Chapter 13 - Eleven Minutes.
Jennifer ran through the hotel without waiting for the elevator.
Her heels struck the marble stairs while Maya called Judge Porter back and Sloan requested a warrant.
The ballroom doors were locked.
Inside, Daniel addressed Blue Finch's hidden creditors from beneath the glowing chandelier.
The tan folder remained in Maya's hands, but the final proof waited on Daniel's laptop.
Jennifer entered through the catering corridor where he had attacked her hours earlier.
Vanessa followed despite Sloan's order to stay with Olivia.
"You told me to tell the truth when it cost everything."
"Start by staying alive."
They reached the control room above the ballroom with eight minutes remaining.
Through the glass wall, Jennifer saw Daniel's hand move across the ballroom screen as he approved the transfer steps one by one.
Employees at headquarters appeared in silent video squares, unaware that their new chairman had manufactured the crisis he claimed to solve.
The countdown was not merely a number.
It was the remaining distance between thousands of families and unemployment.
Carl's brother guarded the door.
He rushed Jennifer before she could retreat.
Vanessa slammed a fire extinguisher against his arm.
The weapon in his hand clattered across the floor.
Jennifer kicked it beneath a heavy cabinet.
The man grabbed Vanessa by the hair.
Jennifer drove the extinguisher into his knee.
He collapsed as Sloan and an officer reached the corridor.
"Go," Sloan shouted.
Jennifer entered the control room.
Daniel stood before a wall of screens with the master laptop open.
The countdown showed six minutes and twelve seconds.
"You were supposed to be sedated by now," he said.
"You were supposed to be smarter than my father."
"I was."
"He built a company and nearly lost it."
"I took a broken company and made it obey me."
Jennifer moved toward the laptop.
Daniel closed the lid and secured it to his wrist with a steel cable.
"The board thinks I am rescuing them," he said.
"When Blue Finch takes the hotels, I will offer to keep every executive who supports me."
"And the employees?"
"Replaceable."
The single word carried more contempt than any confession about his marriage.
"One biometric confirmation, and the transfer completes."
"Your face will appear on every fraud filing."
"Blue Finch belongs to your mother."
"That is the story investigators will follow."
Jennifer understood the true elegance of his plan.
He had made Ellen the legal beneficiary, Vanessa the promised beneficiary, Robert the original creator, and Jennifer the unstable accuser.
Every path led away from him.
"You forgot one thing."
"What?"
"You cannot resist explaining how clever you are."
Daniel looked toward the microphone clipped inside the torn shoulder of Jennifer's dress.
The light blinked red.
His confession was streaming into the hearing, the ballroom, and every board member's computer.
He seized Jennifer by the throat.
The laptop swung from his wrist.
She struck the panic button beneath the control desk.
The grand chandelier went dark, and the ballroom's emergency fire curtain began descending.
Daniel dragged Jennifer toward the control panel.
"Stop it, or we both lose everything."
"You already lost."
He raised his bandaged hand to strike her.
Vanessa appeared behind him with Olivia's cracked pink microphone.
"She pressed record," Vanessa said.
Then she smashed it against the fingerprint reader beside the laptop.
The reader sparked.
May you like
The countdown froze at two minutes and nine seconds.
Daniel turned toward her with murder in his eyes.
