Chapter 11 - The Traitor at the Table
Marcus wasn't a hostage.
That much became clear immediately.
The photograph had been sent deliberately.
Bastion called him.
Marcus answered.
“You always were slow when feelings got involved.”
Bastion's voice became cold.
“Where's Victor's daughter?”
“Safe.”
“And Victor?”
“Temporarily.”
Beatrice listened.
Marcus had worked for Voss for seventeen years.
Longer than he'd worked for Bastion.
Every friendship.
Every favor.
Every secret.
Constructed.
“You stole the forty million,” Beatrice said.
Marcus laughed.
“No.”
She frowned.
“Then who did?”
“That's the best part.”
The line disconnected.
Beatrice returned to the transactions.
Marcus had facilitated them.
But the authorization pattern didn't match him.
Someone else initiated every transfer.
She rebuilt the credential logs.
The source wasn't Daniel.
Not Adrian.
Not Marcus.
It was an eighth credential.
One hidden administrator.
Created twelve years earlier.
Owner:
A. MERCER.
Alexander.
Impossible.
Unless someone had inherited his digital identity.
Beatrice searched the recovery authorization.
One person had access.
Elena Mercer.
Bastion stared at the screen.
“No.”
Beatrice didn't answer.
Elena had survived.
Elena knew the network.
Elena controlled Alexander's hidden companies.
Elena had access to the credential.
Could she have moved the money?
A call came.
Elena.
Bastion answered.
“Did you transfer the forty million?”
Silence.
“Yes.”
The room changed.
Beatrice felt it.
Bastion whispered, “Why?”
“To make Voss move.”
“You funded Meridian.”
“I baited them.”
“With forty million dollars?”
“With money I knew Beatrice could trace.”
Beatrice understood.
Elena had intentionally created the discrepancy.
She needed an investigator outside the family.
Someone Voss couldn't control.
“You used me,” Beatrice said.
“Yes.”
“You nearly got me killed.”
“I know.”
Bastion's voice hardened.
“You don't get to say that like it's nothing.”
“I was trying to end this.”
“You could have come to me.”
“And you would have attacked Voss directly. You would have died exactly like Alexander.”
Silence.
Elena had manipulated everyone.
But she hadn't betrayed Bastion.
Not financially.
Not exactly.
Marcus had hijacked her plan and turned the evidence against them.
“Where are you?” Beatrice asked.
“Mercer headquarters.”
Bastion stiffened.
“With Marcus?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor's daughter isn't the hostage.”
A pause.
“I am.”
The call cut.
Bastion was already moving.
At Mercer headquarters, they found Victor unconscious but alive.
His daughter was safe with Adrian.
Marcus had lied.
Again.
They reached the executive floor.
The conference room stood open.
Seven chairs surrounded the table.
An eighth chair had been placed at the head.
Empty.
Beatrice approached.
On the table sat Alexander's original signet ring.
Beside it, a phone.
It rang.
Bastion answered.
Marcus said only three words.
“Check your office.”
Bastion and Beatrice crossed the hall.
The door was closed.
A trail of blood ran beneath it.
Bastion reached for the handle.
Before he touched it, the door opened from the inside.
May you like
Elena stood there.
And the gun in her hand was pointed directly at Beatrice.
