Chapter 7 - KATHERINE’S LAST RECORDINGGrant reached Mercer House with Detective Hart and six officers.
The service laundry was empty.
A broken phone lay beneath a table.
No Sofia.
No Peter.
Hart picked up the phone.
“Blood?”
The technician shook his head.
“No.”
Grant spotted an open ventilation grate near the floor.
Behind it ran a narrow service corridor dating back to the original 1920s construction.
He entered before anyone could stop him.
“Grant!”
Hart followed.
The corridor led beneath the kitchens and into an abandoned storage room.
There they found Sofia.
Alive.
Her wrists were bound with electrical cable.
Grant dropped beside her.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Peter?”
“He ran.”
“Which way?”
“I don’t know.”
Hart called officers forward.
Sofia looked toward an old laundry cart.
“The drives.”
Inside were three missing server units.
Grant stared.
“How did you find them?”
“Someone left dust marks on the floor. The cart had been moved recently.”
Hart almost smiled.
“I may hire you.”
Twenty minutes later technicians began recovering files.
The first major discovery was audio.
Owen had secretly recorded several conversations with Peter.
Insurance.
Protection.
Blackmail.
Whatever the reason, the recordings were devastating.
Peter discussing payments.
Peter ordering surveillance cameras disabled.
Peter complaining that Katherine “wouldn’t stop digging.”
Then came the sentence Owen had already described.
“Make the house do what the road couldn’t.”
Grant heard Peter’s voice say it.
The room became silent.
But there was more.
A folder labeled KM PRIVATE.
Katherine Mercer.
Grant clicked.
Video appeared.
His wife sat inside her study.
Alive.
Pregnant.
Eli still inside her.
She looked nervous.
“If Grant is watching this,” she began, “then I failed to tell him in person.”
Grant stopped breathing.
Sofia stood behind him.
Katherine continued.
“Peter has been diverting charitable funds through vendors he controls. I think it started five years ago.”
Grant looked toward Hart.
Five years.
Millions.
“He believes Grant trusts him more than anyone. He may be right.”
Katherine smiled sadly.
“That is why I’m recording this.”
She explained the accounts.
The shell companies.
Payments.
Board manipulation.
Then she mentioned Owen.
“I believe Owen is helping him.”
Grant’s hands curled into fists.
Katherine looked directly into the camera.
“And there is something else.”
She held up a document.
“The trust.”
Grant leaned closer.
“Peter recently asked Benjamin Cole whether Eli’s death before age one would change voting control.”
Grant felt ice spread through his chest.
This was before Katherine died.
Peter had been thinking about Eli while Katherine was still pregnant.
The recording ended.
Hart immediately issued an arrest warrant.
But Peter had disappeared.
His private jet remained grounded.
His passport was flagged.
His home was empty.
Then Mercer Global called.
Grant answered.
His general counsel sounded frantic.
“Grant, emergency board meeting tomorrow morning.”
“For what?”
“Peter filed a petition.”
“What petition?”
“To temporarily remove you as chairman.”
Grant laughed in disbelief.
“On what grounds?”
“Instability. Neglect of corporate obligations. Reckless accusations against executive officers.”
Grant looked at Hart.
Peter wasn’t running.
He was attacking.
“What happens if the board votes?”
“They can suspend your authority while an investigation is conducted.”
“Peter becomes acting chairman?”
“Yes.”
Grant closed his eyes.
Even with police looking for him, Peter was using lawyers and board rules to seize control.
Then general counsel added something worse.
“Grant, he has proxies.”
“How many?”
“Enough that tomorrow could be close.”
The meeting began at nine.
Grant entered Mercer Global headquarters through a swarm of reporters.
Sofia had returned to the hospital to stay near Eli.
Hart wanted her protected.
Grant wanted her far from Peter.
Inside the boardroom, fourteen directors waited.
Peter’s chair was empty.
His attorney attended by video link.
Grant sat.
The accusations began.
Emotional instability.
Failure to attend meetings.
Misuse of corporate resources.
False public accusations.
Grant listened.
Then he opened Katherine’s recording.
Her face appeared on the enormous conference screen.
Nobody moved.
When the recording ended, the silence was absolute.
Peter’s attorney disconnected.
The vote never happened.
Instead, three directors demanded an independent forensic audit.
Two called federal investigators.
One resigned.
Grant walked out.
His phone rang.
Hospital security.
“Mr. Mercer, we have a situation.”
Grant stopped.
“What?”
“A woman arrived claiming she had authorization to transfer your son.”
“What woman?”
“Peter Voss’s executive assistant.”
Grant’s blood went cold.
“Where is Eli?”
“Safe.”
“And Sofia?”
Silence.
Grant’s voice sharpened.
“Where is Sofia?”
The guard finally answered.
“She followed the woman into the parking structure.”
Grant ran for the elevator.
Meanwhile, two miles away, Sofia stood inside the hospital garage facing Peter Voss.
He wasn’t running anymore.
May you like
He was holding a gun.
And he was smiling.
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