Chapter 8 - The Lawyer's Gambit
By three o'clock in the morning, news of the attempted assassination had broken across global media. In a luxury high-rise penthouse overlooking downtown San Diego, corporate lawyer Daniel Mercer paced frantically across his marble floor, clutching a glass of whiskey. His encrypted phone buzzed violently on his desk.
Seeing Julianna's private number on the screen, he answered instantly. "Tell me it's done!"
"He survived, Daniel!" Julianna hissed, her voice panicked from inside a Coast Guard holding cell. "That damn fishing boat was right behind us! They pulled him out of the water!"
Mercer dropped his glass, sending amber liquid shattering across the floor. "Did he see the gun? Did you leave anything in the room?"
"I hid the gun in the air vent, but they locked down the suite!" Julianna pleaded. "You have to activate the contingency plan! Call the board and declare him mentally incapacitated before he reaches the bank on Monday!"
May you like
Mercer took a deep breath, forcing his predatory instincts to take over. "Listen to me very carefully, Julianna. If they don't have the weapon tied to you, we can claim he suffered severe oxygen deprivation and hallucinated the entire event. I will file an emergency injunction at eight AM to freeze his corporate accounts and seize control of the voting shares. Keep your mouth shut and don't say a word without me in the room!"
What Mercer did not know was that federal agents had already tapped his private server, guided by the precise insurance policy numbers Mateo had reported to the police two days prior.
