Chapter 10: The Unexpected Ally
The tram took them out of the financial district, winding along the picturesque shores of Lake Geneva. But they couldn't go to an airport, and they couldn't stay at a hotel. Vargas had the city locked down.
"We need a ghost," Julian said, staring out the window at the gray waters. "Someone with money, power, and a deep hatred for my mother."
Clara looked up, wiping a bead of cold sweat from her forehead. "Arthur Penhaligon."
"Exactly," Julian nodded.
Arthur Penhaligon was a former Vance Enterprises board member. Ten years ago, Esther had ruthlessly orchestrated a hostile takeover of Arthur’s shares, forcing him into a humiliating, early retirement. He had fled to a massive chateau in Montreux, Switzerland, vowing never to return to American soil.
Using the last of their cash, they hired a private car to take them up the winding mountain roads to Montreux. The chateau was heavily guarded, but Julian Vance’s face was the only passport he needed to get past the front gate.
Arthur Penhaligon, a silver-haired man with sharp eyes and a bespoke tweed suit, received them in his sprawling library overlooking the Alps. He listened to their story in silence, pouring three glasses of expensive cognac.
"Esther always was a scorpion," Arthur mused, taking the thick stack of ledgers from Clara. He adjusted his reading glasses, flipping through the pages. As a former CFO, it took him less than ten minutes to see the phantom vendors and the offshore routing numbers.
He looked up, a slow, predatory smile spreading across his aged face. "She finally got sloppy. The Queen of Wall Street, taken down by a mid-level auditor."
"We need to get this back to New York," Julian said urgently. "But we can't fly commercial. Her men are watching every terminal, and our passports are flagged."
Arthur chuckled, walking over to his mahogany desk. "My boy, you do not need a commercial airline when you are a guest of Arthur Penhaligon. Esther took my company, but she couldn't touch my private fleet. I have a Gulfstream fueled and ready on a private airstrip in Sion. We leave tonight. But I am coming with you."
May you like
Julian frowned. "Why?"
"Because," Arthur said, his eyes glinting with a decade of suppressed vengeance, "I wouldn't miss Esther's face when the empire crumbles for all the tea in China."
