Chapter 7 - The Brother Nobody Suspected
Marcus had not spoken to Julian in almost eight months.
That had not seemed unusual.
Julian Thorne had always preferred distance.
He hated boardrooms.
He hated publicity.
Most of all, he hated being introduced as Marcus Thorne's younger brother.
Now Marcus watched him enter the family vault at 2:14 in the morning.
“He doesn't have access.”
Victoria's voice was barely audible.
Warren answered through the speaker.
“He didn't.”
Marcus stared at the video.
Julian placed a copied access card against the reader.
Then he disappeared inside.
“What did he take?”
Warren laughed.
“You'll learn soon.”
Victoria raised her voice.
“Show yourself.”
“Give me the drive.”
“No.”
A timer appeared on the wall screen.
Ten minutes.
Elaine began sobbing.
Marcus crouched beside her.
“We're getting you out.”
“You can't.”
“We will.”
Through his earpiece, the tactical commander confirmed they had located the device beneath the floor.
It was not an explosive.
It controlled an industrial fire suppression system that would flood the sealed archive chamber with oxygen-displacing gas.
If triggered, Elaine would suffocate.
Marcus needed time.
“Warren.”
“Yes?”
“Julian couldn't have created this alone.”
“No.”
“Isabella?”
“A useful amateur.”
“Elaine?”
“Leverage.”
“My mother?”
“A relic.”
Victoria's eyes flashed.
Marcus continued.
“So who are you?”
Silence.
Then Warren spoke.
“The man your father cheated.”
Marcus frowned.
“My father trusted you.”
“Your father used me.”
The bitterness was unmistakable.
Warren had helped build Thorne Global from its earliest expansion.
But Marcus's father had received nearly all the equity.
Warren had received a salary.
Bonuses.
Prestige.
Never ownership.
“You're doing this for shares?”
“Justice.”
Marcus almost laughed.
“You kicked a pregnant woman for justice?”
“I didn't kick anyone.”
“No.”
“You just created the reason.”
The timer reached seven minutes.
Victoria removed the encrypted drive.
“Mother.”
She ignored Marcus.
“I'll give it to you.”
A section of wall opened electronically.
Inside sat a steel lockbox.
“Place it inside.”
Victoria approached.
Marcus grabbed her wrist.
“If he gets the evidence—”
“Elaine dies if he doesn't.”
For the first time, Marcus understood something about his mother.
Her coldness had always looked like selfishness.
Sometimes it was.
But not now.
She inserted the drive.
The lockbox closed.
The timer stopped.
Elaine gasped.
Police technicians continued disarming the system.
Then Warren spoke again.
“Thank you.”
Marcus looked toward the camera.
“You still lose.”
“Do I?”
The wall screen changed.
A legal document appeared.
TRANSFER OF VOTING AUTHORITY.
Marcus read the signature.
Julian Thorne.
Then another.
Warren Sloan.
The document transferred Julian's entire family stake into an investment vehicle.
The same unknown investment vehicle that had been buying Thorne Global shares for six months.
Marcus stared.
“How much does he control?”
Victoria already knew.
“Thirty-eight percent.”
Warren corrected her.
“Forty-one.”
Marcus's blood went cold.
Combined with several board allies, Warren now had enough votes to remove Marcus.
But that still did not explain Isabella's attack.
Then Warren delivered the missing piece.
“When Khloe's child is born, your father's trust gives her enough voting power to reverse everything.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“So you needed her disqualified.”
“Exactly.”
“And Isabella?”
“She was supposed to provoke Khloe into attacking her.”
Marcus stared at Elaine.
“But Khloe didn't.”
“No.”
For the first time, Warren sounded angry.
“Your wife was annoyingly difficult to manipulate.”
Marcus's fists clenched.
“So Isabella improvised.”
“She panicked.”
The screen went black.
Then Warren said one final sentence.
May you like
“You have less than twenty-four hours before the company stops being yours.”
The building lights suddenly died.
