Chapter 10 - The Blackout
The darkness lasted twelve seconds.
It felt much longer.
Claire heard chairs scrape against the floor.
Someone cursed.
A heavy object struck the boardroom table.
Then emergency lights flickered on near the ceiling.
The room returned in a dim red glow.
Claire immediately looked for the cane.
It was gone.
"Nobody move."
Her voice came out louder than she expected.
Richid turned toward her.
"What is it?"
"The cane."
Naomi looked beside Claire's chair.
The cane was no longer there.
Matthew stood near the far end of the table.
Julian was by the door.
Victor Sloan was beside the windows holding one hand against a cut on his forehead where a glass water pitcher had apparently fallen.
The two security officers were trying their radios.
"Who took it?" Claire asked.
No one answered.
Matthew looked at Julian.
"You were closest."
Julian laughed bitterly.
"Of course that's where you go first."
"Where is it?"
"I don't have it."
Claire checked the floor.
Nothing.
Naomi reached into Claire's coat pocket.
"The flash drive?"
Claire touched the pocket herself.
Empty.
Her breath stopped.
"It's gone too."
Naomi's face changed.
"Claire, are you sure?"
"I put it here."
Richid turned toward security.
"Seal the floor."
One officer shook his head.
"Sir, the building systems are down."
"Use the stairwells."
"Electronic access is locked."
Matthew checked his phone.
No signal.
Claire looked around the room.
"This wasn't a power failure."
Naomi nodded.
"No."
The emergency lights were on.
Only the boardroom network, doors, and communications had failed.
Someone had targeted the floor.
Matthew turned toward Claire.
"This is your father's company."
"And your security system," Claire replied.
His jaw tightened.
Julian sat slowly at the table.
"We're trapped in a room full of people who all have reasons to want that drive."
Claire looked at him.
"Including you."
"Especially me."
The honesty surprised her.
Julian leaned back.
"But I didn't take it."
Naomi walked toward the boardroom display console.
"The blackout happened immediately after Claire said she was calling police."
Richid nodded.
"Someone wanted the evidence."
"Or wanted time."
Claire looked at Matthew.
"What happens at eight-thirty?"
Matthew frowned.
"What?"
"You had a deadline."
"Eight o'clock."
"Why?"
Matthew said nothing.
Claire stepped closer.
"Why did I have until eight?"
"Because of the board vote."
"The vote could have taken an hour."
Matthew looked away.
Claire's pulse quickened.
"There is something else."
Richid turned toward Matthew.
"What did you file?"
Matthew remained silent.
Richid moved closer.
"What did you file, Matthew?"
Julian spoke from the table.
"A change-of-control notice."
Matthew's head snapped toward him.
"Shut up."
Julian smiled without amusement.
"We're beyond privilege."
Claire looked between them.
"What change of control?"
Julian answered.
"Matthew negotiated a loan facility using Hale Meridian shares as contingent collateral."
Richid went pale.
"He couldn't."
"He could with Claire's proxy."
Claire stared at Matthew.
"The forged proxy."
Julian nodded.
"If accepted before nine, it creates a temporary control position long enough for the lender to fund."
"How much?"
Julian looked at Matthew.
"Four hundred million dollars."
The room went still.
Claire felt physically sick.
"Where does the money go?"
Julian hesitated.
Naomi answered before he did.
"Not to Hale Meridian."
Matthew's eyes narrowed.
Naomi held up her tablet.
"I traced a draft term sheet last week."
Claire stared at her.
"Where?"
"A special-purpose company in Delaware controlled by Matthew."
Richid looked at his son-in-law as if seeing him for the first time.
"You were going to drain the company."
Matthew's face remained cold.
"I was going to recover what your family stole."
Claire stepped toward him.
"By stealing it from me?"
"It was never yours."
The words came out with real emotion for the first time.
Not remorse.
Hatred.
Matthew pointed toward Richid.
"Your father took my family's future and built your childhood with it."
Claire looked at him.
"So you married me."
Matthew's eyes met hers.
"At first, yes."
The room became silent again.
Claire's chest tightened despite everything she knew.
"At first?"
Matthew's expression shifted.
For a second, something almost human appeared.
"It stopped being simple."
Claire felt anger rise.
"Don't you dare make this romantic."
Matthew looked away.
"I didn't plan for you to get hurt tonight."
"You planned to make me afraid."
He said nothing.
"You planned to isolate me."
Silence.
"You planned to steal my vote."
Silence.
Claire stepped closer.
"And when I refused, you put your hands on me."
Matthew's face hardened again.
"You don't understand what Richid did."
"I understand what you did."
A buzzing sound came from the wall.
The network lights returned.
Phones lit up around the table.
The boardroom doors clicked open.
Everyone's devices began receiving delayed alerts at once.
Claire's phone filled with missed calls.
One notification stood out.
It was from her bank.
A transfer request had been initiated against the Hale trust account.
Timestamp: 8:14 a.m.
During the blackout.
Claire looked up.
"Someone used my trust while we were locked in here."
Naomi took the phone.
Her face went pale.
"This wasn't about stealing the drive."
"What was it about?"
Naomi turned the screen toward Claire.
"It was about making us all look in the wrong direction."
Then Claire's phone rang.
The caller ID showed a number she did not recognize.
She answered.
"Hello?"
A woman's voice whispered urgently.
"Claire, don't trust Naomi."
Claire looked across the table at Naomi.
May you like
The woman on the phone continued.
"She is the person who created the forged trust."
