Chapter 7 - The Arrogance of Richard Vance
The school entrance doors banged open again ten minutes later.
Richard Vance burst into the room, flanked by two corporate attorneys in tailored Italian suits.
Harold Thorne had texted him three words: GET HERE NOW.
Richard had broken two speed limits driving from his penthouse downtown.
He walked into the cafeteria with the swagger of a man who owned city councils and supreme court judges.
“What is the meaning of this illegal blockade?!” Richard bellowed, not yet seeing Eleanor’s face.
“Harold, why are there armed troopers in my daughter’s dining hall?”
“Dad!” Brianna wailed, running to him and clutching his cashmere coat. “Dad, help me!”
Richard wrapped an arm around his daughter, glaring at the state troopers.
“I don’t care whose jurisdiction you think you have!” Richard roared.
“My family contributes six million dollars annually to municipal law enforcement funds!”
“Get these weapons out of my face before I call the State Attorney General!”
From the shadows behind the podium, Governor Eleanor Carter stepped into the fluorescent light.
“Go ahead, Richard,” Eleanor said smoothly.
“Call Marcus Vance in the AG’s office.”
“Ask him why his desk is currently being packed into cardboard evidence boxes by the State Police.”
Richard froze.
His fingers tightened on Brianna’s shoulder until she winced.
The color drained from his face so fast he looked like a corpse standing in expensive Italian wool.
“Eleanor...?” Richard stammered, his booming voice shrinking into a squeak.
“Governor Carter to you, Richard,” she replied, stepping forward until they were barely three feet apart.
“For four months, you’ve used your daughter to intimidate Emily Ross.”
“You thought Emily was just another poor scholarship kid who stumbled into your illegal land-grab scheme.”
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“You didn’t realize she was my late husband’s daughter.”
“And you certainly didn’t realize that the Department of Justice was monitoring every single dollar you wired into Harold Thorne’s shell corporation.”
