Chapter 6 - THE BETRAYAL WITHIN
The immediate threat was neutralized, but as FBI agents led Viktor Kross away in chains, Agent Sarah Chen pulled me into the hotel hallway with a grave look on her face.
“We have a problem, Elijah,” Chen said, lowering her voice.
“Kross is in custody,” I said, holding my mother’s journal tightly. “The passcodes are secure.”
“It’s not Kross,” Chen said, pulling up a tablet screen. “While you were in the air coming to Las Vegas, someone inside Mercer Aerospace’s corporate board executed an emergency proxy vote. They’re stripping you of your CEO position.”
I stared at her in disbelief. “What? On what grounds?”
“Operational incompetence and endangering state-classified assets,” Chen read from the digital document. “The motion was introduced two hours ago by your senior Vice President and long-time family friend, Richard Sterling.”
Richard Sterling.
My heart sank. Richard was my father’s original business partner. He was the man who had bought me my first baseball glove when I was ten years old. He was the man who sat on my board of directors and guided me through the acquisition process when I took over the company.
“Richard is in on this?” I asked, the betrayal hitting me far harder than Vanessa’s deception ever could.
“Vanessa didn't get those hidden camera locations on her own, Elijah,” Chen explained softly. “She didn't have the technical expertise to access your hardwired server room. Someone gave her the architectural blueprints of your Greenwich home. Someone who helped design it with your father back in the nineties.”
The pieces fell into place with terrifying speed.
Vanessa wasn't the mastermind. She was just the high-end field operative.
Richard Sterling was the one pulling the strings from inside my own company. He had used Vanessa to infiltrate my personal life, extract my defense secrets, and then orchestrate my public downfall so he could take full control of Mercer Aerospace and sell our defense technology to the highest international bidder.
“They’re holding an emergency shareholder meeting at nine o'clock tomorrow morning at our Manhattan headquarters,” Chen continued. “If Richard secures fifty-one percent of the board vote, he takes full executive control, revokes your security clearances, and buries the FBI investigation under corporate immunity claims.”
I looked at my watch. It was 1:00 AM.
“How long to fly back to New York?” I asked Marcus.
“Four hours on the jet,” Marcus replied, checking his phone. “We can be at the Manhattan headquarters by 6:00 AM.”
“Get the plane ready,” I said, my voice hardening into steel. “My father built that company with his own hands. I am not letting Richard Sterling tear it down.”
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I turned back to Elena, who was being attended to by hotel medical staff.
“Elena,” I said gently. “I’m taking you back home to your mother. And then we’re going to clean house once and for all.”
