Chapter 60 - The Unseen Hand
"You're not in a position to negotiate, Julian," I said, pulling the titanium plate from my coat and holding it over the open drainage grate beneath my boots. Fifty feet below, the surging tidal waters of the harbor roared in the darkness. "One twitch, and this drops into the Atlantic mud. And you can spend the rest of your life answering questions from European magistrates."
Julian’s guards raised their weapons, but he sharply lifted a hand, halting them.
"You think you understand the game, Brian," Julian murmured, his voice lowering to a venomous purr. "You think you defeated your petty brother and outsmarted your dead father. But who do you think gave me the coordinates of your private estate? Who do you think disabled your primary ridgeline transformer before my team even crossed state lines?"
A cold needle of suspicion stabbed into my gut. The sabotage had been too precise, too familiar with our internal infrastructure.
"Jason is in prison," I said evenly, keeping my hand steady over the grate.
"Jason was a pompous fool," Julian spat dismissively. "No, Mr. Harrington. When Marcus built his empire on our blood, he didn't just make promises to us. He had partners in Boston. Men who sat on his board of directors for thirty years, watching him amass wealth while they took table scraps. Men who knew that if Harrington Industries fell into your hands, the truth would eventually surface."
A floorboard creaked high above in the shadows of the catwalk overlooking the dry dock.
Out of the gloom stepped a man in a wet trench coat, holding a heavy rifle aimed directly at my chest.
May you like
It was Robert Sterling—Marcus’s oldest friend, the primary executor of the Harrington trust, and the man who had supposedly helped me process the final probate settlements.
"I’m sorry, Brian," Sterling’s voice echoed down from the metal rafters, devoid of remorse. "Your father was a monster, but he was a predictable monster. He paid his dues and kept his mouth shut. You... you ask too many questions. You tore the whole house down. And now, the accounts must be settled."
