Chapter 6 - THE GUEST LIST
Every guest at the estate had a reason to care about the Argent Harbor acquisition.
Two represented private investment funds.
One worked for a foreign-owned shipping insurer.
Three sat on charitable boards financed by Victoria.
Others owed contracts, promotions, or debt relief to Carrington Meridian.
The dinner had been described to me as a family anniversary.
It was an unofficial closing meeting.
My presence provided something Richard lacked.
A visible bridge to Marcus Vance.
Even guests who did not know Dad’s title knew he had federal influence.
Richard had introduced him for years as “a retired security consultant.”
Dad had never corrected that description.
The secrecy protected his work.
It also allowed Richard to make him sound ordinary when useful and powerful when seeking investors.
Agent Mercer found draft talking points on Victoria’s tablet:
Elena confirms Director Vance has no institutional objection.
Family alignment resolves remaining review concerns.
Spousal assets demonstrate personal confidence.
I had been invited as evidence.
The assault began when I refused to perform.
Maya obtained the guest-arrival logs.
An unmarked black sedan entered a service lane forty minutes before Dad activated Code Black.
It was not the federal response vehicle that later blocked the gate.
No license plate was visible.
A staff member remembered two men carrying a hard equipment case into Richard’s study.
They wore Carrington security badges.
No names were recorded.
The case left the study after I was shoved.
The service gate camera failed for three minutes.
One investor, Malcolm Reed, agreed to speak.
He said Richard assured everyone the federal review would end because “Elena has already handled her father.”
Malcolm believed that meant I had discussed the acquisition with Dad.
I had not.
“Did anyone mention Alpha?” Maya asked.
Malcolm’s expression changed.
“Victoria called the estate Alpha House once.”
“Why?”
“She said every serious operation needed a command center.”
Richard’s lawyers claimed Malcolm invented the statement after his investment fund withdrew from the acquisition.
Bank records showed the fund had not yet withdrawn.
That strengthened him.
Then Malcolm added something stranger.
Dad’s Code Black terminal had displayed a secure connection request before he spoke.
Malcolm saw the screen from the terrace.
Someone inside the estate had been trying to connect to my father’s terminal.
The federal response was not unexpected.
It had been anticipated.
The prepaid number Owen gave me received one incoming call that evening.
Maya answered through a secured device while agents traced it.
A distorted voice said:
“Director Vance’s daughter should ask why her father met Richard Carrington before the proposal.”
Then the line disconnected.
Dad denied arranging any personal meeting.
Agent Mercer searched sealed agency calendars.
May you like
She found one.
Four months before Richard proposed to me, Marcus Vance and Richard Carrington spent fifty-two minutes together inside a restricted federal conference room.
