Chapter 7 - The Broadcast
The entire lobby went dead silent. Reporters pressed their faces against the exterior glass windows, camera shutters clicking like a swarm of locusts.
On the massive LED screen, United States Attorney Sarah Vance (no relation, but Eleanor's former college classmate and trusted legal ally) appeared behind a formal podium in Washington D.C., flanked by federal agents from the FBI’s Financial Crimes and Homicide units.
"Good afternoon," Attorney Sarah Vance declared, her voice echoing through the speakers of the Vance Medical lobby. "Twenty minutes ago, the Department of Justice received an unredacted digital transmission containing forensic evidence, private medical pathology reports, and encrypted audio logs regarding the death of Eleanor Vance."
Julian Croft went entirely pale, his knees shaking beneath his expensive trousers. "Turn it off!" he screamed to the lobby technicians. "Shut down the power!"
Nobody moved. Caspian’s private tech team had remote-hacked the building's media server ten minutes prior from a parking garage across the street.
"The evidence provided," the US Attorney continued, "proves conclusively that Eleanor Vance was systematically poisoned to facilitate an illegal hostile takeover of Vance Medical Logistics. Furthermore, audio recordings confirm that senior partner Julian Croft and three members of the Vance Foundation board intentionally conspired to kidnap, institutionalize, and strip the legal rights from Eleanor's nine-year-old daughter, Marlo Vance."
The lobby erupted into sheer bedlam. Board members began frantically backing away from Croft, holding their hands up to cover their faces from the news cameras outside.
Croft stumbled backward, looking at Marlo, his eyes wild with desperate, cornered malice.
"You ruined me..." Croft rasped, reaching into his coat lining for a concealed firearm. "You little brat... I built this company!"
CRACK!
Before Croft’s hand could clear his jacket, Marcus and two undercover federal marshals who had been posing as news technicians lunged forward, tackling Croft to the polished marble floor.
The gun skittered across the floor, coming to a rest right at Caspian’s polished leather shoes.
Caspian didn't even look down at the weapon. He kept his arm securely wrapped around Marlo, shielding her face as federal agents swarmed the lobby, slapping steel handcuffs onto Croft and the three corrupt board members.
As Croft was dragged away, screaming insults through his bloody lip, he passed Caspian and Marlo.
Marlo looked down at the man who had terrified her for six months. She didn't yell. She didn't gloat.
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She simply unbuttoned her mother's navy wool coat, reached inside, and pulled out a small gold pen—her mother’s favorite fountain pen, which she had reclaimed from her mother's desk.
"Mommy always signed her contracts herself, Julian," Marlo said clearly, her voice echoing in the quiet lobby. "And she never signed yours."
