He answered on the second ring.

“Claire, how did the board meeting go?” Marcus asked, his voice calm and measured.

“Preston and Samantha just walked out,” I said, stepping into the empty elevator. “But that is not the immediate problem.”

“What did he do?”

“He is draining the offshore accounts right now,” I said, watching the floor numbers count down. “Over twelve million dollars is being wired to Panama.”

There was a brief silence on the line, followed by the sound of rustling papers.

“We knew he might try to liquidate,” Marcus said. “But he cannot legally do that without your dual signature on the trust.”

“He has a power of attorney from five years ago,” I replied. “The one we signed when I was hospitalized with pneumonia.”

“Dammit,” Marcus muttered. “I will file an emergency motion to freeze all assets, but domestic courts have slow hands in Panama.”

“How long will it take?” I asked.

“Two hours to get the judge to sign the order, and another hour to transmit it to the receiving bank,” he said.