Chapter 16 - The Leverage
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"Before you call security, Herr Hoffman," Maya said, her voice dropping to a low, dangerous whisper, "I suggest you look at the second document in my briefcase."
Hoffman’s hand paused over the intercom button. He looked at Maya, his arrogant facade cracking just a fraction. Maya reached into the leather bag and pulled out a thick, plastic-bound dossier. She tossed it onto the desk, right next to Victoria’s black ledger.
"What is this?" Hoffman demanded, refusing to touch it.
"That is a heavily documented trail of wire transfers from your personal, off-the-books accounts to a series of illegal diamond mining operations in Sierra Leone," Maya said casually, as if discussing the weather. "It seems that while you hide behind Swiss privacy laws to protect your corrupt clients, you have been utilizing those same laws to fund conflict minerals and bypass international trade embargoes."
Hoffman’s face drained of all color. He stared at the dossier as if it were a venomous snake.
"Where did you get this?" he hissed, his sophisticated accent slipping into a panicked guttural tone.
"My cyber-security team is incredibly motivated," Maya lied smoothly. In truth, Leo had found a tiny, overlooked discrepancy in one of Victoria’s payments to Hoffman, and they had gambled everything on a deep-web trace during the flight. "If I hand this dossier over to Interpol and the Swiss Federal Banking Commission, you won't just lose your job, Klaus. You will spend the rest of your life in a European prison."
Hoffman swallowed hard, pulling a silk handkerchief from his pocket and dabbing his suddenly sweating forehead. The untouchable Swiss banker had just been cornered by a twenty-something American CEO.
"What do you want?" Hoffman whispered, completely defeated.
"I want the name attached to the account receiving Victoria’s money. The one labeled 'S.T.' in the ledger," Maya demanded. "And I want you to initiate a total asset freeze on that account, returning the fifty million dollars directly to the Sterling Enterprises corporate treasury. Today."
Hoffman hands shook as he opened a secure terminal on his computer.
"The account holder is extremely dangerous, Ms. Sterling," Hoffman warned, typing frantically. "He is not someone you want to cross."
"I have already crossed him," Maya replied coldly. "Just give me the name."
Hoffman hit the print key. A single sheet of paper slid out of the machine. He handed it to Maya.
May you like
Maya looked down at the paper, reading the printed name. Her breath hitched in her throat, and the blood roared in her ears.
"Silas Thorne," Maya whispered, recognizing the name of her father's oldest mentor.
