Chapter 22 - The Countermeasure
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The morning after the alley confrontation, Mara called an emergency security meeting in the main conference room. Elena, Thomas, Naomi, and Lila sat around the table, the atmosphere heavy with focused determination.
"Vance sent a message," Mara began, standing at the head of the table. "He threatened to move Sarah’s son to Europe if we file the injunction. He wants us paralyzed by fear. He wants us to play by his rules."
"We need to upgrade the physical security of this building immediately," Elena said, tapping a pen against her notebook. "I want keycard restrictions on the elevators and a secondary camera feed monitoring the alleyway. If his private contractors decide to escalate, I want to see them coming three blocks away."
"I'll handle the installations today," Thomas agreed. "But security won't get Sarah's boy back. We need leverage."
Naomi looked up from her laptop. "If Vance moves the child internationally, it triggers a massive federal kidnapping response. He knows that. He’s bluffing to buy time while he scrubs the medical records at the Red Hook server."
"He isn't bluffing about locking Sarah in a psych ward," Lila pointed out quietly. "I lived that nightmare. The doctors on Vance's payroll will write whatever prescription he dictates to keep her discredited."
"Then we don't file the injunction yet," Mara decided, her eyes sweeping over her team. "We don't give him the legal trigger he is waiting for. Instead, we attack his reputation. We attack his funding."
"How?" Naomi asked.
"Tonight is the annual pediatric charity gala," Mara said, pulling a sleek, gold-embossed invitation from her pocket. "Vance Medical is the primary sponsor. Arthur Vance will be standing on a stage, surrounded by wealthy donors, pretending to be a savior of children."
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"You aren't invited," Elena noted, looking at the name on the card.
"Celeste was invited," Mara corrected. "She gave me her ticket. I am going to walk into that ballroom, and I am going to let every single investor in that room know exactly what kind of monster they are funding. If Vance wants a war, we are going to fight it in the light."
