Chapter 5 - THE VIPER'S NEST
Back at Sterling Development, panic was a living, breathing entity in the CFO’s office. Richard Vance paced the length of his Persian rug, his phone pressed aggressively to his ear.
"What do you mean she's gone?" Vance spat, glaring out at the Manhattan skyline. "She's a cleaning lady! She punches a clock! Did you check her locker?"
"Locker is empty, Mr. Vance," the gruff voice of his private fixer replied over the line. "And we sent a guy to her apartment in Queens. Place is tossed. Looked like she packed a bag in a hurry. Neighbors said she left with a guy in a suit and a little kid."
Vance hurled his crystal whiskey tumbler against the wall, shattering it into a hundred glittering pieces. That little brat. The kid with the stupid rabbit backpack had walked into the boardroom holding the one piece of paper that could send him to federal prison for the rest of his life. He had recognized the numbers instantly.
"Find her," Vance snarled into the phone. "I don't care what it costs. Sterling suspended the meeting, which means he suspects something, but he doesn't have proof yet. If he had proof, the FBI would already be here. The maid is the only leak. Find her and plug the leak."
Vance ended the call and straightened his tie. He needed a contingency plan. If Sterling was digging, Vance needed to accelerate the final transfer and wipe the mainframe. He had seventy-two hours before the bank flagged the dormant accounts. He just had to make sure Claire Bennett never had the chance to explain those numbers to Nathaniel Sterling.
May you like
What Vance didn't know was that he was already out of time.
---
