Chapter 15 - Desperate Measures
The crushing defeat in the state supreme court sent massive shockwaves through the remnants of the Vance empire. Eleanor had never lost a battle in her life, let alone a public, humiliating defeat orchestrated by a woman she considered to be nothing more than common trash. Returning to her sprawling Atlanta estate, Eleanor was consumed by a blinding, uncharacteristic rage. The elegant, calculating matriarch had been pushed into a corner, and the federal indictments based on Elena’s financial evidence were looming on the horizon.
Graves, her head of security, stood nervously in the grand library, watching his boss pace the floor like a caged predator. "Ma'am, the federal prosecutors have officially frozen your passport. The IRS is auditing the Swiss accounts. We need to focus on a criminal defense strategy. We need to prepare for the indictments."
"I am not going to sit in a federal courtroom and be judged by peasants!" Eleanor roared, sweeping a priceless crystal vase off the mahogany desk. It shattered violently against the hardwood floor. "Elena thinks a piece of paper signed by a local judge will protect her? She thinks she can take my bloodline and destroy my legacy?"
Eleanor walked over to a heavy wall safe, spinning the dial with frantic, precise movements. She pulled out a massive stack of untraceable bearer bonds and dropped them onto the desk in front of Graves.
"Legal avenues are closed," Eleanor stated, her voice dropping to a terrifying, deadly calm. "We are entirely done playing by the rules of the court. I want you to hire the extraction team we used in South America five years ago. Men who don't care about federal badges or restraining orders."
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"Ma'am, a direct assault on a federal bunker is suicide," Graves warned, his face paling at the sheer insanity of the order. "We will be slaughtered."
"They aren't staying in the bunker forever," Eleanor smiled, a cold, psychotic gleam in her eyes. "Elena wants to prove she is a good mother. She will try to give that girl a normal life. She will enroll her in school. She will take her to a park. The second she steps off that military base, I want the child taken. And I want Elena permanently removed from the equation. Do you understand me, Graves?"
