Chapter 5 - THE MIDNIGHT AUDIT: WHEN THE HUNTER BECOMES THE INMATE
Within forty-five minutes, the executive lounge of Halcyon Dynamics had been transformed from a glittering networking mixer into a secure federal crime scene.
Uniformed federal marshals stood at every exit, checking identification badges, confiscating corporate laptops, and escorting weeping vice presidents out of the building in single file.
Richard Mercer was not allowed to walk out on his own two feet.
Noah and Luke—my fifth brother, who worked in federal compliance oversight—lifted him off the wet bar by his arms, slapped a pair of heavy steel handcuffs around his wrists with practiced efficiency, and dragged him toward the private service elevator.
Richard’s designer tuxedo was wrinkled, his silk tie was stained with whiskey and blood, and his hair was plastered across his forehead in sweaty clumps.
As they dragged him past me, he lifted his head, his red, tear-streaked eyes meeting mine with a desperate, pathetic plea.
“Elena... please,” he choked out, his voice cracking into a ragged whisper. “We were married for eleven years. You can't do this to me. Please... drop the charges. Let’s talk about this at home.”
I took another calm sip of my scotch, looking down at him as if he were a bug I had accidentally stepped on in the garden.
“We don't have a home anymore, Richard,” I said quietly. “And as for our marriage... well, my divorce lawyers will be filing the papers tomorrow morning. Grounds: irreconcilable differences, severe financial fraud, and spousal battery captured in 4K resolution by twenty-three witnesses.”
Richard let out a low, animalistic groan, his legs giving out entirely as Noah and Luke hauled him into the elevator car, the heavy steel doors sliding shut and cutting off his pathetic weeping from the rest of the floor.
David Vance walked up beside me, adjusting his silver-rimmed glasses and looking down at the empty corridor with a satisfied smirk.
“Well, Elena,” David said, turning to me. “That was certainly more dramatic than our usual compliance audits. Are you going to be alright?”
“I’ve never been better, David,” I replied, handing my empty glass to a passing federal agent as if he were a waiter. “Though I think I need a new dress. This one has husband’s blood and spilled champagne all over the hem.”
“My treat,” David laughed, gesturing toward the private elevators that would take us down to the underground parking garage where my brothers were waiting. “Though knowing your brothers, they’ve probably already bought out half the designer boutiques on Fifth Avenue just to celebrate your promotion.”
“My promotion?” I raised an eyebrow, walking beside him toward the exit.
“Of course,” David smiled, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “With Halcyon’s regional division completely restructured, the board has already agreed unanimously to appoint Vance & Sterling as permanent general counsel. And someone has to step in as regional managing director to clean up the mess Richard left behind.”
I stopped at the edge of the elevator doors, touching the small, tender cut on my lower lip one last time before dropping my hand and letting a slow, victorious smile spread across my face.
“Consider it done,” I said.
May you like
The elevator bell chimed.
The doors slid open, revealing my four brothers standing inside, holding bottles of chilled champagne and laughing like a pack of wolves that had just brought down the alpha of the rival pack.
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