The Fifteen Minute Novel is a novel written fifteen minutes at a time with each week day’s section starting with the sentence from the previous day. At least it is attempting to be a novel. For now I am just aiming at one continuous story, worked on for fifteen minutes each day. Started Friday January 1st, 2021 (in case you want to search for the beginning. I can’t wait to see where it ends up. It could be good, or it could be a mess. We’ll have to see. For now, here is today’s fifteen minutes.
Day 120: Tucker looked to the whiteboard and studied it a moment.
Tucker looked to the whiteboard and studied it a moment. “When did this book come out,” he asked after reading through the presented information.
James checked his notes realizing he did not put the publishing information up on the board. He suspected that it was designed to push him out of the corporate lead in the minds of the board members and thought it personal. Still he rattled off the dates.
Tucker again grew silent. James saw his eyes move as they scanned the white board. He appeared to be thinking something through deeply and James wondered if he would share it with him or keep it to himself.
“I think you are right to see the connections,” Tucker finally said. Each word sounded weighted, as though he was thinking through how much information James was allowed. James studied him as he continued to look at the whiteboard.
“I need to talk to Morris about you file.” Tucker glanced at the fast food back. “It’s best while it’s hot.” Deliberately not looking at James, he turned, walked back out of the room and closed the door behind him.
James frowned as he turned back to the white board. His eyes looked over his information. It looked like it connected and he was certain it did. ‘But Tucker apparently saw something I didn’t.’
James sat back down on the bed next to the sack of food. He opened it and absently began eating as he studied the information. For the most part it dealt with the two family companies. James knew one because he had been steeped in it his entire life. He knew the other because they occasionally partnered with them and he liked investigating all of his partners before signing corporate agreements. He knew too many people who put on friendly faces while engaging in shady practices to simply trust the familial connections.
A friend of the family was fine, but he wanted to know they weren’t engaged in something shady that would take both companies down. ‘But if the feds know some of the details maybe I missed something.’
James chewed, his mouth barely registering the taste of the meal. He could see them looking into his family company. They needed to make sure he was an acceptable witness and not involved in the shooting. When he agreed to testify, they then had to help untangle his finances from the company and extricate him from the entanglements. It would make sense for them to investigate, even if he knew there was nothing shady. ‘At least nothing shady I knew about.’
After the last week, James was beginning to wonder how much shady business he didn’t know about. ‘After all the Gant fellow was already involved before I left.’
James finished his meal, gathered up the trash and walked to the bathroom attached to the room. The bathroom had a small trash can and he deposited his trash and then used the sink to wash the grease from his hands.
As much as he could justify his own company’s recent investigation, he didn’t know why Cassie’s would be studied. He investigated them well, or so he thought. While Cassie was all for self-aggrandizement, she did business above board.
‘Damn it,’ he thought. ‘I’m supposed to be good at this.’ James grabbed one of the towels from the rack and dried his hands.
Ten til Midnight 