Chapter 6 - The Faded Blue Ribbon
Deep beneath the main estate, the air inside the stone-walled holding cell was cold, damp, and smelling of old earth.
Graham Pierce sat on a wooden chair in the center of the room, his dark suit wrinkled, his hands cuffed tightly behind his back. Two heavy security guards stood by the reinforced door.
The heavy steel door swung open, and Roman Vale walked into the room, flanked by Marco. Roman had removed his ivory suit jacket, rolling up his white dress shirt sleeves to reveal the dark tattoos covering his forearms.
He stood in front of his former attorney, looking down at him like an executioner.
"You have five minutes, Graham," Roman said softly.
Graham looked up, his eyes bloodshot, his voice raspy. "You think you've won, Roman? You think catching me stops what's coming for your family?"
"Who is the buyer in Geneva, Graham?" Roman demanded.
Graham let out a bitter, dry laugh. "The buyer isn't a rival syndicate, Roman. The buyer is your own family's founding foundation—the Vale Global Trust."
Roman’s jaw set into a hard line. "The trust was frozen twelve years ago when my sister Clara disappeared."
"It wasn't frozen!" Graham sneered. "Your father kept the trust active! He funneled forty percent of the empire's offshore revenues into that account for twelve years! And the only person holding the master signature clearance to release those funds... was your sister Clara!"
Roman took a slow step forward, grabbing Graham by his collar and pulling him up until their faces were inches apart.
"Clara is dead, Graham," Roman growled in a low, terrifying voice.
"Is she?" Graham whispered sinisterly. "Then why did a private medical clinic in Zurich receive a five-hundred-thousand-dollar transfer from that exact trust account three days ago? Signed with her biological authorization code?"
Roman froze. The cold shock of the revelation echoed through his chest.
"You're lying," Roman said softly.
"Check the ledger I took from your safe, Roman!" Graham choked out. "The last three pages aren't financial records! They are medical reports from a private facility in Switzerland! Your sister didn't die twelve years ago—she was placed in a medically induced coma after the accident!"
Roman released Graham, letting the attorney fall back into the wooden chair.
Marco stepped forward, holding his encrypted phone. "Boss... I just ran the secondary file trace from Pierce's satellite transmitter. He's telling the truth. The IP transfers originated from a private medical estate near Lake Geneva."
Roman stood motionless in the dim cell, his dark eyes burning with a sudden, fierce fire. For twelve years, he had carried the crushing weight of his sister's loss, believing she was buried in a nameless grave.
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"Where is the master key to that medical facility, Graham?" Roman asked.
Graham looked up, a sinister smile touching his lips. "You already have it, Roman. The brass key the maid's daughter found under your dining table today... it isn't for a lockbox in this house. It's the physical security key for the vault inside the Zurich clinic."
