Chapter 15 - The Recording
The storage unit existed.
So did the phone.
Investigators obtained a warrant before opening either.
Harrison was not present when they found it.
He heard the recording later.
Charles Voss's voice was unmistakable.
Richard, you keep thinking like a husband.
Start thinking like a shareholder.
Khloe is one person.
The company is worth hundreds of millions.
People suffer accidents every day.
Richard's voice answered.
I'm not killing my wife.
Voss laughed.
I didn't ask you to.
I said problems sometimes resolve themselves when pressure is applied correctly.
The recording lasted eleven minutes.
It did not contain a direct order.
Voss was too experienced for that.
But combined with payments, shell companies, forged documents, intimidation, and the attack on Richard, prosecutors had enough to build a racketeering case.
Federal agents arrested Charles Voss before dawn.
Stephen Mercer was arrested that afternoon.
News helicopters circled Voss's estate.
Markets reacted.
Business partners distanced themselves.
Political allies claimed they barely knew him.
Khloe watched none of it.
She was feeding Eleanor.
Harrison arrived with coffee.
"It's done."
Khloe looked up.
"Voss?"
"Arrested."
"Richard?"
"Cooperating."
"Vanessa?"
"Plea negotiations."
Khloe nodded.
She seemed strangely calm.
Harrison sat beside her.
"You okay?"
"I thought I'd feel something bigger."
"Like what?"
"Victory."
He looked toward Eleanor.
"This isn't victory."
"No?"
"It's consequences."
Khloe considered that.
"I like that better."
The divorce proceeded quickly after Richard stopped contesting it.
Khloe received full ownership of her fifty-one percent interest.
Richard's forty-nine percent stake was frozen pending restitution and criminal proceedings.
The board removed him as director unanimously.
Samuel Grant returned as interim chief financial officer.
At his first meeting, Khloe stood before employees.
She did not speak about revenge.
She spoke about rebuilding.
"This company was built by my father."
"It was almost hollowed out by secrecy."
"That won't happen again."
"Every transfer will be reviewed."
"Every executive will answer to independent oversight."
"And no person's last name will place them above accountability."
Employees applauded.
Khloe did not smile until she saw Harrison standing in the back.
Afterward, he approached her.
"Dad would've liked that."
"He would've fired half the room first."
Harrison laughed.
"Also true."
Then Lena hurried toward them.
Her expression erased the moment.
"There's a problem."
"What?"
"Voss's attorneys filed a motion."
"For what?"
"To suppress the storage-unit evidence."
Harrison shrugged.
"They'll lose."
"That's not the problem."
She handed him a document.
Charles Voss was claiming Richard fabricated the entire conspiracy to reduce his sentence.
Khloe read it.
"So?"
Lena looked at Harrison.
"Voss says he has evidence Khloe knew about the financial transfers for over a year."
Khloe frowned.
"That's ridiculous."
Lena nodded.
"There's more."
"He's claiming Khloe approved them."
Harrison's face hardened.
Khloe stared at the document.
"With what signature?"
May you like
Lena answered quietly.
"Yours."
