“Sure.” Sherry got up and went back to her own desk.
“He should be back here within the hour.”
“Okay, can you tell me the name of the company wanting to take over Port City?”
“InDesign, is the name of the company.”
I took out my cell and called Stephanie.
“Boss, you okay?” she sounded concerned.
“Yeah, I’m fine, but we have another case,” I told her.
“When it rains it pours.” Stephanie recited.
“No kidding. Listen get everything you can on a company called InDesign and their take over strategy or any companies they have bought out. Do a deep dive, okay?” I instructed.
“Sure, no problem.”
“Thanks.” I said, then hung up.
“Ethan?” Sherry poked her head back into Kay’s office.
“Yes?”
“Michael is here.”
Sherry stood aside and a middle-aged man dressed in a suit that probably cost as much has my car walked in and gave Sherry a questioning look. He was what most women would probably consider attractive.
“Sherry what’s going on?” he asked looking from me to her.
“Mr. Nichols? I’m Agent Craddock, FBI.” I stepped forward and offered my hand.
“FBI?” He shook my hand.
“When was the last time you talked to Kay?”
“Kay, oh my God, what’s happened?”
“We don’t know that anything has happened yet.” I motioned to a chair. “Please sit down.” Sherry quietly closed the door.
I sat in the chair next to him and turned it, so we were facing each other.
“Has something happened to Kay?” he asked directly.
“No one seems to be able to find her,” I told him.
“And that involves the FBI?” He was understandably curious.
“I’m a friend of Kay’s so I’m helping out for the moment.”
“Oh, okay. Let me think.” Michael put his head in his hand. “Yesterday. I talked to her yesterday.”
“In person or on the phone?”
“Both.”
“When was the last time you talked to her? Was it after work? In person?”
“It was on the phone and she was here in the office.”
“What did you talk about?”
“A company is trying to buy us out and we are fighting them. I have been interviewing consultants to help us fight the take over.”
“Were you aware that she tendered an offer yesterday to the other shareholders?”
“Yes,” He looked at me curiously.
“And how’d that go?”
“Well, it was met with mixed results, but I think they all agreed in the end.”
“Why is that?”
“Because they care about the company too and I think that will prevail over greed,” he analyzed.
“You think their stocks would go up with this new company?”
“No, but I think the new company will offer them more for their shares than Kay can.”
“I see.” I didn’t understand the details, but I was getting the gist.
“Anyone of the shareholders upset enough to do her harm over the offer?”
“Absolutely not!” he declared.
“You seem pretty sure.”
“I know all of those people and they’ve been around since her father ran the company. They are loyal to Port City Manufacturers and Kay?”
“I hope you’re right.” I paused, “What do you know about this InDesign company?”
“Well, they are a bit sketchy. I can’t prove anything. No one seems to be able to. But they don’t have a reputation for being the most transparent company. I have a friend that used to work at the SEC, and he investigated them several times. They were always too smart to get caught.”
“Do you think they would harm Kay?”
Michael looked thoughtful. “Well if they found out about the tender offer, they might as she is the largest shareholder. And if she isn’t able to follow through on her offer to the others then they wouldn’t have anything stopping them from taking over the company.”
I had suspected as much.
“Mr. Nichols, you need to consider the possibility if they have harmed Kay you could be in danger as well.”
He looked at me in surprise. “Do you really think so?”
“I’m not sure of anything yet, so we can’t rule it out.”
I took out my cellphone and called Logan. “Logan, it’s Ethan.”
“Hey man, what is going on? Why’d you take off like that?” Logan asked.
“Kay is missing, and we think she may have been kidnapped,” I told him.
“Are you serious?” He was dumbfounded.
“Yeah, I’ve been to her house and Andria is there now. And I’m at Kay’s office now. Listen, I think the corporate attorney may be in danger as well. Can you come get him and take him to a safe house?”
“On it. I’ll be there soon.”
I clicked off.
“It is going to take a few minutes for my agent to get here. He has to open up the safe house and then come and get you.”
“Agent Craddock, I appreciate your concern, but it is going to be very hard for me to work from a safe house. If we just stop our efforts to fight back against InDesign they will take over for sure, in fact, that may even be their plan. With Kay out of the way they may think it would be easier to take over the company.”
“Alright, I’m listening.” I sat back down.
“I think maybe Sherry should hear some of this.”
I nodded for him to bring Sherry back into the room.
Michael got up and pressed a button on Kay’s phone. “Sherry can you join us?”
A moment later the door opened and Sherry came in with a pad.
“Have a seat,” I said.
“Okay, so at the moment the facts are this….” I started.
“Kay is missing from her home. She disappeared in the last twelve hours or so. We have no idea who took her or why if she was even taken.”
Sherry started to protest so I held up my hand to stop her. “We suspect that her disappearance has something to do with the attempt to take over the company.”
I paused and looked at the two of them. They both nodded.
“If we follow this assumption then Michael, like I said before, you could be in danger as well.”
“Why?” Sherry asked.
“Well, if our assumption is correct then the kidnappers may believe a takeover will be easier without the CEO and major shareholder of the company.” I continued. “And if they know
