Chapter 2 - The Wire on the Brink
Grant didn't hesitate. He lunged across the desk, grabbed his primary office telephone, and punched the direct extension for corporate treasury.
"Marcus," Grant barked into the receiver before the line could even finish its second ring. "Kill the transfer. Right now."
On the other end, Marcus Reynolds, his chief financial officer, sounded completely bewildered. "Grant? What are you talking about? The compliance team just cleared the dual authorization. The Zurich bank requires the deposit confirmed by eleven o'clock or Petrov's consortium pulls the forty-five-million-dollar lifeline. Our payroll clears in three days—"
"I don't care if the entire building catches fire, Marcus," Grant shouted, his usual quiet restraint shattering completely. "If a single dollar leaves our operating account toward Northstar Meridian, you are fired before your hand leaves the keyboard. Abort the transaction and freeze the reserve credentials. Do it this second!"
There was a frantic clicking of keystrokes on the other end, followed by a tense, breathless silence that seemed to last an eternity.
"Done," Marcus whispered, his voice shaking. "Transfer canceled. The funds are locked in our domestic clearinghouse. Grant... what the hell just happened? Petrov’s attorney has been calling my mobile non-stop for the last ten minutes asking why their liaison was disconnected."
Grant looked over at Sophie, who was quietly wiping her mother’s tears with a paper napkin from the coffee tray.
"We almost walked into an execution, Marcus," Grant said through clenched teeth. "Lock your terminal and come up to my office immediately. Bring Julian from legal, and don't speak a word to anyone in the corridor."
Grant slammed the receiver down and drew a deep, ragged breath. He walked around the massive desk, stopping directly in front of Emily and Sophie. The powerful CEO who had terrified boardrooms across North America slowly sank onto one knee so he was eye-level with the eight-year-old girl.
"Sophie," Grant said gently, his expression softer than any employee had ever witnessed. "Did you hear anything else when he was on the phone yesterday? Anything at all?"
Sophie furrowed her brow, concentrating hard. "He said a name. Not Viktor. He called the other person... Dennis."
Grant’s stomach dropped through the floor.
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Dennis Clark was the senior managing partner at Sterling & Clark Associates—the prestigious Dallas corporate advisory firm that had introduced Petrov to Holloway Systems in the first place. Dennis had been Grant’s college classmate, his closest personal advisor, and the man who had personally vouched for Northstar Meridian's legitimacy over dinner five nights ago.
The betrayal wasn't coming from overseas. It had originated inside his own circle of trust.
