Chapter 15 - Face to Face with the Mastermind
Senator Thomas Sterling looked up from behind his massive mahogany desk,
his face drained of all color,
his eyes wide with a paralyzing,
animalistic terror as he recognized the man standing in his doorway.
You.
.
.
you can't be here,
Sterling stammered frantically,
dropping his satellite phone onto the blotter as he scrambled backward in his leather executive chair.
I am a United States Senator,
I have federal immunity,
and the Attorney General is a personal friend of mine who will have you executed for domestic terrorism.
You don't have immunity from me,
Thomas,
Adrian said softly,
stepping into the sunlit study with slow,
deliberate footsteps that sounded like an approaching avalanche.
You crossed a very clear,
very permanent boundary when you ordered your proxy Viktor Petrov to send thugs to assault my accountant on a public highway last night.
It.
.
.
it was a misunderstanding,
Sterling choked out,
standing up and waving his hands in a frantic,
pathetic gesture of self-preservation.
Petrov exceeded his mandate,
I only wanted financial leverage,
I never authorized anyone to hurt her physically,
I swear to God on my children's lives.
Your children are not the ones who spent last night in an emergency room with a fractured cheekbone and a lacerated temple,
Adrian whispered,
his voice dropping into a register of absolute,
terrifying lethargy.
You wanted my books,
Thomas,
you wanted my empire,
and you thought you could use the power of the state to crush the Cross Syndicate from above.
Adrian reached slowly inside his coat,
pulling out a slim,
heavy leather binder containing complete,
unredacted financial records of every illicit political campaign contribution,
offshore bribe,
and extortion payment Senator Sterling had accepted over the last ten years.
He dropped the heavy binder onto the senator's desk with a loud,
resounding thud that made the crystal decanter jump.
Those are your books now,
Thomas,
Adrian said coldly,
turning around and walking toward the doorway.
And by tomorrow morning,
every single federal prosecutor,
investigative journalist,
May you like
and political rival in Washington is going to have complete,
unencrypted copies delivered directly to their desks.
