Chapter 18 - The False Victory
Brendan had left through the service elevator during the vote.
Security locked down the garage.
Too late.
His car was already gone.
Marcus traced the $214 million transfer.
It had not completed.
Protocol 7 had frozen the money midway through settlement.
But the transfer request itself mattered.
Brendan had used a dormant authorization key.
One supposedly revoked months earlier.
Cassidy knew where he obtained it.
Victor.
The two men had turned on each other.
That made them more dangerous.
At 6:40 p.m., Sloane finally called.
Cassidy answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
“With Brendan.”
Margaret looked up sharply.
Cassidy kept her voice steady.
“Are you safe?”
“For now.”
“Why are you with him?”
“Because he thinks I came back.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
Sloane whispered.
“I told him I was scared of you.”
Cassidy understood.
Sloane had gone undercover without telling anyone.
Reckless.
But useful.
“What did you find?”
“The original recording.”
“Where?”
“Brendan kept a backup in a cloud account.”
Sloane paused.
“There’s more than one recording.”
Cassidy closed her eyes.
“What is on them?”
“Victor planning everything.”
“The trust?”
“Yes.”
“The medical records?”
“Yes.”
“The baby?”
Sloane went silent.
Cassidy’s voice sharpened.
“Sloane.”
“Yes.”
Cassidy’s hand moved over her stomach.
Sloane continued.
“They never planned to hurt the baby.”
Cassidy exhaled.
“But they planned to use custody.”
“How?”
“Brendan was supposed to argue you were mentally unstable after delivery.”
Cassidy had expected that.
Then Sloane said more.
“Victor wanted Brendan named temporary guardian.”
“Of the trust.”
“No.”
Sloane’s voice broke.
“Of the baby.”
Cassidy went completely still.
Victor’s plan was to separate Cassidy from her child through an emergency family-court petition.
Then use Brendan’s parental rights to establish standing over the child’s future trust.
It was colder than Cassidy had imagined.
Sloane whispered.
“I have him talking about it.”
“Can you send me the recording?”
“I’m trying.”
A man’s voice sounded in the background.
Brendan.
“Sloane?”
The call ended.
Cassidy immediately sent Daniel the location trace.
A hotel near the river.
Security headed there.
Cassidy followed despite everyone telling her not to.
She arrived as Brendan came through the lobby.
He stopped when he saw her.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Sloane stepped from the elevator behind him.
Brendan turned.
He understood.
“You.”
Sloane held up her necklace.
Tiny memory pendant.
“I recorded everything.”
Brendan lunged toward it.
Security intercepted him before he reached her.
No struggle lasted more than a few seconds.
Daniel took the pendant.
Brendan looked at Cassidy.
“You think you won?”
Cassidy stared back.
“Yes.”
He laughed.
“You still don’t understand Victor.”
“What now?”
“He never expected the board challenge to succeed.”
Cassidy’s expression changed.
Brendan smiled.
“He needed Protocol 7 running.”
“Why?”
“Because Protocol 7 opens every sealed Hart archive.”
Cassidy suddenly understood.
Victor had wanted access to something buried inside Meridian.
Not control.
Not yet.
Information.
Brendan leaned closer while security held him back.
“He found what he came for.”
Cassidy’s phone rang.
Marcus.
She answered.
His first sentence confirmed Brendan’s warning.
“Cassidy, someone accessed Evelyn Hart’s private acquisition archive twenty minutes ago.”
“What did they download?”
May you like
Marcus hesitated.
“A file called Project Northstar.”
