Chapter 2 - Five Minutes to Midnight.
Elias Vale entered without hurrying.
He wore a charcoal coat over a dark suit, and his silver hair looked almost white beneath the penthouse lights.
Behind him came federal investigators, financial crimes agents, and two members of a private security team Marcus did not recognize.
Marcus did recognize Elias.
Not immediately.
Recognition arrived the way a storm appears at sea.
First as a shadow.
Then as a shape.
Then as something impossible to ignore.
“Vale,” Marcus said.
Elias looked at him.
“Yes.”
Marcus’s eyes widened.
Celeste stepped backward.
Sarah lowered her hands from her mouth.
Elena watched her father’s gaze move from Marcus to the broken phone and then to the crop lying on the floor.
His face did not change.
That frightened Marcus more than anger would have.
“You can’t just come in here,” Marcus said.
An agent raised a folder.
“We can.”
Another investigator moved toward the home office.
A third photographed the shattered phone without touching it.
Marcus tried to recover his voice.
“This is a domestic dispute.”
Elias finally looked at Elena.
“Can you walk?”
“Yes.”
The answer was not completely true.
But Elena refused to collapse in front of Marcus.
Elias removed his coat and placed it around her shoulders.
Marcus looked between them.
“You lied to me.”
Elena’s expression remained still.
“No.”
“You told me your father ran a small accounting office.”
“I told you he worked in financial investigations.”
Marcus gave a bitter laugh.
“You let me believe he was nobody.”
Elias spoke quietly.
“You decided that.”
Marcus’s phone vibrated again.
BOARD VOTE INITIATED TO SUSPEND CEO AUTHORITY.
He swiped away the message.
Another arrived.
PRIMARY CREDIT FACILITY FROZEN.
Another.
LONDON OFFICE SERVERS SEIZED UNDER COURT ORDER.
Marcus looked at the agents moving through his penthouse.
“This is retaliation.”
“No,” Elena said.
“This is evidence.”
Celeste suddenly pointed at Marcus.
“The accounts were his idea.”
Marcus turned so fast that his composure cracked.
“What?”
Celeste put down her champagne.
“I was a consultant.”
“You created the shell companies.”
“Because you told me to.”
Marcus stared at her.
It took less than a minute for their loyalty to collapse.
An agent near the doorway exchanged a glance with another investigator.
Every word was being recorded.
Elena noticed.
So did Celeste.
Marcus did not.
He stepped toward his mistress.
“You signed the transfers.”
“You authorized them.”
“You moved the money.”
“You approved the vendors.”
Their accusations overlapped.
Elias said nothing.
He did not need to.
Marcus finally realized what was happening and closed his mouth.
Too late again.
An investigator approached him.
“Mr. Ashford, you are not under arrest at this moment.”
Marcus exhaled.
Then the investigator continued.
“You are being served with a preservation order, a travel restriction notice, and notice of an emergency asset freeze.”
Marcus’s relief disappeared.
“What travel restriction?”
“You may not leave the jurisdiction.”
“This is insane.”
Elias looked toward the city.
“No.”
He turned back.
“Insane was believing nobody would ever audit your arrogance.”
Marcus’s eyes burned with hatred.
Elena had seen that look before.
It used to make her shrink.
Tonight, it only confirmed what she already knew.
One agent approached Sarah.
“Ma’am, we need to ask whether you witnessed what happened here.”
Sarah went pale.
Marcus looked at her.
The warning in his eyes was unmistakable.
Sarah saw it.
Elena saw it.
Elias saw it.
For several seconds, Sarah said nothing.
Then she looked at Elena.
“I saw everything.”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
Sarah swallowed.
“And I know where he hid the backup ledger.”
Every person in the room turned toward her.
May you like
Including Celeste.
Especially Celeste.
