Chapter 6 - The Emergency SummonsBy Wednesday afternoon, Michael realized that calling and screaming wasn't working. Desperation had set in, morphing into a cold, hollow panic. He didn't come to the house—he knew the gates were locked and the security system was set to lockdown mode. Instead, he drove straight to Marcus Vance’s corporate law firm downtown.
He burst into Marcus’s office unannounced, bypassing the receptionist entirely.
Marcus recounted the exchange to me over an encrypted phone call an hour later.
“He looked like a ghost, Robert,” Marcus said, sounding almost amused. “Suit wrinkled, hair uncombed, tie missing. He slammed his hands on my desk and demanded to know why his corporate profile had been wiped.”
“And what did you tell him?” I asked, pouring myself a glass of aged bourbon in my study.
“I told him to sit down and read the document I slid across the table. It was a formal notice of corporate investigation into workplace harassment, insubordination, and breach of fiduciary ethics.”
“How did he take it?”
“He laughed at first. Said it was a joke. Then he saw the attached exhibit: a flash drive containing a secure, timestamped copy of the venue security footage.” Marcus paused, taking a sip of water. “Robert, the color left his face so fast I thought he was going to pass out right there on my Persian rug.”
“Did he ask about his mother?”
“Not once,” Marcus said grimly. “His first words were, 'Does my father know about this?' When I told him you were the one who ordered the review, he tried to scream that it was illegal, that you couldn't do this to your own flesh and blood.”
“And what did you say?”
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“I told him that Whitaker Holdings is a publicly traded corporation with strict compliance standards, and that assaulting an elderly woman on camera violated every moral and professional clause in his employment contract. I gave him twenty-four hours to clear out his desk in the basement storage room before security escorted him off the premises.”
“Good,” I said. “Let him spend the night in that empty basement. It’ll give him plenty of time to reflect on his wedding day.”
