Chapter 5 - Whispers of Treason
Trevor’s face drained of color so fast it looked as if his heart had stopped beating entirely. He choked on his champagne, violently coughing into a linen napkin.
Arthur’s eyes widened in sudden, visceral horror. The paternal mask melted away, leaving behind the cornered, feral predator who had spent his life stepping on the necks of competitors.
"What did you just say?" Arthur whispered, his voice shaking with a dangerous mixture of rage and terror.
"You heard me, Arthur," I replied, my expression unmoving, carved from cold granite. "Did you really think the Defense Criminal Investigative Service wasn't monitoring Mercer Tech's sub-tier suppliers in Taiwan? Did you think that setting up a shell corporation in the Cayman Islands under Trevor’s fraternity brother's name was going to hide a twenty-four-million-dollar supply fraud?"
"You're bluffing," Trevor squeaked, his voice cracking, eyes darting toward the exits. "You can't prove that! It was an authorized supply chain variance! The Pentagon approved the substitution!"
"The Pentagon approved high-grade composite ceramics, Trevor," I said coldly, turning my gaze onto my stepbrother. "Not zinc-coated aluminum rated for residential gutters. If those Patriot batteries had been deployed to the Baltic theater with your casings, the first thermal cycle during launch would have detonated the rocket motor inside the canister, killing the entire launch crew."
Trevor stumbled back a step, looking desperately toward his mother. Evelyn was trembling, her hand clutching Arthur’s sleeve so hard the fabric was bunching.
"Arthur, do something!" Evelyn hissed in a panicked whisper. "She’s insane! She’s trying to frame my son!"
"Shut up, Evelyn!" Arthur snarled, his teeth gritted. He turned back to me, his chest heaving beneath his tuxedo. His voice dropped to a sinister, venomous growl. "You listen to me, Katherine. If you breathe a word of this, you will destroy Mercer Tech. You will erase eight thousand jobs. The congressional fallout will drag down Hayes, it will drag down the President, and it will drag down you! You think you’re untouchable because of those three stars? I have four senators on my board of advisors! I have funded the campaigns of half the Armed Services Committee!"
"Then they can visit you in federal prison, Arthur," I replied without a trace of hesitation.
"You ungrateful little bitch!" Arthur hissed, losing all control, his hand darting forward to grab my wrist.
He never made contact.
General Vance moved with terrifying speed. Before Arthur's hand could travel six inches, Vance’s iron grip seized Arthur’s wrist, twisting it downward with brutal efficiency. Arthur let out a sharp, choked gasp of pain, forced onto his tiptoes.
"Touch a flag officer of the United States Army again, Mr. Mercer," Vance whispered, his voice vibrating with lethal intensity, "and I will have the military police carry you out of this building in zip-ties. Do you understand me?"
Several nearby guests—including the French military attaché and two members of the House Appropriations Committee—turned to stare in shock at the commotion.
"Let go of him!" Evelyn cried out, drawing even more horrified glances from the gathered elite. "Do you know who we are? We are donors! We gave millions to this administration!"
"And that money bought you a cocktail, Mrs. Mercer," Vance said coldly, shoving Arthur back so that he crashed into Trevor, who barely managed to keep both of them upright. "It did not buy you the Department of Defense."
Arthur rubbed his bruised wrist, his eyes burning with absolute, murderous hatred. The humiliation was total. The entire room had witnessed him being physically subdued and scolded like a common street brawler.
"You think you've won, Kate?" Arthur rasped, his chest heaving, his face crimson with fury. "You haven't announced the Aegis contract yet. Hayes hasn't taken the podium. I have friends in the White House Counsel's office. You cannot unilaterally cancel a congressionally mandated program. I will tie you up in federal court for the next ten years! I will bankrupt you before you ever take that fourth star!"
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"The announcement is scheduled for seven-thirty, Arthur," I said, checking my wrist watch. It was 7:25 PM. "I suggest you find a seat. You won't want to miss it."
***
