Chapter 8 - Dinner Above the City
The penthouse dining room had been arranged for celebration.
White roses stood in crystal vases. Champagne waited in silver buckets. Twelve place settings surrounded the glass table.
No one mentioned the federal investigation.
Grant greeted Evelyn warmly when she arrived.
“Ms. Shaw. I’ve heard impressive things about your work.”
“I prefer results to compliments.”
“You’ll fit in well here.”
Celeste watched from across the room.
Nora understood the situation immediately.
The Mercers knew Evelyn’s identity, but they had not removed her.
That meant they believed they controlled the evening.
Federal agents waited outside the building, but entering a private residence required a clear emergency or the authorization connected to the planned arrest. Evelyn’s cover remained useful only as long as Grant and Celeste continued talking.
Nora moved toward the windows.
The city lay beneath her, impossibly far away.
Evelyn stopped beside her.
“Beautiful view,” she said.
“Terrifying height.”
“Some people confuse the two.”
Their conversation sounded harmless.
Nora whispered without moving her lips.
“They know.”
“I heard.”
“Leave.”
“No.”
“Grant named you in the car.”
“He wants us frightened.”
“He searched my apartment.”
“Stay near the dining room.”
Celeste approached before Nora could answer.
“Ms. Shaw, I understand you advise corporations facing regulatory difficulties.”
“I advise companies that want to avoid them.”
“And companies that already have difficulties?”
“I advise their directors to cooperate.”
Celeste smiled.
“How expensive.”
“Usually less expensive than prison.”
Dinner began.
Grant seated Nora beside him and Evelyn across the table. Celeste sat at the opposite end.
The other guests included two attorneys, a senator’s former adviser, an investment banker, and several foundation donors. Nora wondered how many understood the source of Mercer wealth.
Grant raised his glass.
“To loyalty.”
Everyone drank except Nora.
Grant noticed.
“No champagne?”
“I prefer a clear head.”
“Tonight, you won’t need one.”
He placed the contract beside her plate.
“Sign.”
Nora opened the folder.
The final page had changed.
It now stated that she had independently created false vendors, redirected foundation funds, and concealed the transfers from Mercer executives.
A complete confession.
“This isn’t the document you showed me.”
“We improved it,” Grant said.
Celeste continued eating.
Nora looked toward Evelyn.
Her sister’s expression remained calm, but her hand rested near the cream handbag on the floor.
“If I sign this,” Nora said, “you expect me to accept responsibility for seventy-three million dollars.”
Several guests stopped eating.
Grant glanced around the table.
“You seem confused.”
“The flower ledger. Rose, Iris, Lily, Orchid.”
Celeste slowly placed down her fork.
Grant’s face hardened.
Nora continued.
“Your mother created the categories. You approved the transfers. Ashbourne returned part of the stolen money as political consulting fees.”
The former adviser rose from his chair.
“I should leave.”
Grant’s security guard blocked the doorway.
“No one is leaving,” Grant said.
The guests looked at one another.
Evelyn spoke calmly.
“That would be a mistake.”
Grant turned toward her.
“Your entire evening has been a mistake.”
He took out Nora’s handwritten notebook and tossed it onto the table.
“You entered my employee’s apartment,” Evelyn said.
“I recovered company property.”
“You photographed Nora meeting me.”
“I protect my business.”
Celeste looked sharply at her son, recognizing that he had begun admitting too much.
“Grant,” she warned.
He ignored her.
“You federal people think a recording makes you powerful. You think a warrant makes you dangerous. But by tomorrow morning, every account will be empty and every file will be gone.”
“Because you ordered them destroyed?” Evelyn asked.
Grant smiled. “Because my mother did.”
Celeste’s chair moved back.
“Enough.”
The room became silent.
Grant finally realized what he had said.
Evelyn’s handbag contained a live transmitter. Every word was being heard by the agents outside.
Celeste stood.
“Turn off the building network,” she ordered the guard. “Collect every phone.”
The guests protested.
The guard moved around the table.
Nora reached for the champagne bucket, pretending to steady herself. As her fingers touched the rim, she pressed a small recorder beneath it.
A backup.
Grant saw the movement.
“What did you put there?”
“Nothing.”
He struck the bucket aside.
It overturned, spilling ice across the floor.
Nora moved to retrieve the recorder, but Grant caught her arm and forced her downward.
Evelyn rose.
The guard stepped between them.
Celeste looked toward Evelyn.
“Sit down.”
Evelyn did not move.
Grant twisted Nora’s arm just enough to make her lose balance.
“Kneel,” he said.
Nora stared at the blinking light beneath the bucket.
The recorder remained active.
Grant followed her gaze.
Then he smiled.
“You came into my home wearing a wire?”
Nora said nothing.
“You think your sister can protect you?”
Across the room, Evelyn’s controlled expression had become something colder.
Grant pulled Nora closer.
“No one protects anyone,” he said. “People only choose which loss they can survive.”
Evelyn stepped around the guard.
He reached toward her.
She stopped him with a look.
May you like
Then she faced Grant.
“Take your hand off her.”
