The Silent Colonel and the Downfall of the Monroe Family Empire
My knuckles brushed against a cold metal lever hidden behind the wood.
I pulled it.
With a soft click, the heavy frame swung outward like a door.
Behind it was a dark grey steel safe door, flush with the brickwork.
It had a digital keypad and a secondary biometric scanner.
“Do you have the code?” I asked Julianne.
She shook her head.
“No,” Julianne said. “Only Grant and Mother have the combination.”
“And the thumbprint?”
“Grant’s,” she said.
I turned to face Grant.
He was standing near the leather armchair, his face drained of color.
His suit jacket hung loosely on his shoulders.
“Grant,” I said. “Open it.”
Grant looked at his mother.
Patricia’s face was a mask of cold stone.
“Don’t do it, Grant,” Patricia said. “They have nothing.”
“We have your sister’s testimony, Patricia,” I said.
“And we have the digital signatures from the Zurich transfers.”
I looked back at Grant.
“Make it easier on yourself,” I said.
Grant did not move. He wet his dry lips with his tongue.
“I want my lawyer,” Grant said.
“You can call him from the field office,” Vance said.