Chapter 14 - THE LAST ENEMY
Victor Sloane wasn't a criminal in the traditional sense.
He owned legitimate banks.
Investment firms.
Technology companies.
He had never been arrested.
But every financial trail led back to him.
He had funded my father's network.
He had financed the Mercer family.
He had purchased influence quietly.
And now he wanted the one thing left.
The master ledger.
He sent me a message.
COME TO THE TOP OF CARTER TOWER. ALONE.
I went.
He stood beside the windows.
“Your father was an amateur.”
I stared at him.
“You funded him.”
“I funded stability.”
“You funded violence.”
“I funded control.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because governments change.”
“People don't.”
He smiled.
“You finally sound like your father.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“I sound like the man who beat him.”
Sloane revealed his plan.
He wanted to purchase the companies that had been seized.
Then rebuild the network under legitimate corporate structures.
He had already acquired several.
“You can't stop it.”
I smiled.
“Watch me.”
He laughed.
“You think your government friends will protect you?”
“I don't need them.”
“Then who?”
I opened my phone.
A live screen appeared.
Thousands of accounts had just been transferred to independent federal trustees.
Every company connected to Sloane was being audited.
His partners were receiving arrest warrants.
His banks were under investigation.
His smile disappeared.
“You planned this.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Clara had spent months tracing his financial network.
Michael had found the old documents.
My mother had provided the missing testimony.
Marcus had coordinated the operation.
It was no longer my fight alone.
Sloane looked at me.
“You built a team.”
I nodded.
“And that's why you lost.”
Federal agents entered.
Sloane surrendered.
As he was escorted away, he whispered:
“Your father would have killed me.”
I answered:
May you like
“He wasn't my father anymore.”
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