Chapter 10 - Margot Makes Her Move
At 8:00 the next morning, Baron Consolidated belonged to Elias.
At 9:16, it did not.
The emergency board meeting was called while Elias was still in Vermont.
Seven directors attended in person.
Four remotely.
Michael Baron presented the motion.
Temporary removal of Elias Baron as chief executive on grounds of medical incapacity, reckless conduct, and undisclosed exposure to criminal investigation.
Elias joined by video.
Michael looked uncomfortable.
“Elias, this isn't personal.”
Elias almost laughed.
Everyone said that immediately before doing something personal.
“You're removing me from my company.”
“Temporarily.”
“Using medical records you aren't authorized to have.”
Michael looked toward someone off-screen.
“Our counsel advised—”
“Where did you get them?”
Silence.
Elias knew.
Victor.
The motion passed seven to four.
Margot’s vote controlled two family trusts.
Both voted against Elias.
At 9:18, Elias Baron lost operational control of the legitimate empire his father had spent decades building.
He stared at the laptop after the call ended.
Clara stood behind him.
“Say something.”
“What?”
“Anything.”
“I’m thinking.”
“That scares me more.”
Elias closed the computer.
“Victor expects me to react.”
“You are reacting.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“I mean the old way.”
Clara understood.
Violence.
Threats.
The reputation Elias had spent his life inheriting even when he tried not to use it.
“What will you do?”
“Nothing.”
She frowned.
“Nothing?”
“For forty-eight hours.”
“That sounds unlike you.”
“It will frighten them.”
He was right.
By afternoon Victor called six times.
Elias ignored him.
Michael called four.
Ignored.
Margot sent a message:
I'm sorry. I had no choice.
Elias replied with two words:
You always do.
Then silence.
Meanwhile attorneys reviewed Miriam’s documents.
Daniel traced payments.
Thomas met with investigators.
Clara persuaded her mother to leave Vermont under federal protection.
And Elias waited.
At midnight Daniel entered with a laptop.
“We found the money.”
Elias looked up.
“Where?”
“Victor routed payments through Mercer’s foundation into a series of companies connected to board members.”
“Bribes?”
“Looks that way.”
“How many?”
“Three confirmed. Possibly five.”
“Michael?”
Daniel hesitated.
“No payment.”
“Then why did he do it?”
“Victor has something on him.”
Elias looked away.
Michael had never been greedy.
Weak sometimes.
But not greedy.
“Find out what.”
The answer arrived the next morning.
Michael’s wife had accumulated enormous hidden gambling debts before entering treatment.
Victor had purchased the debt.
He had threatened to make it public and destroy her custody case for Michael’s children.
Elias closed the report.
“Bring Michael to me.”
“Forcefully?”
“No.”
Daniel smiled slightly.
“You're changing.”
“Don't sound disappointed.”
“I’m adjusting.”
Michael arrived three hours later.
He entered Miriam’s borrowed safe house looking as though he had not slept.
When he saw Elias, he stopped.
“I thought you'd have me dragged somewhere.”
“So did I.”
Michael swallowed.
“Elias…”
“Sit.”
Michael sat.
Elias placed the debt file in front of him.
His cousin stared.
“Where did you get this?”
“Doesn't matter.”
“It does to me.”
“Victor threatened your children.”
Michael covered his face.
“I didn't know what to do.”
“You could have told me.”
“And what? Let you solve it?”
“Yes.”
“That’s the problem.”
Elias frowned.
Michael looked up.
“You solve everything. Everyone becomes dependent on you. Then you resent us for needing you.”
The accusation landed.
“You think that excuses betrayal?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Michael wiped his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
Elias stared for a long moment.
“Then fix it.”
“How?”
“Call another board meeting.”
“They'll never—”
“Don't ask them to restore me.”
Michael blinked.
“Then what?”
“Ask for an independent forensic audit.”
Michael slowly understood.
“If Victor fights it…”
“He exposes himself.”
“And if he agrees?”
“We find the money.”
Michael nodded.
“What about Margot?”
Elias’s face cooled.
“I’ll handle Margot.”
That afternoon Margot returned from Washington.
Elias arranged to meet her at a restaurant where they had celebrated their engagement.
Public place.
Witnesses everywhere.
Margot arrived dressed in ivory.
She smiled sadly.
“You chose our table.”
“I’m sentimental.”
She sat.
“Are you going to threaten me?”
“No.”
That answer unsettled her.
“Then why are we here?”
“I wanted to see whether you would lie when you knew I already knew the truth.”
Her hand tightened around her glass.
“What truth?”
“Andrew Mercer.”
Nothing moved in her face.
That was answer enough.
Elias continued.
“Your father.”
Margot’s eyes lowered.
“You don't understand.”
“I’m listening.”
“He isn't what you think.”
“That's becoming another family tradition.”
“He wanted to destroy everything your father represented.”
“By marrying his daughter to me?”
Margot looked up.
“That wasn't the original plan.”
“What was?”
“To get close.”
“And?”
“To convince you to sell the companies.”
“Then what changed?”
Her eyes filled.
“I fell in love with you.”
Elias almost looked away.
Almost.
“You left me in a cemetery.”
“I know.”
“People don't do that to someone they love.”
“You don't know what he threatened.”
“Your father?”
Margot nodded.
“What?”
“My mother.”
Elias stopped.
“She’s alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Margot’s voice broke.
“He moved her years ago. Every time I tried to leave, he reminded me that he knew where she was.”
For the first time Elias saw not an agent.
A daughter.
Still guilty.
Still responsible.
But also trapped.
“Why did you leave me that night?”
Margot cried silently.
“Because Mercer told me Victor had altered your medication. He said you would become ill at the cemetery.”
Elias’s jaw tightened.
“He wanted me dead.”
“He said no.”
“Margot.”
“He said they only needed you hospitalized long enough for the board to remove you.”
“Then why leave?”
“Because Victor changed the plan.”
She looked at him.
“He told me not to call anyone.”
Elias stared.
“Victor wanted me dead.”
“Yes.”
“And you obeyed.”
Margot closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt worse than another lie.
Then she whispered:
“I drove away.”
Elias said nothing.
“I got three blocks.”
He looked at her.
“I stopped.”
His expression hardened.
“You didn't come back.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Margot wiped her face.
“Because when I turned around, Victor called.”
“What did he say?”
Margot looked directly at Elias.
“He said Clara Vale was already there.”
Elias froze.
“How did Victor know?”
“I asked the same thing.”
“And?”
Margot leaned closer.
“He said because Clara was never supposed to save you.”
Elias felt cold.
Margot continued.
“She was supposed to be blamed for your death.”
Across the restaurant, Clara's name suddenly became more dangerous than Victor's.
Because if Margot was telling the truth, someone had arranged for Clara to be at Holy Rude Cemetery.
May you like
And Clara had sworn she went there by chance.
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