“Phil?” I say.
“I should have said something, but yes, I thought I was being paranoid. I was still working it through.”
“Muriel said they were looking for dirt. Reasons to shut us down?”
His lips purse. “More like reasons to convince you to let them in.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. “Muriel speculated on a hostile takeover.”
“She has a background in corporate finance. She recognized what this was. I wouldn’t call it a hostile takeover, though. If they did that, the staff would all leave. Émilie would pull out. They’d only have the buildings, which they could construct themselves. What they want is…” He shrugs. “My guess is that they’re homing in on Eric.”
“That’s what I told Émilie. In Rockton, they harassed him endlessly, implied he wasn’t doing a good enough job. Now they know better.”
“Yes. Émilie says their new venture is failing. They likely believe Eric is the key. They can be very simplistic that way. They may recognize what the rest of you bring to the table, but Eric is the Pied Piper. Lure him to their side, and everyone else follows, possibly even Émilie.”
“So they’re trying to see whether we’ve bitten off more than we can chew, especially now that we have a baby. New parentswho’ve embarked on a massive undertaking might be ripe for afriendlytakeover.”
Phil nods. “As you recall, initially, they hoped to recruit Eric for their new venture. But now that Haven’s Rock is established—and their lodge is failing—they’ll offer their assistance here, in return for allowing their residents in, while assuring you that their residents are nothing worse than white-collar criminals, and you can certainly continue offering free spots to those in need. From there, it will escalate.”
“Like it did before. From a sanctuary to a for-profit operation. Except, I would presume, that escalation won’t take decades this time.” I scratch behind Storm’s ears. “But what I can’t figure out is the link to the mining camp. Whoever is in charge of that knew about Haven’s Rock before they moved in. Knew exactly what we are. Someone working for them who also works for the old Rockton board?”
Phil is quiet for a moment. Then he says, “A corporation’s interests often extend beyond a single product or line of products. In some cases, they are somewhere between a hydra and a nesting doll.”
“Many arms, the main body deeply hidden in shell companies.”
“Yes. Rockton brought in money. A great deal of it, from residents with the means and the need to disappear. But Rockton was one project. It wouldn’t have been worth the required corporate structure all by itself.”
“There were other Rocktons?”
He considers. “Likely not in North America. Otherwise, their new version would be running much smoother. I suspect what they have are other variations on the theme.”
“Such as an illegal prison camp?”
He frowns, and I tell him about the mining operation.
“Oh.” He goes into deep-thought mode while I pet Storm. Finally, he says, “I don’t wish to complain, Casey, but how long have you known what that camp truly is?”
“Less than twenty-four hours.”
He exhales. “Thank you. I’d hate to think you had been sitting on this, when I would have immediately seen a potential connection.”
“Well, maybe ifweknew that Rockton wasn’t a single project, we’d have seen it sooner ourselves. But if Émilie saw the connection, she didn’t tell us. That’s a problem.”
“Émilie didn’t know. Rockton didn’t pass to the corporate entity until after Émilie and her husband had stepped back. The corporation’s business interests deal largely with illegal enterprises, so each arm is thoroughly boxed.”
“Each arm doesn’t know about the others… or about the company in charge.”
“Even I wasn’t supposed to know, but the trail was there and of course I followed it. Information is knowledge, and knowledge is power. Which came in handy when they attempted to shut down Rockton and leave all the staff without compensation.”
I remember that Phil took over that conversation—a private one—and then we were all paid. I’d thought that whatever he used for blackmail was about Rockton itself and its past misdeeds. Apparently not.
Dalton skipped the chat with Phil in favor of looking after Rory, knowing that the baby’s presence wouldn’t help theconversation. Some people are distracted by the siren call of tiny humans. Others are distracted by the urge to flee the vicinity before someone asks them to change a diaper.
After talking to Phil, I head straight for our chalet. I message Émilie, saying it’s urgent. Then I tell Dalton everything. Fortunately, the baby is asleep at that point, or she’d hear Daddy say a whole lotta very bad words.
“So this Rutherford guy works for—” Dalton has begun when a banging at the door cuts him short.
I hurry over, expecting trouble, only to find Arturo on our front steps.
