Chapter 4 - The Rat in the Snow
The wind was howling, whipping fresh snow across the empty slopes. The massive ski lifts hung like giant metal skeletons in the dark. I found Julian pacing near the ticket booth, smoking a cigarette with trembling hands. His designer suit was covered in snow, and he looked like a man who had just watched his entire life burn to the ground.
“You came,” he breathed, tossing the cigarette into the snow.
“Make it fast, Julian. I have a company to save, and you have a fraud trial to prepare for.”
“Elena, you don’t understand the danger you’re in,” Julian pleaded, stepping closer. “Thomas isn't just trying to take the lodge. He wants to bankrupt you personally. If you fight the sale tomorrow, he’s going to release doctored financial records to the SEC, framing you for the embezzlement. He has the board in his pocket.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked coldly. “You helped him do it.”
“Because Chloe left me!” Julian cried, his voice cracking. “After the stunt in the lobby, she called her father. He froze my accounts. Thomas told me I was on my own. I have nothing, Elena! But I have proof. I kept voice recordings of Thomas instructing me to forge your signature on the equity loans.”
My heart leaped, but I kept my face utterly blank. “Where are the recordings?”
“On a flash drive,” Julian said, his eyes darting around the dark slopes. “I’ll give it to you. But in exchange, you have to sign a non-disclosure agreement protecting me from civil suits, and give me two million dollars in severance so I can disappear.”
I stared at the pathetic man shivering in the snow. He had betrayed my family, lied to his wives, and now he was trying to extort me.
“You’re in no position to negotiate, Julian,” I said softly.
Suddenly, the crunch of heavy snow boots echoed from the darkness behind the ticket booth. Two massive men in dark winter gear stepped into the dim light of the floodlamps. They weren't resort security. They had the cold, dead-eyed look of private mercenaries.
May you like
“You talk too much, Julian,” a voice called out.
Thomas stepped out of the shadows, a smug, victorious smile on his face. He looked at the two men. “Take Julian’s phone and keys. Then escort my dear niece to the wine cellar. Make sure she stays there until the Vanguard deal is signed at noon.”
