Chapter 8 - THE LAWYER WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Jonah did not run.
That made him either innocent or extremely confident.
Agent Cho stepped between us.
“Mr. Price, keep your hands visible.”
Jonah looked offended.
Then tired.
“Vivian, Charles is lying.”
“About which part.”
“My son.”
“So Michael was kidnapped.”
“Yes.”
“Where.”
“I don’t know.”
“Charles says he works with Theodore.”
“Charles has worked with Theodore for decades.”
“That is not an answer.”
Jonah closed his eyes.
“Michael has done consulting work for Aster Ridge.”
I felt my jaw tighten.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“And didn’t think that was relevant.”
“I found out six weeks ago.”
“Before Theodore supposedly kidnapped him.”
“Yes.”
“Jonah.”
“I confronted Michael.”
“And.”
“He told me he was investigating them.”
“As a documentary filmmaker.”
“Yes.”
“That is convenient.”
“He believed Aster Ridge was buying distressed companies through political connections.”
“Did he know about Meridian.”
“Not initially.”
“What changed.”
“He found our name.”
“Then he disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“Did Theodore contact you directly.”
“Yes.”
“What proof did he give you that Michael was captive.”
Jonah looked at Cho.
“A video.”
Cho held out his hand.
Jonah gave him his phone.
The video showed Michael Price seated in a room.
His wrists appeared tied.
He told his father to cooperate.
Cho watched twice.
“Could be staged.”
“I know.”
“Did you consider that.”
“Yes.”
“But you still gave Theodore Samuel’s location.”
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“Why.”
“Because if there was even a chance my son was in danger.”
“You chose him over my mother.”
His face broke.
“Yes.”
At least he did not pretend otherwise.
Charles was still on the phone.
I had nearly forgotten.
“Can you prove Jonah is part of Aster Ridge.”
“Yes.”
“How.”
“Beneficial ownership filings.”
“Where.”
“With Marcus.”
“Bring him.”
“Not yet.”
“Then we have nothing else to discuss.”
“Vivian.”
“Tomorrow night.”
I remembered.
“The meeting.”
“Yes.”
“Where.”
“The Ashford estate.”
My childhood home.
I had not entered it since my father’s funeral.
The property remained inside an old family trust.
Theodore used it occasionally for foundation events.
Of course he did.
“What time.”
“Eleven.”
“Why there.”
“Because Theodore likes symbols.”
That sounded exactly right.
“What happens at the meeting.”
“They finalize the Meridian purchase structure.”
“Aster buys the credit division.”
“Then Meridian is pushed into a liquidity crisis.”
“How.”
“Counterparties pull lines.”
“Which counterparties.”
“Theodore controls two.”
“Then.”
“Aster offers rescue financing.”
“With covenants.”
“Yes.”
“And eventually takes the rest.”
Charles sounded almost impressed.
“You understand.”
“I built Meridian.”
A pause.
“Yes.”
“You did.”
“Why help him.”
“Fear.”
“Everyone says fear.”
“Because Theodore is very good at creating it.”
“What did he have on you.”
Silence.
Then Charles said.
“He told me Elizabeth was alive.”
My mother stared at the phone.
“He said if I stopped cooperating, he would find her.”
Elizabeth whispered.
“You knew.”
Charles heard her.
“Liz.”
She took the phone from me.
“You knew I was alive.”
“For years.”
“And you did nothing.”
“I kept him away from you.”
“You worked for him.”
“To control what he knew.”
“You helped him.”
“Yes.”
Her voice cracked.
“You helped him kill Arthur.”
“No.”
“You moved Arthur’s body.”
“I moved my brother after he was already dead.”
“That is helping.”
“I know.”
Tears ran down her face.
“Why didn’t you come to me.”
“Because I was ashamed.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Twenty-three years of cowardly men protecting women by lying to them.”
No one answered.
She handed the phone back.
“Bring Marcus tomorrow.”
“I will try.”
“No.”
I looked at Cho.
“You will.”
Charles exhaled.
“Fine.”
The call ended.
That evening, I returned to Meridian for the first time without any legal authority.
Technically, I remained a director.
Operationally, Theodore had locked me out of most systems.
My office still opened.
Inside, I found flowers on the desk.
White lilies.
No card.
I knew they were not from Grant.
Grant had never remembered what flowers I liked.
He usually asked assistants.
I picked up the vase.
Underneath was a small black envelope.
Inside was a printed photograph.
Me entering the Vermont abbey.
My mother behind me.
Someone had photographed us before Cho’s team evacuated.
On the back were two words.
ASHFALL SOON.
I called Cho.
He sent agents.
No one knew how the envelope reached my office.
Security footage showed nothing.
Vantage again.
I sat alone afterward.
The city glittered below.
Eleven years earlier, I had signed Meridian’s first operating agreement in this building.
Back then, we occupied one room on the eighteenth floor.
Three employees.
Borrowed furniture.
A coffee machine that leaked.
Grant used to bring sandwiches at midnight.
He had not always been terrible.
That was the difficult part about betrayal.
Villains rarely arrived as villains.
They became them through hundreds of decisions.
Some visible.
Some quiet.
Grant entered without knocking.
I looked at him.
“How.”
“My old assistant still likes me.”
“Fire her.”
“I’m suspended.”
“Then I’ll fire her when I’m back.”
He almost smiled.
“You really believe you’re coming back.”
“Yes.”
“What if you don’t.”
“Then Theodore still loses.”
He sat opposite me.
“I spoke to Vanessa.”
“I’m sure that was emotional.”
“She says you found your mother.”
I did not answer.
“Is it true.”
“Yes.”
Grant stared at me.
“I met her once.”
“I know.”
He looked shocked.
“She told me.”
He rubbed his face.
“I was going to tell you.”
“When.”
“I don’t know.”
“After Theodore stole the company.”
“No.”
“After you married Vanessa.”
“I never planned to marry her.”
“That should comfort her.”
He looked at the lilies.
“Theodore sent those.”
“How do you know.”
“He sent the same flowers to Marcus last year.”
“Why.”
“Warning.”
“For what.”
“Marcus wanted to resign.”
I looked at him.
“What stopped him.”
“Theodore showed him photographs of his daughter.”
Again.
Family.
Always family.
“Grant.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you stay.”
He looked at the window.
“At first, because of the Oslo loss.”
“And later.”
“Because I thought I could beat him.”
I almost laughed.
“You thought you could outplay Theodore.”
“Yes.”
“With Vanessa.”
“No.”
“With Meridian.”
He looked at me.
“I believed if I controlled enough of the company, I could eventually remove him.”
“So you tried to steal my shares.”
“I told myself they were already ours.”
“They were mine.”
“We were married.”
“That is not how securities law works.”
“I know that now.”
“You knew it then.”
He looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“Did you forge the transfer.”
“No.”
“Who did.”
“Theodore had it.”
“Did you know it was forged.”
A pause.
“Yes.”
There it was.
Another crime.
“Why didn’t you tell me about my mother.”
His answer surprised me.
“Because she asked me not to.”
I stared at him.
“What.”
“She said Theodore would watch my reaction.”
“Why were you there.”
“Theodore brought me.”
“To threaten her.”
“I think he wanted her to see I was compromised.”
My chest tightened.
“What did she say to you.”
“She told me to protect you.”
“And you did this.”
“I know.”
“No.”
I stood.
“You do not get to say I know like understanding the sentence is punishment enough.”
He stood too.
“I loved you.”
“Maybe.”
“I still do.”
“No.”
“You cannot tell me what I feel.”
“I can tell you what love does not look like.”
His face tightened.
“People make mistakes.”
“An affair is a mistake.”
I moved closer.
“Forging ownership documents is conspiracy.”
“Laundering charity money is a crime.”
“Helping Theodore manipulate Phoenix is betrayal.”
“And throwing me into a marble table is violence.”
He looked down.
“I know.”
This time, I believed he did.
It changed nothing.
My phone buzzed.
Susan Patel.
The shareholder vote had been moved up.
Not forty-eight hours.
Eighteen.
Theodore had used emergency authority to accelerate it.
We had until noon the next day.
The Ashford estate meeting was scheduled for eleven that night.
One hour before the vote.
Too precise to be coincidence.
I showed Grant.
He went pale.
“What.”
“The meeting isn’t to finalize the purchase.”
“What is it.”
He stood quickly.
“It is to execute Ashfall.”
I stared at him.
“You know what Ashfall is.”
“No.”
“But Theodore used the word once.”
“When.”
“After your father’s archive disappeared.”
“What did he say.”
Grant swallowed.
“He said if Vivian becomes uncontrollable, we burn the inheritance and start again.”
I felt cold.
“Burn the inheritance.”
“I thought he meant the company.”
Maybe he did.
Or maybe Ashfall was something more literal.
I called Cho.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then the lights in my office went out.
The entire forty-second floor went dark.
Emergency lighting failed too.
A second later, smoke began sliding beneath the door.
Grant looked at me.
“Vivian.”
The fire alarm did not sound.
That was when I knew.
This was not an accident.
May you like
Someone had locked us inside Meridian.
And somewhere beyond the glass walls, flames were beginning to rise.
