Chapter 5 - Gathering the Wolves
While Camden and Jasmine were ordering caviar room service in the penthouse, Vicki was standing inside a private dining room at the Saint-Germain Club, three blocks away.
Around the twelve-seat mahogany table sat the actual power structure of Tatum Meridian Systems.
To her right sat Rachel Zander, a tablet open to the company’s real-time financial tracking software. To her left sat Bentley Cross, Camden’s oldest friend and the head of private equity syndicate underwriting. He was pale, sweating slightly through his starch-collared shirt, his fingers drumming nervously against the linen tablecloth.
Across the table sat Marcus Sterling, the ruthless managing director of Blackthorne Capital, which held fifty million dollars in Tatum Meridian senior debt.
“I didn't sleep last night, Vicki,” Bentley began, his voice hoarse. “What Camden did… on the ballroom floor. It was disgusting. I swear to God, I didn’t know he had gotten that bad. I thought he was just arrogant, but that was—”
“Save your conscience for your priest, Bentley,” Vicki interrupted, her voice level, quiet, and terrifyingly cold. “You sat at that table for six months while Camden wired corporate capital into JR Luxe Media. You authorized two of those transfers as head of syndicate compliance.”
Bentley went white. “He told me they were marketing retainers! He promised me it was board-approved!”
“It wasn’t,” Rachel stated, sliding an audit dossier across the table. “It was embezzlement. And you signed off on it, Bentley. Which means when the federal marshals arrive, your name is on the indictment right next to Camden’s.”
Bentley buried his face in his hands. “Oh, God.”
“Unless,” Vicki said, pausing until Bentley lifted his head. “You do exactly what you are told for the next ninety minutes.”
“Anything,” Bentley whispered. “Vicki, please. I have two daughters. I can’t go to a federal camp.”
She turned her gaze to Marcus Sterling. The debt investor had been observing the interaction with the detached amusement of a vulture watching a wounded deer.
“And you, Marcus,” Vicki said. “Blackthorne holds the accelerated loan covenants. If Tatum Meridian changes executive leadership without prior written notice to Blackthorne, you have the right to declare an immediate technical default and demand full repayment within twenty-four hours.”
Marcus smiled thinly. “That is correct, Mrs. Tatum. And if I call the loan, your husband’s company goes into bankruptcy liquidation by tomorrow morning.”
“Not my husband’s company,” Vicki corrected. “*My* company.”
She placed a crisp, cream-colored document before him.
“This is an underwriting commitment from Vance Heritage Trust. We have placed seventy million dollars in cash into an escrow account at JPMorgan Chase. The moment Camden announces Jasmine Rivers as CEO this afternoon, Blackthorne will declare an immediate default. But instead of bankrupting the firm, you will accept the Vance Heritage buyout at a four-percent premium.”
Marcus read the document, his eyebrows slowly climbing. “You’re buying out our entire debt position with personal family cash?”
“I am buying my company’s freedom,” Vicki said. “Camden spent three years using my family’s reputation to build an empire he thought he could steal. By two-thirty today, he won’t even own the watch on his wrist.”
Marcus set the paper down and extended his hand. “A pleasure doing business with you, Vicki. I always thought your husband was an idiot with good hair.”
Vicki shook his hand firmly, ignoring the tight pang in her ribs.
She turned to Rachel. “Is the media team ready?”
“All major networks are in position at the Grand Plaza,” Rachel answered, closing her tablet. “The broadcast feeds are locked. Camden thinks the event is streaming exclusively to tech blogs. He doesn't know we’ve mirrored the feed to the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg terminals worldwide.”
Vicki stood up, smoothing the front of an impeccably tailored charcoal-gray double-breasted pantsuit. Beneath the fine wool, the medical wrap held her fractured bones secure.
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“Let’s go see my husband’s coronation,” she said.
***
