CHAPTER 9: FORTY-ONE PERCENT
The Covenant had been stored inside a federal evidence safe.
Someone entered using credentials belonging to Judge Malcolm Reed.
By the time authorities reached the judge’s home, he was gone.
His private plane had departed from a small airport forty minutes earlier.
The flight plan listed Canada.
Investigators discovered the plane abandoned in Vermont.
Judge Reed had never boarded it.
He had created a false trail.
Thomas believed he was still in New York.
“The original Covenant is more than a contract,” he explained. “It contains bearer certificates representing the forty-one percent share block.”
“Whoever holds them owns the shares?” Emily asked.
“Not automatically. But Reed can use them to create enough legal confusion to delay the transfer.”
Emily sat inside a secure federal office with Elizabeth Elena asleep against her chest.
Elena remained at the hospital for treatment. Sofia was in federal custody, negotiating protection in exchange for testimony.
Vincent had been arrested, but the system he created was still moving.
Emily looked down at her daughter.
Richard had controlled her by making her afraid of losing everything.
Vincent had tried the same method.
Now Judge Reed had taken the one object Jonathan had created to protect her.
Emily felt the old fear rising.
Then she recognized it.
Richard’s voice.
You cannot manage your own life.
Vincent’s voice.
The company needs stability.
Different men.
The same lie.
Emily stood.
“Call an emergency board meeting.”
Thomas looked at her.
“Without the Covenant, Vincent’s allies still control the board.”
“Then we remove the reason they support him.”
The meeting began at nine the following morning.
Reporters surrounded Whitmore Tower. News of the Black Harbor discovery had already reached the public, though the names in the records remained sealed.
Half the board attended through secure video.
Three directors were absent.
Two had already resigned.
Emily entered carrying no documents.
Vincent’s temporary replacement, Arthur Bell, sat at the head of the table.
“Until ownership is resolved,” he said, “you have no authority here.”
Emily remained standing.
“I’m not here to claim authority.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To offer every director in this room one opportunity.”
She placed a small recording device on the table.
“Federal investigators are reviewing Black Harbor’s finances. Every board member who received money through Vincent Shaw’s private trusts will be identified.”
Several faces changed.
Emily continued.
“Anyone who resigns today and cooperates will be allowed to explain what they knew.”
Arthur smiled.
“You have no evidence against this board.”
Thomas entered from the side door.
He was carrying copies of the financial ledgers recovered beneath Black Harbor.
“We have thirty years of evidence.”
The first resignation arrived within four minutes.
The second came before the hour ended.
By noon, seven directors had stepped down.
Without them, Vincent’s faction lost its majority.
The remaining independent directors voted to suspend every transaction connected to the Covenant.
It was not enough to restore Emily’s shares.
But it prevented Judge Reed from selling them.
After the meeting, Emily found Elena waiting in the hallway.
A bandage covered her wrist.
“You should be resting,” Emily said.
“I have rested for thirty-three years.”
Elena looked through the glass wall at the departing directors.
“You did this without the Covenant.”
“I had help.”
“You still did it.”
It was the first time Elena had spoken to her not as a lost child, or as someone who needed protection.
She spoke to her as an equal.
Detective Cole approached them.
“We found Reed.”
“Where?”
“St. Matthew’s Church.”
Thomas frowned.
“Jonathan’s church?”
Cole nodded.
Judge Reed had entered the church shortly before midnight carrying a metal case.
He had not been seen leaving.
Emily remembered Jonathan’s letter.
The Covenant was created to survive.
“What is beneath the church?” she asked.
Thomas’s expression changed.
“The Whitmore family crypt.”
They arrived before sunset.
Federal officers searched the chapel, the offices, and the cemetery grounds.
The crypt door stood open.
Inside, several stone chambers lined the walls.
Jonathan and Elizabeth had not been buried there. Their remains had been placed together near the coastal estate.
But Margaret Whitmore’s name appeared on the largest tomb.
Cole opened it.
The chamber was empty.
A narrow staircase descended behind the stone panel.
At the bottom, they discovered Judge Reed sitting beside a metal case.
He was dead.
No visible injuries.
No weapon.
The case remained locked to his wrist.
Cole checked for a pulse and looked at Emily.
“He hasn’t been dead for more than an hour.”
Thomas examined the floor.
A message had been written in the dust.
It contained only one sentence.
THE TRUE HEIR MUST DISAPPEAR.
Then a sound came from the darkness beyond the crypt.
A baby crying.
Emily turned.
Elizabeth Elena was supposed to be with federal protection across the city.
Her phone rang.
Thomas answered instead.
May you like
The security officer’s voice came through the speaker.
“Ms. Whitmore, the child is missing.”
