Inheritance of Vengeance

Before heading to the Grand Continental Hotel, I made an unexpected detour to the high-security medical wing of Saint Jude Hospital, where Julian Vance's co-conspirator, Richard Sterling, was currently under police guard following his sudden chest pains after the boardroom confrontation.

The sterile, white-walled hospital room smelled faintly of antiseptic and despair. Richard sat up in the adjustable bed, wearing a hospital gown, looking ten years older than he had that morning.

He looked up as the door clicked open, his eyes widening in terror as I walked in alone, closing the heavy wooden door behind me.

'Claire...' he whispered, his voice cracking. 'Are you here to finish me?'%

I pulled a chair up beside his bed, sitting down slowly and resting my hands on my lap. 'I'm not a murderer, Richard. That's Julian and Viktor's specialty.'%

Richard flinched at Viktor's name. 'You... you know about Viktor?'%

'I know everything, Richard. I know about the shell companies, I know about the biometric override in the ICU, and I know that Viktor is holding my uncle Thomas hostage in an industrial warehouse.'%

Richard covered his face with trembling hands, a sob escaping his lips. 'I didn't want to do it, Claire. God help me, I didn't. Viktor threatened my family. He said if I didn't help Julian siphon the funds and forge the succession papers, my daughter... my daughter would never make it home from college.'%

'A classic Viktor Vance playbook,' I said coldly. 'He destroys people by making them complicit in their own ruin. But you have one last chance to salvage whatever shred of honor you have left, Richard.'%

'What... what do you want?'%

'Where is the warehouse?'%

Richard hesitated, his eyes darting toward the security camera in the corner of the room. 'If I tell you, Viktor's men will find me... they'll kill me even behind bars.'%

'If you don't tell me, I will personally ensure you spend the rest of your natural life in a maximum-security penitentiary with zero possibility of parole,' I replied, leaning forward, my voice dropping to an icy whisper. 'Choose your next words very carefully, Richard. Do you want to die a coward, or do you want to help save my uncle?'%

Richard swallowed hard, tears streaming down his wrinkled cheeks. He reached into the drawer of the hospital bedside table, pulled out a encrypted burner phone, and handed it to me with a shaking hand.

'The coordinates... and the master security code to disable the perimeter alarms at the abandoned maritime facility in Sector 7... are on this phone,' Richard whispered brokenly. 'Please... God forgive me for what I helped them do.'%