Chapter 21 - The Warehouse Door
Police surrounded the Meridian warehouse before dawn.
Sloane was not inside.
Martin was found locked in the basement office, frightened but unharmed.
On the table beside him sat the original Meridian ledger.
Sloane had left it deliberately.
Martin admitted he had helped create the shell companies. He had planted the false report in Chloe’s office and restored Sloane’s network access.
“Why leave the ledger?” Leah asked.
“Because it does not lead to him.”
The original records showed millions transferred into an account controlled by Ryan.
Nothing directly connected the final destination to Sloane.
“He built every transaction so Ryan would take the blame,” Martin said.
“Then why did Ryan never expose him?” Chloe asked.
“Sloane had the recording from the day your father died.”
The full recording captured Ryan refusing to call emergency services until Charles agreed not to report him.
Ryan had spent years believing its release would make him responsible for his father’s death.
Sloane used that fear to control him.
Martin gave investigators the location of Sloane’s private server.
Before they could reach it, the facility was remotely erased.
Only one backup existed.
Sloane kept it on a portable drive carried by his personal courier.
Mara knew the courier.
His name was Adam Pierce.
He was scheduled to deliver documents to the federal courthouse that afternoon.
“He will not know what he is carrying,” Mara said.
Leah looked at Daniel.
“Then Sloane intends for him to be caught.”
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It was another false trail.
While authorities focused on the courier, Sloane would be leaving the country.
