Chapter 11 - THE MISTRESS RETURNS
Sabrina walked into my office the next morning.
Alone.
Security nearly tackled her.
I stopped them.
She looked like she had not slept in days.
Bruise beneath one eye.
Cut on her lip.
No designer clothing.
No arrogance.
“Where is Damian?”
“With Nathan.”
I stared.
“What?”
“He didn’t betray you.”
“Then explain the car.”
“Victor was watching.”
She sat slowly.
“We needed him to believe Damian chose me.”
“Who is we?”
“Nathan.”
Of course.
“Why wasn’t I told?”
“Because Victor has someone inside your security operation.”
Rebecca froze.
Sabrina looked at her.
“Not you.”
“That’s comforting.”
“He knows almost everything Claire plans.”
My skin crawled.
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
Damian had agreed to disappear publicly.
If Victor believed he defected again, he would trust him enough to reveal the final meeting plan.
“And you?”
Sabrina looked down.
“I was never on Victor’s plane.”
“We saw you.”
“A woman who looked like me.”
“Then where were you?”
“With Nathan.”
I sat.
Every revelation created two more lies.
“What does Victor plan for October 17?”
“Not a board meeting.”
“A consolidation signing.”
“No.”
She looked directly at me.
“An assassination.”
Silence.
“Whose?”
“Richard’s.”
My father stood outside the office.
He had heard.
Sabrina continued.
“Victor believes the October Clause can still activate if Richard dies immediately before consolidation.”
“Why would that help?”
“Because his veto transfers temporarily to the independent spouse.”
Damian.
“So Victor needs Damian there.”
“Yes.”
“And me?”
“Your signature.”
“And Andrew?”
Sabrina looked away.
“What?”
“He needs Andrew too.”
“For what?”
“If you refuse, Andrew becomes next Morrow beneficiary.”
The room went cold.
Victor had alternatives.
He could use me.
Or remove me.
Then use Andrew.
My father said,
“We cancel.”
“No.”
I turned.
“No?”
“If we stop October, Victor survives.”
“He doesn’t get access.”
“He tries again.”
My mother had waited seventeen years for this trap.
Nathan had destroyed his reputation for it.
My father had lived with grief.
We could not waste the only opportunity to expose Victor’s entire network.
But exposure was not worth death.
“We control the room,” Rebecca said.
“Federal teams.”
“Recording.”
“Undercover security.”
“No weapons near family.”
Sabrina shook her head.
“You still think Victor follows normal rules.”
“What aren’t you telling us?”
She looked at me.
“Martin Shaw already entered the country.”
“Where?”
“We lost him.”
Martin.
The man connected to my mother’s death.
Sabrina pulled something from her pocket.
A small vial.
Rebecca took it carefully.
“What is that?”
“The same compound used in Margaret’s medication.”
My father went rigid.
“How did you get it?”
“Victor gave it to Martin.”
“For whom?”
Sabrina’s eyes moved to me.
“Claire.”
Damian was supposed to administer it.
Not enough to kill.
Enough to cause neurological symptoms.
Confusion.
Disorientation.
Temporary incapacity.
Then Victor would use the guardianship petition Damian had filed.
Everything had been prepared.
The humiliating lobby scene suddenly looked different.
“Did Victor order Damian to throw me out?”
Sabrina hesitated.
“Yes.”
My stomach turned.
“Damian knew?”
“No.”
“He was told humiliating you publicly would establish a pattern of instability afterward.”
“Meaning?”
“They wanted witnesses to see you angry.”
I remembered.
I did not scream.
I did not fight.
That may have saved me.
Victor expected a scene.
I gave him silence.
Sabrina looked almost ashamed.
“I was supposed to provoke you.”
“The necklace.”
“Yes.”
My grandmother’s emerald had not been random.
It had been bait.
Damian thought he was being cruel.
Sabrina thought she was provoking me.
Victor was building evidence.
I almost admired the precision.
Almost.
At noon, Nathan called.
Damian appeared beside him.
Alive.
He looked at me through the screen.
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing.”
He nodded.
Nathan spread documents across a table.
“We have the final structure.”
October 17 would proceed.
Victor believed Damian had returned to him.
Sabrina would appear missing.
I would attend.
Richard would appear to stay away.
Andrew would be moved under federal protection.
Everything controlled.
Then my father asked,
“Where is Elizabeth?”
Nathan’s face changed.
That was answer enough.
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
“When did you last see her?”
“Geneva.”
“You said she was with you.”
“She was.”
“Then?”
“She vanished.”
A message arrived on my phone.
A photograph.
Aunt Elizabeth.
Sitting in a dark room.
Unlike Sabrina’s staged image, this looked real.
Her hands were bound.
A newspaper showed that morning’s date.
The message beneath it contained only six words.
Bring Richard or Elizabeth dies first.
My father read it.
Then looked at me.
“I’m going.”
“No.”
“She’s my sister.”
“Exactly.”
“I’ve already buried your mother.”
His voice broke.
“I’m not burying Liz because of me.”
My phone rang.
Victor.
I answered.
“You have my attention.”
“Good.”
“What do you want?”
“Your father.”
“You won’t get him.”
Victor chuckled.
“Claire.”
Then his voice became almost gentle.
“You still think Richard is the person I need.”
My stomach tightened.
“He isn’t.”
“Then who?”
“You.”
The call ended.
Rebecca looked at me.
“What did he say?”
I stared at my mother’s photograph on the shelf.
“He says Dad isn’t the target.”
My phone buzzed once more.
A second photograph.
This one taken outside my office ten minutes earlier.
May you like
Through a rifle scope.
Crosshairs centered on my chest.
