He knew it was her before she turned around. When she did, he saw it all at once. The dark jacket, the composed face, the authority that sat on her so naturally, it looked effortless. Behind her, the screen displayed Elise Warren, chairwoman and CEO, Warren Meridian Group. Gavin walked into the room.
He sat down at the seat someone pulled out for him. He opened the briefing materials placed in front of him and stared at the first page without reading it. Elise met his eyes once briefly. Something moved across her face. Not guilt, not yet.
Something closer to the look of a person watching a door close that they'd left open too long. Then she continued the presentation. Gavin sat through all 50 minutes. Q& A handshakes at the end. He answered two questions when the conversation turned to operations.
His voice was steady. Nobody in the room would have known. When the room began to clear, he stayed in his seat. He poured a glass of water from the pitcher on the table and looked out the window at the parking lot below. He gave himself the time he needed.
When only Elise and her lawyer remained, the lawyer gathering papers at the far end, Gavin stood. Can I talk to you alone? The lawyer excused himself. Elise came around the table. She started to speak.
Gavin, I was going to tell you, I know how this looks. And he held up one hand, not aggressively, just wait. He reached for his coat on the chair back. As he turned, his arm caught the edge of the table and a folder slid off and hit the floor. He bent down and picked it up.
He started to set it back on the table. Then he read the tab. Gavin Brooks personal background briefing. He opened it. One page in then another. his work schedule, his lunch habits, his volunteer hours at a food distribution program in North Minneapolis, his family, Maryanne, Dana, Paul, Lucy, a summary of the internal safety report he'd submitted 14 months ago, the one that had cost him the promotion,.
And at the bottom of the third page, handwritten in pencil in the margin, Christmas Eve, Northpine Cafe, approximately 6:40 p.m. Gavin closed the folder. He set it on the table. He did not stand up immediately. He stayed bent slightly over the table with one hand resting on the folder, looking at nothing in particular.
Then he straightened. He looked at Elise. You knew I'd be there. It wasn't a question, but she answered it. "Yes." The silence that followed had weight in it.