Chapter 9 - BLACKSTONE CROWN
Blackstone Crown operated behind a private members’ club in downtown Charlotte.
Politicians drank there.
Billionaires made quiet agreements there.
Men whose names never appeared in newspapers entered through the rear entrance.
Nathan had visited twice.
Both times he had hated it.
At 11:52 p.m., Margaret walked through the front door.
Nathan watched from a surveillance van three blocks away.
Aaron had placed two teams inside neighboring buildings.
Margaret wore a wire.
More importantly, she wore Samuel’s ring.
Dominic Rainer waited upstairs.
He was sixty-one.
Gray hair.
Dark suit.
The relaxed posture of a man who had spent decades believing other people would move first.
Richard stood beside him.
Victoria sat near the window.
Her wrists were free.
That immediately told Margaret she was not exactly a prisoner.
Dominic looked at the ring.
“So Samuel finally surrendered.”
Margaret remained standing.
“Where is my father?”
Dominic smiled.
“Alive.”
“Where?”
“You’ll see him after we talk.”
Richard stepped forward.
“You shouldn’t have activated the trust.”
Margaret looked at him.
“You shouldn’t have stolen Victoria from Nathan’s house.”
Victoria flinched.
Richard said nothing.
Dominic poured wine.
“The trust has thirty-four percent.”
“Richard controls nine.”
“I control eleven through intermediaries.”
Margaret understood.
“Together you can control Whitmore Global.”
“Only if you vote with us.”
“And if I refuse?”
Dominic smiled.
“Then we move to another solution.”
Margaret glanced at Victoria.
“What solution?”
Victoria looked away.
Dominic answered.
“Marriage.”
Margaret almost laughed.
“To whom?”
Dominic turned.
The private door opened.
A man entered.
Tall.
Forty.
Dark hair.
Scar beside his right eye.
Margaret did not recognize him.
Nathan did.
Watching through the surveillance feed, Nathan stood so suddenly his chair fell backward.
“No.”
Aaron looked at him.
“What?”
Nathan stared at the screen.
The man approaching Margaret had been buried twelve years ago.
Evan Whitmore.
Richard’s son.
Nathan’s cousin.
Alive.
Margaret heard Nathan whisper through her earpiece.
“That’s Evan.”
She controlled her face.
Richard smiled.
“My son’s accident was useful.”
Evan looked at Margaret.
“We should have met a long time ago.”
Margaret stepped backward.
Dominic continued.
“Marriage combines the Ellis trust with Richard’s Whitmore shares.”
“And my shares provide the final block.”
“You seize the company.”
“We stabilize it.”
Margaret almost smiled.
“Men like you always rename theft.”
Evan reached for her hand.
Margaret pulled away.
Nathan’s voice came through her earpiece.
“Get out.”
Dominic noticed the movement.
His eyes narrowed.
Then he reached behind Margaret’s ear and removed the transmitter.
Nathan’s heart stopped.
Dominic crushed it under his shoe.
“Hello, Nathan.”
The surveillance feed went silent.
Margaret stood alone.
Dominic smiled at her.
“Now we can speak privately.”
But Victoria suddenly stood.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
Victoria looked at Margaret.
Then at Richard.
“You promised nobody would hurt her.”
Richard’s expression hardened.
Victoria continued.
“You promised Nathan would lose control of the company.”
“Not his life.”
Dominic laughed.
“You still love him.”
Victoria’s face twisted.
“I don’t know.”
Then she did something nobody expected.
She grabbed the wine bottle and smashed it against the table.
The fire alarm exploded through the building.
Sprinklers erupted.
People shouted.
Margaret ran.
Richard grabbed her.
Victoria drove a broken chair into his knees.
“GO!”
Margaret reached the stairwell.
Nathan was already coming up.
He found her between floors.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Victoria?”
Margaret looked back.
“She helped me.”
A gunshot echoed above them.
Then another.
Nathan started upward.
Margaret grabbed his arm.
“Nathan.”
He stopped.
Smoke and water poured down the stairwell.
Margaret’s voice trembled.
“Evan is alive.”
Nathan looked up.
May you like
“I know.”
And somewhere above them, Victoria screamed his name.
