Chapter 13 - The Boardroom Trap
Grant believed Ethan was still at home with Lily.
That was the advantage.
Grant appeared by encrypted video.
"My brother is unstable," he began. "Nora's arrest has pushed him into a paranoid spiral. Until this is resolved, I am assuming operational control."
The conference-room doors opened.
Ethan walked in.
Grant stopped talking.
Maya entered behind him, followed by Detective Chen and two federal financial investigators.
"Keep going," Ethan said. "You were doing great."
Grant's image flickered.
"This is theater."
"No. Theater was poisoning me and writing the review afterward."
Maya projected Claire's ledgers onto the wall.
Shell companies. False vendors. Payments to Dr. Vale. Transfers to Travis.
Directors began whispering.
Grant's face hardened.
"Claire misunderstood those accounts."
Ethan stepped closer to the camera.
"Claire died two days after Travis serviced her car."
Grant said nothing.
"And yesterday Travis tried to burn her evidence."
Still nothing.
Then one investigator spoke.
"Mr. Grant Mercer, your corporate credentials attempted to initiate a seventy-eight-million-dollar transfer at 8:41 this morning. The receiving bank froze it."
Grant's screen went black.
Maya swore.
"He disconnected."
Chen was already on the phone.
"Teams are moving on his apartment and office."
Ethan's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Grant's voice came through.
"You always needed an audience, Ethan."
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere Claire should have looked before she decided to play hero."
Ethan's blood chilled.
"Stay away from Lily."
Grant laughed softly.
"This isn't about Lily anymore."
A metallic sound echoed behind his voice.
Then Grant said, "Bring me Claire's drive, or the next person you lose won't be an accident either."
The line went dead.
A second later, Rosa called Ethan.
May you like
She was crying.
"Mr. Mercer... Maya never came back from the parking garage."
