Chapter 7 - The Boardroom Built for Betrayal
Emma pressed the muzzle against the back of the driver's seat.
"Pull over."
He did not slow. "You were instructed to arrive at Sterling Tower by nine."
"By whom?"
"Your father."
Lydia leaned forward. "Gabriel does not control this route."
The driver glanced at her in the mirror. "Mrs. Sterling, you have been absent too long to know what Mr. Sterling controls."
Ruth reached beneath her sleeve and produced a narrow blade. She placed it against the cable controlling the rear locks.
"Then educate us."
The driver smiled. "The vote has already begun."
The van screens lit with a live feed of Sterling Tower's boardroom. Twelve directors sat around a black oval table. At its head was an empty chair. On the wall behind them appeared Emma's photograph beside the words SUBJECT CAPACITY REVIEW.
A silver-haired attorney stood to speak.
"At 8:00 a.m., under emergency authority, the board received evidence of domestic violence, unauthorized surveillance, and an attempt to extract protected corporate data. The central question is whether Emma Vale Sterling remains capable of exercising controlling authority."
Director after director placed a sealed card into a glass box.
Emma checked the clock. 7:21.
"That feed is recorded," she said.
"Partially," the driver replied. "The formal vote occurs at noon. The early session decides who is permitted in the room."
Lydia's jaw tightened. "They are excluding Emma before she arrives."
"They are excluding everyone who cannot prove direct authority."
The van entered a tunnel.
The screens went dark.
Ruth cut the lock cable. Emma kicked the rear door open while the van still moved. Cold air and traffic noise rushed inside.
"Now," Emma said.
Ruth jumped first, rolling onto the narrow maintenance shoulder. Lydia followed. Emma grabbed the overhead rail, swung out, and landed hard enough to drive pain through both knees. The van sped away.
They climbed an emergency staircase and emerged six blocks from Sterling Tower.
At 8:03, Emma entered a hotel restroom and changed into a dark blue suit Ruth had stored in a locker years earlier. It fit almost perfectly. Lydia pinned Emma's hair back while Ruth copied files from the recorder.
"The real key," Lydia said. "Where is it?"
Emma removed the heel from one shoe. The brass key slid into her hand.
"You learned that from me," Lydia said.
"I learned it after you disappeared."
The answer silenced them both.
At 8:37, they entered the Federal Reserve annex through separate doors. Ruth carried the legal documents. Lydia remained outside because her presence would trigger an identity alert. Emma presented the presumption-of-death order and requested access to box 117.
The clerk disappeared for eleven minutes.
When he returned, two federal security officers stood behind him.
"Ms. Sterling, the box was accessed yesterday."
Emma felt the floor shift beneath her. "By whom?"
"The authorized co-holder."
"There is no co-holder."
The clerk turned a tablet toward her.
A signature appeared on the screen.
EMMA VALE STERLING
The biometric verification record showed a thumbprint match.
Emma stared at it. "I was in my condo yesterday."
"Then we have a serious problem."
The officers escorted her to the vault. Box 117 was empty except for a small black card.
On one side was the Sterling crest.
On the other were six words.
THE WRONG EMMA OPENED THIS FIRST.
Ruth read it over her shoulder. "The note warned you not to trust anyone who calls you Emma."
"Because someone else is using the name."
Emma turned the card beneath the vault light. A faint indentation appeared along the edge. She bent it and revealed a microprinted number.
E-16.
In the Orchard directory, Emma had been Subject E-17.
There had been another Emma before her.
Her phone rang.
Sterling Tower.
Emma answered.
The silver-haired attorney from the boardroom spoke without greeting.
"Ms. Sterling, the preliminary session has concluded. You are permitted to attend the noon vote under one condition."
"Which is?"
"You must come alone and publicly identify the person who represents the greatest threat to the company."
"My father, my mother, or my husband."
"Those are the names currently under review."
Emma looked at the E-16 card.
"You forgot one."
The attorney paused.
Emma said, "Who was Emma before me?"
The call disconnected.
Ruth's phone immediately displayed an alert from her apartment surveillance system. A photograph showed police entering the building and carrying out a body under a white sheet.
May you like
The dead woman's hand slipped from beneath the covering.
She wore Lydia's ring.
