At exactly two o\u2019clock, Crestwood Holdings began changing.<\/p>\n
Not loudly.<\/p>\n
Not dramatically.<\/p>\n
At first, it was just access badges.<\/p>\n
Dominic arrived at the headquarters lobby twenty minutes after I did.<\/p>\n
Natalie was with him.<\/p>\n
So was his mother, Victoria.<\/p>\n
Dominic walked toward the executive elevators and scanned his badge.<\/p>\n
Red light.<\/p>\n
He tried again.<\/p>\n
Red.<\/p>\n
A security officer stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Vance, your building access has been suspended.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dominic laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cFix it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The officer did not move.<\/p>\n
Dominic scanned again.<\/p>\n
Red.<\/p>\n
Then he saw me standing across the lobby.<\/p>\n
His expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAudrey.\u201d<\/p>\n
I walked toward him.<\/p>\n
Victoria stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat have you done?\u201d<\/p>\n
I ignored her.<\/p>\n
Dominic looked furious.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my company.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou worked here.\u201d<\/p>\n
He laughed once.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot remove me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Behind me, the head of Corporate Security approached with two members of Legal.<\/p>\n
Dominic\u2019s smile disappeared.<\/p>\n
Natalie looked confused.<\/p>\n
Victoria looked angry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
I handed Dominic a document.<\/p>\n
Temporary suspension pending internal investigation.<\/p>\n
His eyes moved rapidly across the first page.<\/p>\n
Vendor fraud.<\/p>\n
Unauthorized expenses.<\/p>\n
Conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n
Procurement irregularities.<\/p>\n
He looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re bluffing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shook my head.<\/p>\n
Then the elevators opened.<\/p>\n
My father stepped out.<\/p>\n
Dominic immediately changed tone.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard. Tell her she has lost her mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
My father looked at him calmly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI approved every action.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Victoria stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot dismantle this company because Audrey is emotional about a divorce.\u201d<\/p>\n
My father almost smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has nothing to do with the divorce.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then he handed Victoria another file.<\/p>\n
Her name appeared across the front.<\/p>\n
She went pale.<\/p>\n
For the next three hours, employees connected to questionable contracts were called into conference rooms.<\/p>\n
Some were cleared.<\/p>\n
Others were suspended.<\/p>\n
Company credit cards stopped working.<\/p>\n
Consulting agreements were frozen.<\/p>\n
Vendor payments were placed under review.<\/p>\n
Dominic\u2019s allies began calling him.<\/p>\n
He could not help them.<\/p>\n
For years, he had built influence through access.<\/p>\n
Now access was disappearing one badge at a time.<\/p>\n
Before leaving the lobby, Dominic looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re going to destroy Crestwood.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked toward the employees still moving through the building.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m removing what was destroying it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Natalie stared at me.<\/p>\n
Then her phone rang.<\/p>\n
She looked at the screen.<\/p>\n
Her company card had just been declined.<\/p>\n
For the first time since the courthouse, nobody was laughing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At exactly two o\u2019clock, Crestwood Holdings began changing. Not loudly. Not dramatically. At first, it was just access badges. Dominic arrived at the headquarters lobby twenty minutes after I did. Natalie was with him. So was his mother, Victoria. Dominic walked toward the executive elevators and scanned his badge. Red light. He tried again. Red. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","class_list":["post-549","sr_chapter","type-sr_chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sr_chapter\/549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sr_chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/sr_chapter"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sr_chapter\/549\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}