Chapter 31 - The Fixer on the Stand
The following morning, Marcus Reed decided to go for the jugular. He called Thomas Vance to the stand. Vance had been the head of corporate security for Whitmore Holdings for over a decade. He was the family’s primary "fixer"—a large, physically imposing man who specialized in intimidation and cleaning up the messes the executives left behind.
Vance sat in the witness box radiating hostile arrogance. He answered Marcus’s initial questions with short, dismissive grunts, sticking rigidly to the script the defense had undoubtedly rehearsed with him for weeks. He claimed he had simply escorted Clara to a standard exit interview and that she had been entirely cooperative.
"So, Mr. Vance, you maintain that there was no physical intimidation?" Marcus asked, pacing slowly back and forth in front of the jury box. "You merely escorted her, and she happily signed away her right to speak about massive corporate fraud?"
"That is correct," Vance lied smoothly. "It was a standard HR procedure. I was just there to collect her keycard."
Marcus stopped pacing. He walked back to his table, picked up a thick legal document, and offered a terrifyingly calm smile. "Mr. Vance, isn't it true that your personal security firm, which operates independently of Whitmore Holdings, received a wire transfer of fifty thousand dollars from a Whitmore shell account exactly two hours after Clara signed that document?"
Vance froze. The arrogant posture completely vanished, replaced by a sudden, rigid panic. "I... I do independent consulting for the family. That was for an unrelated risk-assessment project."
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"A risk-assessment project," Marcus repeated mockingly. He turned to the judge. "Your Honor, we have subpoenaed the geolocation data from Mr. Vance's company cell phone on the date in question. It shows that he did not leave Clara's side for four hours. It also shows that he texted Eleanor Whitmore the phrase: 'The asset is secured. She broke. Transfer the bonus.'"
Sterling leapt up, shouting objections about privacy laws, but the damage was irreversible. Marcus had systematically dismantled the defense's star witness, proving not only the extortion but the active, paid conspiracy to execute it. The fixer had been entirely broken on the stand.
