Chapter 7: The Partner
"I didn't know Tyler had a partner," I said.
"That's what I was afraid of," David Holt said.
He asked if we could meet.
I said yes, but not at the office — somewhere neutral.
We agreed on a hotel lobby the following morning, public and quiet.
He was already seated when I arrived.
Mid-fifties, well-dressed, with the careful posture of someone who'd spent years in boardrooms.
He stood when he saw me, which I noticed.
"Thank you for coming," he said.
"You said you were afraid I didn't know about you," I said, sitting down.
"How long have you been Tyler's partner?"
"Four years.
Silent partner — my investment, his operations.
That was the arrangement." He folded his hands on the table.
"Mrs.
Calloway, I need to ask you something directly, and I apologize in advance if it's uncomfortable."
"Go ahead."
"Did you know that Tyler has been filing the business's quarterly reports under a separate LLC for the past twenty-two months?"
I kept my expression still.
"Tell me more," I said.
David opened a leather folder and slid a set of documents across the table.
"The company you and Tyler built together — the one in both your names — has been losing clients on paper for nearly two years.
Contracts expiring, not renewed.
Revenue declining." He pointed to a column of figures.
"In reality, those clients didn't leave.
They were migrated.
Tyler set up a second LLC — his name only — and quietly transferred the contracts into it.
The original company looks like it's winding down.
The new one is thriving."
I looked at the figures.
"He was splitting the business in two," I said.
"Keeping the profitable half for himself before the divorce."
"Yes."
"And you found out how?"
"One of the clients called me directly.
Asked why their invoice now came from a different company name.
I started pulling records." He paused.
"I have a financial interest in the original company.
What Tyler did affects me too.
But I also think you deserve to know."
"Does he know you've found this?" I asked.
"He will by end of day.
I'm terminating the partnership agreement this afternoon.
My attorney is filing a civil claim against the LLC." He looked at me steadily.
"I imagine your attorney will want these documents."
"She will," I said.
I took out my phone and called Carol right there at the table.
She picked up on the second ring.
"I'm sitting across from Tyler's silent business partner," I said.
"He has documentation of a fraudulent LLC transfer going back twenty-two months.
He's filing his own civil claim today."
A brief silence.
"Tell him not to file until I've spoken to his attorney," Carol said.
"If we coordinate, we can freeze everything simultaneously.
Tyler won't be able to move a single asset."
I looked at David Holt.
"Can you hold your filing until this afternoon?" I asked.
"I can hold it until three o'clock," he said.
"She'll call you before noon," I said.
I gave Carol his number and ended the call.
David looked at me with something that might have been respect.
"You're handling this very calmly," he said.
"I've had fourteen months to prepare," I said.
He nodded slowly.
Then his phone buzzed.
He glanced at it and his expression changed.
"Tyler just called me," he said.
"He knows I've been pulling records."
"What did he say?"
David looked up from the phone.
"He said if I file anything, he'll tell my wife about a trip we took to Vegas four years ago." A pause.
"There was no trip.
I've never been to Las Vegas in my life." He set the phone down.
"He's going to fabricate something."
May you like
Tyler wasn't just going to settle.
He was going to fight — and he was willing to lie to do it.
