I know. He picked up his coffee, which had gone cold. It's still a good job. The general council moved on the Pacific Ridge documentation the same afternoon. By Thursday, the vendor was off the Cambria bid list on four defensible technical grounds.
No mention of Phoenix. Nothing that could be picked up and thrown back. Clean, documented, done. On Friday at 217, Marcus' cell rang from a blocked number. He was in the side office in Cambria.
He picked up on the third ring, set his second phone to record, and said, "Web, you think you're smart." Fitch's voice. Marcus had heard it in meetings twice years ago. It was a voice that was used to being the most assured one in the room. Right now, it had an edge in it that the room assurance was struggling to cover. Pacific Ridge was one move.
You got a name off a list. You think that's the game? I think it's part of one, Marcus said. I've got 12 years of relationships in this industry, Fitch said. I've got people who owe me more than you cost me, and I've got patience.
You should have stayed in Phoenix, web. You were nobody there. At least there nobody was watching. That's probably true. Marcus said a pause.
Fitch had expected more push back or defensiveness or fear. He'd been doing this long enough to have a read on how people responded to pressure. And Marcus not giving him any of those options was making him recalibrate on the fly, which was exactly when people said things they'd meant to keep quiet. You don't even know what you walked into, Fitch said. Tell me.
Marcus said another pause. This one longer. You think Callaway is protecting you? She burns through coordinators. You're useful right now.
The second you're not, were you a limited partner in Trident and Pacific when they filed the civil suit? Marcus said the holding company, not your name. Silence, because the discovery documents from that case are public record, Marcus said. And I've got a text from an unsaved number that uses specific language about a project detail that was never reported publicly. I haven't done anything with either of those things yet.
The call ended. Marcus saved the recording, sat for a moment, then typed a message to Diane's personal email, not the work address, he called. I recorded it. Let me know how you want to proceed. Her reply came in 38 minutes.
Don't move yet. I need 3 days. Trust me. He looked at that last sentence for a while. Then he called Lily.