Nobody looked at them. Elena took the phone from Mattie and stepped toward a private alcove near the building's east wall. A narrow sitting area with two chairs and a small table. The kind of space designed for exactly this kind of conversation. Mattie followed, positioning himself so his back was to the room.
She called the number back. Lenora Harrington picked up on the first ring. Ms. Maddox. Her voice was 72 years old and carried every one of them low, unhurried, and completely without pretense.
Thank you for calling back, Mrs. Harrington. Elena kept her voice neutral. I wasn't expecting to hear from you. No, Lenora said, "I don't imagine you were. " A brief pause.
I watched the meeting. Braden had a camera feed installed in the boardroom 3 years ago. He doesn't know that I have access to it. Another pause, shorter. I've been watching for some time.
Elena said nothing. She let the silence work for her. What I'm about to tell you, Lenora continued, is not something I'm sharing out of disloyalty to my son. I want you to understand that. Her voice didn't waver, but something in it tightened.
The sound of a woman who had been sitting on something heavy for a very long time. I'm sharing it because 12,000 people deserve better than what's coming for them. Elena's grip tightened on the phone. Meridian Rising isn't what Braden presented in that room today. Lenora's voice was even precise, like someone reading from notes they'd prepared carefully.
The redevelopment project targets four historically black neighborhoods on Chicago's south side. The plan is full demolition. 12,000 residents displaced, families, churches, businesses that have been there for generations. She paused. In exchange, Braden has been privately negotiating tax incentive packages with members of the city planning commission.
Arrangements that are not in any document you were given. The lobby felt very far away. Your 750 million, Lenora continued, was the last piece. The number that made the project financially bulletproof. Too big to stop once the capital was secured and the commission votes were locked in.
She let that land. Your withdrawal has damaged the structure, but it hasn't destroyed it. Braden will move quickly. Elena looked at Mattie. His expression told her he was reading everything on her face and cataloging it.
He's already started, Elena said. It wasn't a question. Yes, Lenora's voice didn't soften. There is a story being prepared for circulation that Maddox Capital's seed funding 20 years ago when you were starting out was obtained through improper means. It isn't true.