Chapter 6 - The Director Who Voted for Me
The first person I investigated was Malcolm Reed.
He had been chairman of Ashford Global for nine years.
He had also been the first director to support my appointment.
That made him either an ally or the smartest traitor in the room.
I spent the night reviewing his communications.
Nothing obvious.
No suspicious transfers.
No offshore holdings.
No unexplained meetings.
At 3:14 a.m., I found one deleted calendar entry.
MONROE - 11:30 P.M.
Six months earlier.
The same night Nathan pushed me down the staircase.
I called Malcolm at dawn.
He answered on the third ring.
“Claire?”
“Come to the office.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
He arrived forty minutes later.
I placed the calendar printout in front of him.
His face changed.
“Where did you get this?”
“Why did you meet Celeste?”
Malcolm leaned back.
“I didn’t.”
I said nothing.
He sighed.
“She requested the meeting.”
“And?”
“I refused.”
“The entry says otherwise.”
“Because she came anyway.”
He looked toward the closed office door.
“She told me Nathan was moving company money.”
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“And said nothing?”
“I told him to stop.”
I laughed bitterly.
“How effective.”
Malcolm’s voice sharpened.
“You don’t understand how much leverage he had.”
“Then explain.”
He hesitated.
That was enough.
“Malcolm.”
“My son had a problem.”
“What kind?”
“Gambling.”
Nathan had covered millions in debts for Malcolm’s son.
Then he kept the records.
Blackmail disguised as loyalty.
“Celeste knew?”
“Yes.”
“What did she want from you?”
“To help remove Nathan.”
I stared at him.
“She wanted Nathan gone?”
“She said he had become reckless.”
“Then why manipulate him?”
“I don’t know.”
Malcolm reached inside his briefcase.
My security officer moved immediately.
“Slowly.”
Malcolm withdrew an envelope.
“I should have given you this yesterday.”
Inside was a photograph of Celeste meeting a man outside a private terminal.
The picture was grainy.
The man’s face was turned partly away.
But I knew him.
Everyone in corporate America did.
Jonathan Mercer.
CEO of Halcyon Maritime.
Ashford Global’s largest competitor.
Malcolm whispered.
“She wasn’t building Nathan’s empire.”
“She was hollowing it out.”
A knock sounded at the door.
Rachel entered.
Her expression was tense.
“Claire, we have another problem.”
“What?”
“Ashford Global just lost access to three Pacific port terminals.”
“Why?”
“Halcyon Maritime acquired the contracts this morning.”
I looked again at the photograph.
Celeste had pushed Nathan into theft.
The theft weakened Ashford Global.
The investigation froze its financing.
Now Halcyon was buying pieces before the body had even cooled.
“This was planned.”
I said.
Malcolm nodded.
“For years.”
My phone vibrated.
A secure message from Dad’s team.
They had traced the call from Agent Torres.
It originated from an abandoned Ashford Global warehouse near Newark.
Federal teams were already approaching.
I headed for the door.
Rachel grabbed my arm.
“You’re not going.”
“I am.”
“You were in a hospital yesterday.”
“And Maya was taken because she was investigating my husband.”
I pulled free.
At the warehouse, agents found no kidnappers.
No Torres.
Only a chair in the center of an empty loading bay.
On it sat a laptop.
The screen turned on as we entered.
Celeste appeared.
Not live.
A recorded message.
She smiled into the camera.
“If Claire is watching this, then Elias has already made his second mistake.”
I stared at the screen.
Celeste leaned closer.
“His first mistake was destroying my father.”
“His second was believing I came for revenge.”
May you like
Her smile disappeared.
“I came for succession.”
