Chapter 11 - The Unraveling Syndicate: Turning Julian’s Allies Against Each Other
At 6:00 PM, two hours before the gala, Dr. Gregory Albright received an urgent notification on his personal phone while sitting in the green room of the Commonwealth Yacht Club.
The notification was an encrypted video file.
Trembling, Albright tapped the screen. The video played the crystal-clear audio and video of his confession in his private clinic from the night before, accompanied by the scanned copies of his offshore wire transfers and the pre-dated death certificates.
Below the video was a single text message:
“Step outside to the marina docks right now, or this file goes directly to the Department of Justice and the Richmond press corps in thirty seconds.”
Albright dropped his glass, spilled his scotch down his tuxedo shirt, and practically ran through the yacht club’s side exit into the cold evening mist of the private marina.
Waiting near the stern of an offshore luxury yacht stood Mason.
Albright froze, his knees knocking together under his tailored trousers. “Mason… please… I did what you asked! I delayed the state registrar! Julian was furious with me this afternoon!”
“Julian’s anger is the least of your concerns, Doctor,” Mason said, stepping out of the mist. “Julian has already chartered a private jet from Richmond Executive Airport to Zurich departing at 2:00 AM tonight. He never booked a seat for you, Gregory.”
Albright gasped, his eyes darting frantically. “What…? But he promised… he promised we would fly out together after the wire cleared!”
Mason tossed a printout of the flight manifest onto a deck table. Only one passenger was listed: Julian Sterling.
“Julian is liquidating all local assets tonight,” Mason explained coldly. “The moment he gets Chloe’s signature and the naval prototypes are loaded onto the Chesapeake Empress, he is leaving the country. And he left a signed memo in his penthouse safe implicating you as the sole mastermind behind the tampering of Valerie’s vehicle to cover up medical malpractice.”
Albright’s face went from pale to purple with absolute, murderous rage. “That bastard… that ungrateful, treacherous snake! I protected his father for fifteen years! I kept you in that wheelchair!”
“Then you know what happens to people who outlive their usefulness to the Sterlings,” Mason said smoothly, offering Albright a federal immunity cooperation agreement. “Sign this federal deposition. Testify against Julian on state and federal murder-for-hire charges, and Agent Cole will ensure you serve your sentence in a minimum-security facility rather than spending the rest of your life in solitary confinement for treason.”
Albright didn't hesitate for a single second. He grabbed Mason’s pen, leaned against the yacht’s railing, and signed his name across every page with desperate, frantic strokes.
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“It’s done,” Albright sobbed, handing the papers back. “What do you want me to do at the gala?”
“When Julian introduces you to the press as the family physician who attended Valerie’s tragic passing,” Mason said, a lethal smile touching his lips, “you are going to deliver the speech of your life.”
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