“And at midnight tonight…”
Carter checked his chronometer:
“…when the eighty-year operational lease expires…”
“…The Valkyrie Consortium in Zurich was scheduled to execute the master conveyance deed, transferring operational control over forty miles of nuclear command conduits to an offshore defense syndicate for four hundred million dollars in carried interest.”
“They needed Clara in a locked ward.”
“They needed Lily in Patricia’s permanent custody so the lineal trust could be milked dry without an audit.”
“And the handprint on Clara’s ribs… the blackouts… the fainting spells…?”
Carter slammed his flat palm onto the defense table:
*KABOOOOM.*
“…were an act of premeditated, chemical capital treason.”
CHAPTER 4: THE COLLAPSE AT THE DEFENSE TABLE
Daniel Whitaker let out an un-human, animalistic shriek from the bottom of his lungs:
*“NOOOOOOOOOOO!”*
He lunged across the counsel table, his manicured fingers hooked into claws aimed directly at the evidence bag containing the tea canister:
