Chapter 16 - The Boardroom Trap
Renato dropped the wire onto the table.
He crushed it beneath his shoe.
Lucian’s daughter began crying.
“Dad.”
Lucian moved toward her.
Creed blocked him.
Renato looked at Emily.
“Where is Alexander?”
“I came alone.”
“You are a poor liar.”
“You are a worse uncle.”
Victoria stood.
Her crimson dress looked almost black beneath the dim lights.
“You should have died in that archive.”
Emily looked at her.
“You should have apologized in the ballroom.”
Victoria’s mouth twisted.
“You still believe that moment mattered.”
“It exposed you.”
“It entertained people.”
“Tomorrow, they will attend another gala.”
“They will forget your name.”
Emily glanced toward the ceiling cameras.
“That must be why you worked so hard to destroy it.”
Renato removed the pendant from her neck.
He inserted the silver key into the false ledger.
The copy of the microfilm slid out.
He held it beneath the light.
“At last.”
Lucian looked toward his daughter.
“You promised to release her.”
“I promise many things.”
Renato handed the film to Creed.
“Destroy it.”
Creed took out a lighter.
Emily did not move.
Renato noticed.
“Why are you not frightened?”
“Because that is not the original.”
Creed stopped.
Renato looked at Lucian.
Lucian smiled faintly.
“The original was uploaded before we arrived.”
Renato struck him.
Lucian fell against the table.
His daughter screamed.
Renato grabbed Emily by the arm.
“Where?”
“Everywhere.”
Victoria stepped away from the table.
“You told me she had the only copy.”
Renato ignored her.
Victoria’s voice sharpened.
“You said this ended tonight.”
“It will.”
“How?”
Renato looked toward Creed.
“Remove the witnesses.”
Creed raised his weapon.
Every screen inside the boardroom turned on.
Eleanor Moretti’s face appeared.
She sat inside the Moretti estate’s security room.
“Good evening, Renato.”
Renato froze.
Eleanor continued.
“You always underestimated chairs.”
Her wheelchair transmitter had been reconfigured.
It was broadcasting the boardroom audio to every Moretti Global director.
Shareholders watched through an emergency conference link.
Federal agents listened from the building below.
Renato looked toward the cameras.
He realized the wire had been a distraction.
Victoria backed toward the door.
“You said the cameras were disabled.”
“They were.”
Emily looked at the boardroom table.
“The microphones were not.”
Renato struck a control panel.
The screens went dark.
The room lost power.
Emergency lighting activated.
Creed fired toward the ceiling microphone.
Lucian pulled his daughter to the floor.
Emily ran toward the doors.
Victoria grabbed the false ledger.
Renato seized Emily from behind.
Alexander’s voice sounded beyond the locked entrance.
“Renato!”
Renato pulled Emily toward the private staircase.
Creed followed.
Victoria ran in the opposite direction.
Lucian remained with his daughter.
The stairwell led upward.
Emily struggled.
Renato tightened his arm around her throat.
“Stop.”
“You are becoming boring.”
He pushed her through the rooftop door.
Wind tore across the building.
Chicago glittered seventy-three floors below.
Creed followed with the ledger.
Alexander burst through the stairwell seconds later.
Luca was beside him.
Renato dragged Emily toward the edge.
Creed aimed at Alexander.
“Stay back.”
Alexander stopped.
Luca remained near the door.
Renato held out his hand.
Creed gave him the ledger.
“The evidence or the waitress,” Renato said.
Alexander looked at Emily.
Her face was pale.
Her eyes were furious.
Renato held the ledger beyond the edge.
“Choose.”
Alexander took one step forward.
Creed raised his weapon.
“I will shoot.”
Alexander ignored him.
Renato smiled.
“You built your life around control.”
“Now you have none.”
Alexander looked at the ledger.
Then at Emily.
“Let it fall.”
Renato’s smile weakened.
“You would sacrifice your father’s evidence for her?”
“The evidence can be rebuilt.”
“She cannot.”
Emily’s eyes filled despite herself.
Renato released the ledger.
It vanished over the edge.
At the same moment, Emily drove her heel into his foot.
She twisted free.
Creed fired.
Luca struck his arm.
The shot disappeared into the night.
Alexander pulled Emily away from the ledge.
Renato ran toward the maintenance stairs.
Luca tackled Creed.
Emily heard metal scraping near the roof gutter.
She looked over the edge.
The ledger had landed on a suspended window-cleaning platform two floors below.
Noah’s voice came through her earpiece.
“I told you I would be useful.”
Emily almost laughed.
“How are you here?”
“I am not.”
“I accessed the platform controls remotely.”
The platform began rising.
The ledger returned to the roof.
Renato reached the secondary stairwell.
The door opened from the other side.
Eleanor stood there.
Not in her wheelchair.
She held the frame of the doorway.
Her legs trembled.
Renato stared.
“You cannot walk.”
Eleanor took one step forward.
“You cannot win.”
Federal agents appeared behind her.
Renato looked toward the roof edge.
Then toward the agents.
For the first time, fear entered his face.
Victoria’s voice echoed from the emergency staircase below.
“Renato!”
Everyone turned.
She stood on the landing.
The real microfilm was in her hand.
“You forgot that I made a copy four years ago.”
Renato’s expression became murderous.
May you like
Victoria smiled.
“You were never the only person planning to survive.”
