
Of course, Owen said, I'll give you 48 hours. After that, I'm going to write what I have. What do you have? Marcus asked. Footage of you helping Henry Caldwell at the Harland Equipment Yard, which has apparently been circulating within certain business circles in Atlanta.
The broad outlines of Richard Hayes's departure. the connection to the Brentwell construction situation. A pause and the name of the parallegal who noticed the unauthorized background check and alerted Henry Caldwell's office. Marcus' mind went immediately to the piece of paper in Tessa Yon's pocket. Someone had talked or Tessa herself had. Give me 24 hours, Marcus said.
He hung up and called Emily immediately. She answered on the first ring which told him she'd been waiting to hear from him for reasons neither of them had named yet. I just got a call from the Atlanta Constitution, he said. The silence on her end lasted exactly 2 seconds. Owen Patrick, she said, you know him.
He's been sniffing around the haze situation for 2 weeks. My PR team flagged him. Her voice was sharp and focused now fully in executive mode. What did he say? He has Marcus told her. all of it.
He didn't leave anything out or soften anything because she was someone who needed complete information in order to think correctly and she'd earned that. When he finished, she was quiet for a moment. Tessa Yunt, Emily said. She came to me directly last week. She was worried about what she'd done sending that text getting involved.
I told her she'd done the right thing. A pause. She may have felt like she needed to go further to make sure it actually mattered. Can you stop the story? Marcus asked.
Yes, Emily said. Probably. My legal team can. She stopped herself. But I don't think that's the right answer.