Chapter 27 - The Ashes of Elkton
Back in the bedroom, Richard was pale, shivering from blood loss and shock, but the smug, arrogant curl had returned faintly to his cracked lips. Frank had placed a satellite phone on the small table in front of him. The screen displayed an incoming encrypted call from an unlisted number with a Washington, D.C. area code.
"You think this ends with me?" Richard wheezed, his voice reeking of venomous spite. "You think I was the one pulling the strings? I was just the operational manager, Claire. The trust fund... the Sovereign Horizon shell companies... they don't answer to me."
"Who do they answer to, Richard?" Marian demanded, stepping into the room, her voice hard as diamond. "Julian is paralyzed. Who authorized the Elkton breakout? Who paid for the mercenaries?"
Richard laughed—a bloody, gurgling sound. "Answer the phone, Frank. See who’s holding your life in their hands."
Frank tapped the speaker button.
A deep, cultured voice filled the bedroom. It wasn't the frantic tone of a hunted criminal; it was the calm, measured cadence of absolute, unchecked power.
*"Frank. Marian. I must congratulate you. Surviving twelve of my best Tier-One contractors is an impressive feat for two retired relics and a traumatized housewife."*
Frank’s face darkened with recognition. "Senator Sterling."
I gasped. Senator Marcus Sterling—the senior chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the man who had appeared on every national news network for the past decade preaching fiscal responsibility and veteran support. He had been a guest of honor at our wedding. He had toasted Richard and me with champagne.
*"Retired Admiral Sterling to you, Frank,"* the voice replied smoothly. *"Julian Vance was an amateur. He let his personal grudges cloud business. But Richard... Richard was useful. Unfortunately, Richard proved to be as incompetent as his father. Letting himself get captured in Ohio? Disappointing."*
"You orchestrated the entire operation," I said, stepping closer to the phone. "The staircase. The legal harassment. The prison transport ambush."
*"Claire, my dear,"* Sterling chuckled softly. *"You always were more perceptive than Richard gave you credit for. Your grandfather’s sovereign military trust controls fifteen percent of the non-voting stock in Aegis Global—the parent company of our defense procurement syndicate. With that stock, we bypass federal oversight. Without it, the Department of Justice audits our offshore accounts by the end of this fiscal quarter. Richard was supposed to secure that stock through marriage or probate. Since he failed... we proceed to Phase Two."*
"There is no Phase Two, Sterling," Frank growled. "I have the ledger. I have your operational manifests. Marian brought the original encryptions from Bucharest. By dawn, every major news syndicate and the FBI Director will have copies."
*"Will they, Frank?"* Sterling said, his voice dripping with condescending pity. *"Look out your eastern window. Toward the valley."*
Frank turned, parting the titanium blinds.
Three miles away, in the valley where the small town of Logan lay sleeping, a massive column of black smoke rose into the moonlight sky. The regional electrical grid for the entire county blinked out, plunging the horizon into pitch-black darkness.
*"I control the infrastructure in this district, Frank,"* Sterling continued. *"The communications towers are down. The roads are blocked by state troopers on my payroll, operating under the guise of an active chemical leak. No one enters Hocking County. No one leaves. And at 0600 hours, a federal tactical team will breach your estate to recover 'hostages' taken by an unhinged, violent veteran named Frank and his fugitive daughter."*
Sterling paused, his tone turning deadly serious.
*"You have two hours. Bring the encryption keys and the ledger to the abandoned Norfolk Southern rail terminal outside Lancaster. If you try to run, my gunships will level that mountain house with your granddaughter inside it. Choose wisely."*
May you like
The line went dead.
***
