Chapter 6 - RICHARD'S PANIC
Inside the executive suite of Sterling Tower, thirty blocks south of the hotel, Richard Sterling stared at his wall monitor in utter disbelief. Live news broadcasts were showing his wife being loaded into the back of an FBI transport vehicle outside the Grand Regency.
"Turn that off!" Richard bellowed at his press secretary, slamming his heavy fist onto the mahogany desk. "Get our legal team on the phone right now!"
"Sir, the SEC has just issued a trading freeze on all Sterling Global shares," his chief financial officer reported, his hands shaking as he held his tablet. "Our stock has fallen forty percent in fifteen minutes."
Richard paced across the Persian rug, his bespoke charcoal suit feeling suffocating as sirens echoed up from Fifth Avenue below. He pulled out a encrypted satellite phone, dialing a number he had prayed he would never have to use again.
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"It's Richard," he said into the receiver, his voice tight with desperation. "Arthur's daughter is alive, and she has the ledger."
A cold, mechanical voice answered from the speaker, completely devoid of human emotion. "We told you to eliminate the girl twenty years ago, Richard. Now you must handle your own trash."
