Chapter 7 - Checkmate
The final board meeting of Summit Enterprises was a graveyard.
The executives sat around the long oak table, looking like men standing before a firing squad. The company was in ruins, its stock price had plummeted to pennies, and bankruptcy was imminent.
At the head of the table sat Gavin Barrett.
He looked ten years older. He had bags under his eyes, his hair was unkempt, and he reeked of cheap whiskey.
"We sell the remaining factories," Gavin slurred, staring at the empty table. "We liquidate the overseas accounts."
"There are no overseas accounts, Gavin," an executive muttered bitterly. "Apex Holdings seized them this morning."
The heavy double doors of the boardroom swung open.
I walked in, flanked by Arthur Pendelton and Alexander Thorne.
"What is she doing here?" Gavin roared, suddenly finding a burst of manic energy. "Security! Get her out!"
No one moved. The security guards outside simply closed the doors behind us and stood guard. Alexander had bought them out three days ago.
I walked slowly to the opposite end of the table and took a seat.
"I'm here to finalize the hostile takeover of Summit Enterprises," I stated calmly, sliding a thick legal folder across the polished wood.
"You can't do this!" Gavin slammed his fists on the table, his eyes wild. "I am the CEO!"
"Not anymore," Arthur Pendelton said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "As the primary creditor, Apex Holdings has officially foreclosed on your debts. Summit is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Apex. You are fired, Mr. Barrett."
Gavin let out a desperate, unhinged laugh.
"Fine! Take the bankrupt shell! I still have my personal wealth! I'll build another empire!"
"About that," Alexander spoke up, his voice dripping with lethal amusement. "Your personal assets were frozen by the federal authorities thirty minutes ago."
Gavin stopped laughing. "What?"
I pressed a button on a small remote, and the massive projector screen behind Gavin flickered to life.
It wasn't a financial chart. It was a police transcript.
"Lena made a deal with the District Attorney this morning," I said, my voice echoing in the dead silence of the room. "She provided bank statements proving you embezzled eighty million dollars. But more importantly..."
I clicked the remote again.
A photo of a mechanic's bank deposit slip appeared, signed by Gavin Barrett, dated exactly two days before my father's fatal accident.
"...she provided proof that you paid to have my father's brakes cut."
The executives in the room gasped, horror washing over their faces.
Gavin stumbled backward, his face turning the color of ash. He looked at the screen, then at me, the terrifying realization of his doom finally crashing over him.
"Naomi... Naomi, please," Gavin choked out, raising his hands in a pathetic gesture of surrender. "It was an accident. The mechanic misunderstood my orders. We were family! You loved me once!"
I stood up, walking slowly around the table until I was standing right in front of him.
"My father hired you when nobody knew your name," I whispered, echoing our conversation from the day he threw me out. "He treated you like family. And you slaughtered him."
Sirens wailed in the distance, rapidly growing louder.
"You threw me into the storm, Gavin," I said, my eyes boring into his terrified soul. "You should have made sure I didn't learn how to control the lightning."
The boardroom doors burst open. Half a dozen police officers swarmed into the room, handcuffs drawn.
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Gavin fell to his knees, screaming, crying, begging as they dragged him away.
I watched him go, feeling nothing but the cold, satisfying absolute of justice. Checkmate.
