Chapter 14 - The Boardroom Coup.
Lisa reached Sentinel Meridian with thirty-eight minutes left on the countdown.
Her board was already assembled.
Some members appeared by video.
Others sat around the long glass table.
At the head was Robert Dane, the company’s chairman.
He had advised Lisa for nearly a decade.
He stood when she entered.
“Lisa.”
“Sit down.”
He hesitated.
Then obeyed.
Lisa placed her phone on the table.
“Who called this vote?”
Robert cleared his throat.
“The board has serious concerns about tonight’s events.”
“Tonight’s events?”
“Your company has been linked publicly to a criminal financial network.”
“Because someone tried to steal it.”
Robert folded his hands.
“Investors may not distinguish the difference.”
Lisa studied him.
“You knew.”
His expression barely moved.
“Knew what?”
“Gray Lantern.”
Silence.
Major Cole entered behind her.
Robert glanced at him.
Lisa smiled coldly.
“You looked at him before denying it.”
Robert stood.
“This meeting is private.”
Cole answered.
“Not anymore.”
Investigators entered.
One board member immediately reached for his phone.
Another began whispering to counsel.
Lisa connected her laptop to the board display.
“Someone initiated a CEO removal vote while a multibillion-dollar asset transfer was moving toward this company.”
Robert interrupted.
“We had no knowledge of any transfer.”
Lisa clicked.
A document appeared.
TRANSFER BENEFICIARY.
SENTINEL MERIDIAN HOLDINGS.
The room became silent.
“You have thirty-two minutes to convince me that is a coincidence.”
Robert’s face tightened.
Natalie entered with her arm in a sling.
Everyone stared.
She looked weak but determined.
Lisa had not expected her.
Natalie placed a folder on the table.
“It isn’t a coincidence.”
Robert cursed quietly.
Natalie continued.
“Robert joined Gray Lantern nine years ago.”
Lisa looked at him.
“The same year Michael disappeared.”
Robert’s mask finally cracked.
“He was unstable.”
Michael stepped through the doorway.
Robert went white.
“Apparently not dead enough for you.”
Michael walked toward him.
Robert backed away.
Cole stepped between them.
Natalie opened the folder.
“Robert was Phase Three.”
Lisa frowned.
“I thought Phase Three was inheritance protocol.”
“It is.”
Natalie nodded toward Robert.
“He was supposed to inherit Sentinel Meridian after Lisa was removed.”
“How?”
Robert spoke suddenly.
“Enough.”
Lisa looked at him.
“How were you planning to remove me?”
Robert smiled.
“Legally.”
“Reputational collapse.”
“Board vote.”
“Potential criminal charges.”
“Your marriage to Ryan would make him the sympathetic husband.”
“Then what?”
“Ryan would transfer voting authority.”
Ryan appeared in the doorway behind Cole.
His jacket had been replaced.
A bandage was visible beneath his shirt.
Lisa looked irritated.
“You’re supposed to be in a hospital.”
“I left.”
“Of course you did.”
Robert stared at him.
“You ruined everything.”
Ryan laughed softly.
“No.”
“My mother did.”
Robert pointed at Lisa.
“She was supposed to be manageable.”
Lisa turned toward the board.
“Anybody else want to admit they joined a conspiracy because they underestimated me?”
Nobody answered.
Cole arrested Robert.
But the countdown continued.
Twelve minutes.
Lisa opened the transfer architecture.
The destination account was not technically Sentinel Meridian.
It was a subsidiary.
Orchard Strategic Holdings.
She had never heard of it.
Natalie leaned closer.
“I’ve seen that name.”
“Where?”
“Ryan’s files.”
Ryan stared at the screen.
“Orchard was Rebecca’s final holding structure.”
Lisa looked at him.
“Who owns it?”
Ryan shook his head.
“I never knew.”
Michael began tracing registration records.
Layers of shell companies appeared.
Delaware.
Nevada.
Cayman Islands.
Switzerland.
Then the final beneficial owner surfaced.
Michael stopped typing.
Lisa leaned toward the screen.
The name made no sense.
MARGARET HALE.
Her mother.
Lisa looked toward Michael.
“That’s impossible.”
Then her phone rang.
Margaret.
Lisa answered.
“Mom?”
Her mother’s voice sounded strangely calm.
“Lisa.”
“Where are you?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“Mom, why does a Gray Lantern holding company belong to you?”
Silence.
Then Margaret said something Lisa never expected.
“Because your father and I built Orchard together.”
Lisa stared at the countdown.
May you like
Three minutes.
“And if you stop that transfer, everything we sacrificed Michael to protect will be lost.”
