Chapter 7 - The Boardroom Shift
At 09:35, Seraphina walked into the top-floor boardroom of Vale Global Dynamics in downtown Boston.
The room was a masterwork of modern corporate power—floor-to-ceiling glass walls overlooking the Boston Harbor, a thirty-foot polished mahogany table, and state-of-the-art teleconferencing displays. Twelve board members were already seated, chatting quietly over coffee and financial dossiers.
Sitting at the far end of the table, looking relaxed and regal in a bespoke gray suit, was Marcus Vance.
"Seraphina, my dear!" Marcus said, standing up and spreading his arms in a warm, welcoming gesture. "You look radiant. I was worried you might be delayed by the morning weather."
"I am never late for a critical vote, Marcus," Seraphina said, her voice smooth as silk as she took her seat at the head of the table.
Marcus smiled, a flash of predatory satisfaction passing through his eyes as he glanced at his watch. 19:40. Thirty-five minutes until his plan reached its climax.
"Before we begin the formal review of the quarter," Marcus said, leaning back in his leather chair, "I’d like to motion for an executive session regarding the pending government defense contract. As we know, there are... security considerations that require our immediate consensus."
"Of course," Seraphina replied, placing her hands flat on the polished wood. She could feel the faint vibration of her phone in her jacket pocket, set to silent, receiving real-time data packets from Caleb's tap.
On her private tablet, masked as her meeting notes, a live telemetry screen showed the situation at the estate.
At 10:05, three dark, unmarked vans pulled off the coastal highway, stopping two hundred yards from the eastern fence of the Vale property. Four men dressed in unmarked tactical gear, carrying suppressed carbines and specialized breaching gear, stepped out and melted into the dense woods.
Inside the security room at the estate, Gideon’s assistant turned off the motion alerts for Sector Four, exactly as planned.
Through the optical loop Caleb had placed over the rose hedge camera feed, the mercenaries saw what appeared to be an eight-year-old girl sitting on a wooden bench, coloring in a notebook.
In the boardroom, Marcus Vance checked his watch again. 10:12.
"Seraphina," Marcus said, his tone dripping with fake sympathy, "you look a bit distracted today. Is everything alright with Maribel? I know how demanding the estate's security concerns have been lately."
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Seraphina looked across the table at the man who had been like an uncle to her—a man who was currently counting down the seconds until her daughter was ripped from her home.
"Maribel is precisely where she needs to be, Marcus," Seraphina said, her voice dropping an octave, carrying a sudden, lethal calm that made two nearby board members turn their heads. "And so are you."
