Chapter 10 - Mara’s Name on the Company
“Mara?”
My voice barely carried.
She answered immediately.
“I did not file that transfer.”
Adrian leaned against the wall.
“Of course you didn’t.”
Richard examined the registry.
“The authorization uses Eleanor’s biometric signature.”
“That’s impossible,” Dr. Harris said. “She has been in critical condition.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Her biometric profile was copied months ago.”
The same time he arranged false documents and manipulated my care.
Mara asked Daniel to trace the filing source.
He worked quickly.
“The transfer originated from Eleanor’s Beacon Hill residence.”
Richard’s face hardened.
The house.
The panic room.
The man claiming to be Richard had been there before the real Richard reached the hospital.
I looked at my husband.
“Who was in the house?”
He shook his head.
“Not me.”
Mara replayed the earlier call.
The voice had sounded identical to Richard because Thomas knew his brother’s speech patterns.
But even Thomas could not perfectly imitate him.
Someone else had used voice replication technology.
Someone with access to private recordings.
Daniel Cross found the source file embedded in the transfer.
It contained hours of Richard’s voice, my voice, Adrian’s voice, and Mara’s.
The system had generated a complete authorization meeting that never happened.
“It’s a synthetic board session,” Daniel said.
Richard looked at Adrian.
“Who built it?”
Adrian smiled.
“You hired him.”
Richard’s face changed.
“Caleb.”
Caleb Stone had served as Hale Global’s head of cybersecurity for twelve years. Richard trusted him enough to design the company’s emergency controls.
After Richard’s supposed death, Caleb became Adrian’s private technology adviser.
Six months ago, he disappeared.
Adrian told everyone Caleb died abroad.
Another convenient death.
Mara asked, “Where is he?”
Adrian looked toward the secure corridor camera.
The lights flickered.
A man’s face appeared on every screen.
Caleb Stone.
Alive.
“Good evening, Hale family.”
Federal agents raised their weapons toward the cameras as if they could shoot through them.
Caleb smiled.
“By now, the company believes Mara Voss owns controlling authority.”
Mara replied, “The filing will be reversed.”
“Eventually.”
“What do you want?”
“The original continuity trust.”
Richard looked at me.
I had hidden it in the panic room, but the earlier intruders found the room empty.
Because I moved the trust three days ago.
No one knew where.
Not Adrian.
Not Richard.
Not Mara.
Caleb continued.
“Eleanor, you have sixty minutes to provide the document.”
Dr. Harris stepped closer to the monitor.
“She may not survive sixty minutes.”
Caleb shrugged.
“Then the location dies with her.”
Adrian’s confidence returned.
He believed Caleb was still working for him.
“Release me,” he said. “I can negotiate.”
Caleb laughed.
“No, Adrian. You have served your purpose.”
My son’s face changed.
“What does that mean?”
“You forged documents, arranged the crash, threatened the doctor, and brought federal attention to your family. You are now the perfect public architect of the conspiracy.”
Adrian shook his head.
“We had a deal.”
“You had instructions.”
“I gave you access.”
“And I gave you confidence.”
Caleb looked directly into the camera.
“Your mother was right. Greedy men are predictable.”
Adrian lunged toward the screen.
Security officers restrained him.
For the first time, his panic became complete.
“Caleb!”
The feed cut.
Daniel looked at the tablet.
“Hale Global’s accounts are moving.”
Billions were being transferred through offshore entities under Mara’s stolen identity.
Mara swore softly.
Richard turned to me.
“Where is the trust?”
I closed my eyes.
The answer could save the company.
It could also put the document directly into Caleb’s hands.
Then my heart monitor alarm sounded.
Dr. Harris examined the medication line.
“There is another agent in her system.”
“What agent?” Richard demanded.
“A slow anticoagulant.”
My internal bleeding was worsening.
Adrian watched the doctor’s face.
May you like
Then he smiled.
Because he knew exactly what had been given to me.
