Chapter 13 - The Vote
Board members erupted.
Lawyers demanded the cameras be removed.
Kessler remained seated.
His smile was calm.
“You are under federal investigation, William.”
“So are you.”
William placed copies of Rebecca’s records on the table.
“The company tracked children without consent.”
“It hid illnesses linked to military exposure.”
“It manipulated adoption records.”
“And it buried a treatment that should have been given freely to every affected family.”
Kessler leaned back.
“Those are serious accusations.”
“They are also documented.”
Vale moved toward the cameras.
Lena stepped from the crowd.
“Touch that equipment and I arrest you.”
Vale stopped.
His disguise no longer mattered.
Dennis appeared beside the boardroom doors with federal officers.
Kessler’s smile finally weakened.
“You have no jurisdiction here.”
Lena held up a warrant.
“I have several.”
William addressed the board.
“I am transferring my entire ownership stake into a public medical trust.”
“The treatment patents will be released.”
“The company’s secret records will be handed to federal investigators.”
One director rose.
“You cannot make that decision alone.”
William looked around the room.
“No.”
“But I can call a shareholder vote.”
Kessler laughed.
“You control forty-one percent.”
“I control forty-one percent personally.”
William turned toward the cameras.
“The Ellison Military Medical Trust purchased another ten percent this morning.”
Kessler’s face changed.
“With whose money?”
Daniel entered the boardroom in a wheelchair.
Eli pushed him.
Daniel held up a file.
“With Rebecca Sloan’s.”
Kessler stared at him.
Daniel continued.
“She held shares through six shell companies.”
“She transferred them to the trust before surgery.”
Rebecca appeared through a live video connection from her hospital bed.
Her voice was weak.
But clear.
“I vote to remove Robert Kessler from the board.”
The room went silent.
William cast his vote.
Several smaller shareholders followed.
The motion passed.
Kessler was removed.
He stood suddenly.
“This is not over.”
“No,” William said.
“It is public.”
Vale drew a concealed gun.
He grabbed Eli before anyone could react.
The weapon pressed against the boy’s neck.
Daniel tried to rise from the wheelchair.
His wound tore open.
“Let him go!”
Vale dragged Eli toward the private elevator.
Dennis reached for his weapon.
Vale pressed the barrel harder.
“Don’t.”
William stepped away from the table.
“You want the microfilm.”
“I want every copy.”
“Then take me.”
Vale smiled.
“You are not valuable anymore.”
He pulled Eli into the elevator.
The doors began closing.
Daniel forced himself out of the wheelchair.
He threw his body between the doors.
They struck his shoulders and reopened.
Vale fired.
The bullet shattered the ceiling panel.
Eli drove his elbow into Vale’s ribs.
Dennis rushed forward.
Vale kicked Daniel aside.
William grabbed Eli and pulled him free.
Lena tackled Vale against the elevator wall.
They struggled for the gun.
The elevator alarm sounded.
Vale reached for the emergency control.
The cables jerked.
The elevator dropped.
William, Eli, Lena, and Vale disappeared beneath the floor.
May you like
Daniel stared into the empty shaft.
Then the lights inside the boardroom went out.
