Chapter 6 - THE DEAL THAT NEEDED ME BROKEN
The Singapore deal suddenly mattered more than I wanted it to.
Not because of money.
Because Daniel had spent eight months pushing it harder than anyone.
Sloane Infrastructure had been negotiating to acquire a major Asian rail engineering consortium.
If completed, it would make us one of the largest privately controlled infrastructure groups in the world.
It would also restructure voting rights.
My attorneys had designed protections.
The foreign partners wanted continuity.
The board wanted a succession plan.
Daniel wanted the chief executive role once I moved to chairman.
Claire hated the deal.
Not because of the business.
Because of the timing.
Triplets.
Pregnancy.
My absence.
She told me:
“You say family is first while scheduling calls during ultrasounds.”
I had defended myself.
“We need to close before fiscal year-end.”
She responded:
“Your children don’t care about fiscal years.”
I postponed two meetings.
Not enough.
Daniel noticed tension.
He always noticed.
If Claire became seriously ill before signing, I would delay the transaction indefinitely.
That seemed bad for Daniel.
Unless he wanted the delay.
Vanessa explained.
“The market shifted.”
“What?”
She pulled numbers from memory because her phone was still in police custody.
“Three months ago the target company’s valuation fell.”
“And?”
“The original deal price is too high now.”
“I know.”
“We were locked by exclusivity.”
“We could renegotiate.”
“Not without triggering termination rights.”
My brain moved faster.
“If we delay because of force majeure or executive incapacity?”
“The board can suspend.”
“Then reopen pricing later.”
“Yes.”
“And Daniel’s options?”
Vanessa understood.
“If the deal closes at a lower valuation with revised leadership terms, he could gain substantially.”
“How substantially?”
“Tens of millions.”
Not enough to justify murder.
People had done worse for less.
But Daniel already had money.
Power might be the real currency.
“Claire becoming sick delays the deal.”
“Yes.”
“Claire dying?”
Vanessa looked at me.
“You might step away entirely.”
Daniel becomes CEO.
Maybe not instantly.
But eventually.
And if I became publicly unstable, suspicious, accused Vanessa of an affair, feuded with executives—
The board would see Daniel as calm.
Reliable.
Helpful.
The man who could hold the company together while Mason Sloane’s life imploded.
Claire had understood the pattern before I did.
Do not trust the person who acts the most helpful.
Daniel always solved crises.
Because perhaps he created some.
Detective Ortiz sat with our corporate counsel and federal cyber investigators after the interstate elements became clear.
I gave full access.
No lawyers filtering.
No corporate reputation management.
Everything.
One of my attorneys objected.
“Mason, we need to protect privileged company information.”
“My wife is in ICU.”
“I understand.”
“No. You understand billable risk.”
“That’s unfair.”
“Open the systems.”
He did.
By morning, investigators found a hidden administrator account inside Sloane Infrastructure’s network.
Created fourteen months ago.
No employee name.
Full access.
The account had copied Evan’s surveillance archive.
Accessed residential cameras.
Downloaded Vanessa’s emails.
Downloaded mine.
Then altered copies.
The fake affair messages.
It had also searched Claire’s medical insurance records.
My blood went cold.
“How much medical access?”
“Appointments. Provider names. Hospital preauthorization.”
“They knew St. Catherine’s.”
“Yes.”
“Delivery date?”
“Approximate.”
Triplets meant scheduled admission and continuous monitoring.
Predictable.
Daniel’s team managed the company insurance systems interface for executives.
He knew everything.
Then the cyber investigator said:
“The administrator account logged in from three physical devices.”
“Which?”
“One in Daniel Mercer’s office.”
No surprise anymore.
“One from an external VPN.”
Julian.
“And one…”
He looked uncomfortable.
“What?”
“Your home.”
I stared.
“Whose computer?”
“Mrs. Sloane’s.”
Claire’s laptop.
Someone had used her own device to access the conspiracy account.
That meant they had been inside the house.
Claire was right.
Her desk had moved.
The wedding photograph turned over.
Not merely intimidation.
They planted software.
A remote access tool gave Daniel or Julian control over Claire’s laptop.
They could read messages.
Know what she suspected.
Know she contacted Nicole.
Maybe know she contacted Paul and Evan.
They were always ahead.
I called Reed.
“Shut down every device in my house.”
“Already isolating.”
“Don’t erase anything.”
“I know.”
Then Adrian came.
I knew from his face he had news.
“Claire woke up.”
Everything else disappeared.
I stood so quickly the chair fell backward.
“When?”
“Two minutes ago.”
“Can I see her?”
“Yes.”
I almost ran.
Then Adrian caught my arm.
“She is weak. Confused. Do not question her.”
“I won’t.”
“You will want to.”
“I said I won’t.”
He held my gaze.
Then nodded.
Claire looked tiny beneath the hospital blankets.
I had seen her exhausted.
Sick.
Pregnant.
Angry.
Never like this.
Her eyes opened when I entered.
“Mason?”
I broke.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just tears.
“Hey.”
She looked toward the ceiling.
“Babies?”
“Perfect.”
“All three?”
“All three.”
“Grace?”
“Bossy already.”
A faint smile.
“Good.”
I sat beside her.
I did not touch her until she moved her hand toward mine.
Then I took it.
“You scared me.”
Her eyes filled.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t.”
She tried to breathe deeper and winced.
“What happened?”
“You were poisoned.”
Her eyes closed.
She knew.
Of course she knew something.
“I thought so.”
I went still.
“What?”
She looked at me.
“The line burned.”
“Claire.”
“You promised not to question me.”
“I didn’t promise. Adrian ordered.”
A tiny smile.
Then serious.
“I saw someone.”
“Who?”
“Mason.”
“I need—”
“No.”
She squeezed my hand weakly.
“Listen first.”
I stopped.
“A woman came in after Vanessa left.”
“In scrubs?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know her?”
“No.”
“What did she say?”
“She was checking the IV.”
“Did you see her face?”
“Mask.”
“Voice?”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Familiar.”
My pulse changed.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she inject something?”
“I didn’t see.”
“What happened?”
“She touched the port.”
“That’s enough.”
Claire continued.
“Then Daniel came.”
I stopped breathing.
“He entered the room?”
“Yes.”
Camera did not show it.
Unless he used a staff route.
“What did he say?”
“He asked if I was okay.”
Helpful.
“He said Mason is overwhelmed and I should let him handle everything.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him I knew someone had been inside our house.”
My grip tightened.
“What did he do?”
“He smiled.”
Every part of me froze.
“Smiled?”
“Not happy.”
Claire looked frightened remembering.
“Like I confirmed something.”
“What did he say?”
“That pregnancy makes people anxious.”
Rage moved through me.
I forced it down.
“Then?”
“I told him I had proof.”
“What proof?”
Claire looked at me.
“I lied.”
Good.
“What did he do?”
“He asked where.”
“Did you tell him?”
“No.”
“He left?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Staff door.”
That explained the cameras.
Daniel knew the hospital technology layout through a charitable technology project Sloane funded last year.
Of course.
Claire’s eyes filled.
“I tried to call you.”
“I was in the nursery?”
“You were talking to the hospital director.”
I remembered.
A stupid donor conversation.
“I should have—”
“Stop.”
She squeezed my hand.
“I made choices too.”
“You were protecting the babies.”
“I was protecting you.”
Her voice weakened.
“I thought if I accused your best friend and I was wrong…”
“You should have told me.”
“Yes.”
“I should have listened earlier.”
“Yes.”
Neither of us softened it.
Then Claire whispered:
“The woman in scrubs said something.”
“What?”
“She thought I was asleep.”
My pulse slowed.
“What?”
Claire stared at me.
“She said, ‘He only needs her down for seventy-two hours.’”
Daniel did not intend to kill Claire.
He needed me disrupted for three days.
Why seventy-two?
Vanessa answered later.
Board emergency vote.
The Singapore acquisition required a critical financing authorization scheduled tomorrow.
If I failed to execute within the seventy-two-hour window, the board could invoke temporary executive authority.
Who became acting CEO?
Daniel Mercer.
The poison was supposed to hospitalize Claire.
I would disappear from business.
Daniel would take temporary control.
Then use his authority to restructure the acquisition.
But someone miscalculated.
Or deliberately increased the dose.
Which raised the question:
Did Daniel lose control of his own plan?
Maybe Julian wanted more.
Maybe the woman in scrubs did.
Maybe Evan.
Then Claire said something else.
“Daniel told me once that if you ever stepped away, the company would finally breathe.”
I stared.
“When?”
“Last Christmas.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
She smiled sadly.
“You would have said he was joking.”
She was right.
I lowered my head.
Claire touched my wrist.
“Mason.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t destroy everything.”
I looked up.
“What?”
“Company. People. Yourself.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“You get scary when you’re afraid.”
That sentence hurt because it was true.
“I’m not going after him myself.”
She studied my face.
“Promise.”
“I’m working with police.”
“That’s not a promise.”
I thought about it.
Then said:
“I will not hurt Daniel.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Good.”
She drifted back to sleep.
I sat beside her.
My wife lived.
My children lived.
Daniel still had a move planned.
And tomorrow morning, the board expected me to sign the most important financing authorization in company history.
I decided I would attend.
May you like
Not because I cared about the deal.
Because Daniel thought I would not.
