Chapter 4 - The Second Phone.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
The message glowed from the carpet like a confession waiting to be claimed.
Celeste looked at Grant, but Grant looked only at Mara.
"That phone isn't mine," Celeste said.
"It was in your bag," Evelyn replied.
"Grant asked me to carry it this morning."
Grant's face tightened.
"You volunteered."
"You said it contained private business messages."
Mara listened as their alliance began breaking under the weight of details.
Neither seemed concerned about protecting the other now.
They were protecting separate versions of themselves.
Daniel picked up the phone using a clean hotel handkerchief and placed it inside a document sleeve.
"The access request failed," he said.
"Can the sender try again?" Mara asked.
"Not through our system, but we should assume Voss has another route."
Grant lowered himself into a chair.
For the first time that afternoon, he looked older than his thirty-six years.
"Harlan is only an investor," he said.
"Investors do not instruct people to transfer reserves before a controlling trustee acts," Evelyn answered.
Grant rubbed his palms together.
"He believed Mara would overreact."
"You mean he correctly predicted that I would protect my company," Mara said.
Lily stirred on the sofa.
Mara moved beside her and whispered until the child settled again.
Grant watched them with an expression that might have resembled regret if it had not appeared so late.
"I never wanted Lily involved," he said.
Mara looked at the collateral report.
"You signed her name into the risk."
"It was temporary."
"So was your authority."
Celeste sat at the far end of the table and removed her earrings with trembling fingers.
"I want my own attorney," she said.
"That is sensible," Evelyn replied.
"Am I being detained?"
"No, but destroying records would create serious problems."
Celeste looked offended by the implication, then remembered the phone in her bag.
"I didn't know about any theft," she said.
"We have not used that word," Evelyn answered.
Celeste fell silent.
Mara asked Daniel how much remained exposed.
He estimated that Northstar Meridian could still trigger a false default if three hotel lenders received manipulated reports before sunset.
The lenders were in New York, London, and Singapore.
Grant had scheduled a board transmission for four o'clock.
It was now three twenty-seven.
"Cancel the transmission," Mara said.
Daniel tried.
The system rejected his command because the packet had been moved to an external service.
Grant stared at the carpet.
Mara recognized his silence as information.
"Where is the release key?"
"I don't have it."
"Who does?"
"Harlan."
Evelyn closed her eyes briefly.
Grant rushed to explain.
"The packet was supposed to support a temporary restructuring."
"It was designed to show that Valecrest had violated its debt agreements," Daniel said.
"Only if the board rejected my plan."
"The board never saw your plan," Mara replied.
Grant looked toward the glass wall, where guests moved through the lobby beneath golden light.
He had chosen this public place because he believed Mara would protect his image.
Now the walls made escape impossible without everyone seeing him leave in defeat.
Mara asked Owen to bring a secure laptop and connect Evelyn with the three lenders.
Owen moved immediately.
Grant stood again.
"If you contact them before the packet arrives, you'll expose internal conflict."
"Good," Mara said.
"They'll lose confidence."
"They will lose confidence in you."
The distinction silenced him.
At three forty-one, Evelyn reached the New York lender and placed a protective notice on the account.
London followed six minutes later.
Singapore did not answer.
At three fifty-eight, Daniel's screen displayed an outgoing transmission beginning its automated countdown.
Ten seconds remained.
Grant watched the numbers fall and whispered that it was too late.
Mara picked up the gold-crested satellite phone.
Before she could speak, the conference room lights dimmed.
Every screen went black except the second phone sealed on the table.
Its display showed a live video connection.
Harlan Voss appeared on-screen, seated in a dark office.
May you like
"Mrs. Vale," he said. "Your husband promised you would never find the key."
THE LAST ACCOUNT
