Chapter 13 - Betrayal at Forty-Five Thousand Feet
The private Gulfstream jet chartered by Aegis Capital cut smoothly through the stratospheric chill at forty-five thousand feet, cruising above an endless ocean of clouds toward the Cayman Islands. I sat in the plush leather cabin opposite Viktor Thorne, reviewing encrypted digital files on my encrypted tablet. The morning sun cast a blinding white glare across the aircraft’s polished interior, accentuating the high-stakes tension hanging thick between us.
"You really are a remarkable creature, Chloe," Viktor remarked, pouring two glasses of vintage champagne from a crystal decanter and handing one across the mahogany table. "Most people who climb out of the wreckage of a toxic family dynasty spend their lives recovering in therapy. You spent your time consolidating global corporate power."
"Therapy doesn't pay quarterly dividends, Mr. Thorne," I replied smoothly, accepting the crystal glass without taking a sip. "And let’s be entirely clear about the purpose of this flight. We are heading to George Town to access the secure offshore escrow account holding the forty million dollars your former business partner embezzled. Once that transfer is verified and Mercer-Vance receives the two hundred million dollar liquidity injection, our partnership concludes permanently."
May you like
Viktor’s dark eyes flashed with amused defiance. "Permanently? Such a harsh word, Chloe. I was hoping an alliance between our firms might prove... more permanent. After all, your father is currently rotting in a federal holding facility, your brother is facing twenty years of hard time, and your mother is living off charity. You are entirely alone in the world, Chloe. You need a protector who understands the dark side of global finance."
Before I could reply, the cabin door leading to the flight deck slid open. Viktor’s chief private security officer, a hulking ex-mercer named Miller, stepped out with an expression that made my stomach drop instantly. He didn't look at Viktor; he looked directly at me. "Mr. Thorne, secure comms just intercepted a priority emergency dispatch from our New York office. Federal marshals have just executed an unannounced search warrant on Aegis Capital’s primary domestic asset holding accounts. Someone leaked our entire shell-company ledger to the DOJ an hour after takeoff."
