Chapter 11 - The Guns of Wellesley
The sub-basement was silent save for the hum of the cooling fans in the server rack.
"Put the drive on the desk, nephew," Richard said softly, his tone completely devoid of warmth. "You've gone too far this time."
"You brought a gun into my father's house, Richard?" I asked, standing firm in front of the server terminal, keeping my body between Miller and the USB drive.
"Your father was a weak man who cared more about public perception than real power," Richard spat, taking two steps into the room, raising the revolver slightly. "I built this company into a giant! I made sure you had private jets, luxury estates, and a name that commands terror in every boardroom in New England!"
"You built it on the bodies of men like David Keane!" I shouted, my voice echoing off the concrete walls.
"David Keane was a nobody!" Richard roared, his eyes wild with a terrifying, unhinged fury. "A twenty-six-year-old mechanic who thought he could tell a multi-billion-dollar enterprise how to run its facilities! He was collateral damage!"
"He was a human being!" a voice called out from the darkness of the hallway behind him.
Richard spun around, his gun shaking.
District Attorney Eleanor Sterling stepped into the frame, flanked by four armed Massachusetts State Police officers with their weapons drawn and focused directly on Richard’s chest.
"Drop the weapon, Mr. Whitmore!" the lead officer barked. "Drop it now!"
Miller immediately raised his hands in the air, stepping away from Richard and pressing his back against the wall. "I'm just private security! I'm not armed!"
Richard looked from the armed state troopers to me, his face turning an ash-gray color. The cold, untouchable corporate titan was suddenly exposed for what he truly was: a terrified, desperate criminal caught in the dark.
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The silver revolver slipped from his fingers, clattering onto the concrete floor.
"Richard Whitmore," DA Sterling announced coldly, pulling a set of steel handcuffs from her belt, "you are under arrest for corporate manslaughter, obstruction of justice, federal insurance fraud, and witness intimidation."
