Chapter 9 - Ten Minutes
Officer Brooks moved fast.
A tactical unit was twelve minutes away.
Marcus had given them ten.
Richard stood in the security room listening to his daughter cry through the live audio.
“Daddy,” Maya whimpered.
His hands curled into fists.
Marcus’s voice came through the speaker.
“Call him.”
Victoria hesitated. “You call him.”
“Do it.”
Richard’s phone rang.
Victoria.
Brooks signaled for him to answer and put it on speaker.
Richard’s voice was calm.
“Where is my daughter?”
“You need to listen to me.”
“I’m listening.”
“Sign the merger authorization. The final document is in your email. Do it now.”
Richard looked at Daniel.
Daniel silently opened a laptop.
“What does a merger have to do with Maya?” Richard asked.
Marcus grabbed the phone from Victoria.
“Everything.”
Richard closed his eyes.
Fifteen years of friendship reduced to one voice in the dark.
“Marcus.”
“You should have retired after Caroline died.”
“What did you do?”
“I built half your company while you got the headlines.”
“So you decided to steal the other half?”
“I decided to stop begging for what I earned.”
Richard glanced at the live feed.
Marcus walked away from Maya as he spoke.
Daniel typed.
Brooks whispered, “Keep him talking.”
Richard said, “Why involve my daughter?”
“Leverage.”
Victoria flinched at the word.
For the first time, Richard saw fear on her face too.
“You told me Maya would never be hurt,” she said.
Marcus covered the phone. “Shut up.”
Richard heard it anyway.
He understood something important.
Victoria was guilty.
But Marcus was worse than she had understood.
“Send me the document,” Richard said.
“It’s already there.”
“And after I sign?”
“You’ll get Maya back.”
Richard looked at Brooks.
She shook her head slightly.
No guarantee.
Daniel turned the laptop toward him.
He had opened the merger file metadata.
A hidden annex redirected controlling voting rights after closing.
To a shell corporation.
The beneficial owner was Marcus Vale.
But that was not the shocking part.
A second clause activated if Richard died within thirty days of signing.
The insurance payout exceeded one billion dollars.
Richard felt a chill.
This was not kidnapping for leverage.
It was part of a plan to kill him.
May you like
Then the live camera showed Marcus reach into the duffel bag.
He pulled out a handgun.
