Northstar’s Invisible Owner
Chapter 05 - Northstar’s Invisible Owner
Derek called himself the founder of Northstar Freight Analytics.
Business magazines repeated the claim.
He had supplied sales skill, investor contacts, and a polished public image.
Emma had written the routing algorithm before they met.
Her late mother’s insurance money financed the first servers.
A protected trust held fifty-one percent of the patents for Lucy.
Derek could operate the company.
He could not sell its core technology without Emma’s approval and an independent trustee’s signature.
A private equity group offered nine hundred million dollars for Northstar.
The deal transferred truckers’ location histories and driver-behavior profiles to insurers. Emma refused.
Derek began telling investors that she was unstable.
He arranged evaluations with White Quarry’s former director, Dr. Paul Renner.
The physician wrote reports describing paranoia and impaired judgment.
Then Emma disappeared.
Derek filed for control of Lucy’s trust, claiming Emma had abandoned the child during a psychological crisis.
If approved, he could sign the sale as Lucy’s guardian.
The deal was scheduled to close in four days.
Lucy’s escape had interrupted a corporate transaction.
That explained why Derek reached the diner so quickly.
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He had not been searching as a frightened parent.
He had been recovering the only witness who could contradict his documents.
