Chapter 3 - Shadows Over the Empire
Within two hours, Daniel had moved Noah into the executive suite of Baltimore’s grandest hotel, while a team of elite private security personnel guarded Lily’s room at the hospital.
As Noah fell into a deep, heavy sleep on a plush bed—wearing warm clothes and fed a proper meal—Daniel sat in the living room of the suite with his chief of security, Frank Vance, and his personal attorney, Arthur Vance.
The photograph lay on the glass coffee table between them.
"Sarah disappeared eight years ago right after Mercer Meridian went public," Frank said softly, reviewing a encrypted digital dossier. "At the time, your late business partner, Richard Sterling, told you Sarah had accepted a multi-million-dollar buyout and moved to Europe to start a new life. You believed him."
"Richard lied," Daniel spat, his fists clenching until his knuckles turned white. "He forged her resignation letters. He knew Sarah was pregnant with my child."
"It's worse than that, Daniel," Arthur added, opening a legal folder. "We ran a background check on 'Victor'—the man Noah mentioned. His real name is Victor Vance, a former operative hired by Mercer Meridian’s board of directors nine years ago. He wasn't Sarah's husband; he was her handler. Richard Sterling paid him to keep Sarah hid in obscurity so she would never claim her thirty-percent founder's stake in your company."
Daniel stood up, pacing the floor like a caged predator. "Where is Sarah now?"
Frank hesitated, his face grim. "Twelve days ago, Sarah discovered that Richard’s estate was planning to liquidate her hidden trust. She threatened to go to the federal authorities with evidence of corporate fraud. That same night, she was picked up by local police on false charges staged by Victor. She’s currently being held without bail in a private detention facility outside the city."
Daniel stopped pacing. His eyes narrowed into slits of icy fury.
"They threw the mother of my children into a cell to protect their stock prices," Daniel whispered, the authority in his voice turning terrifyingly cold. "They let my son starve in an abandoned factory and left my baby daughter to die of pneumonia."
He turned to Arthur. "Call the District Attorney. Call the Chief of Police. Tell them that if Sarah Reed is not released within two hours, I will pull every dollar of Mercer Meridian capital from the state and release nine years of corporate audit records to the Department of Justice."
"Daniel," Arthur warned, "doing that will tank our stock. It could destroy Mercer Meridian."
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Daniel picked up the faded photograph of his son and looked at it.
"Let it burn," Daniel commanded. "My family is coming home."
