Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14: THE STERLING CONFRONTATION
The Plaza Hotel’s private dining room was empty, reserved entirely for one man. Christopher Sterling sat eating a rare steak, his silver hair perfectly coiffed, a flag pin gleaming on his lapel.
The door opened, and I walked in alone. Marcus Vance stayed outside, his hand on his holster.
"Mrs. Mendoza," Sterling said without looking up. "Or do you prefer Salazar now? You’re a hard woman to book an appointment with."
"Let’s skip the pleasantries, Mr. Sterling," I said, sitting across from him. I didn't touch the water he offered. "The FBI is currently reviewing the forged documents Julian Rivas planted in my system. I want the charges dropped by 5:00 PM."
Sterling let out a patronizing laugh, wiping his mouth with a linen napkin. "You have no leverage here, girl. This is Washington politics mixed with Wall Street muscle. You’re a foreign national wrapped up in a cartel-adjacent money laundering scandal. The Department of Justice is going to make an example out of you."
I placed a single flash drive on the table between us.
"On that drive is the Aspen audio," I said calmly. "Along with the complete routing numbers of the Swiss accounts you opened under your wife’s maiden name in 2022. The accounts that received exactly four million dollars from the Rivas Foundation every time a Salazar shipping permit was delayed at the border."
Sterling froze. The grandfatherly persona evaporated, replaced by the calculating look of a trapped predator.
"You think you can blackmail a former Deputy Attorney General?" he hissed, leaning forward.
May you like
"I'm not blackmailing you, Christopher. I'm giving you an exit strategy," I whispered, my eyes locking onto his with terrifying stillness. "You call off the DOJ investigation. You declare Vance Global’s acquisition of our lines null and void due to fraudulent collusion. Do that, and this drive stays in my safe. Refuse... and you’ll be sharing a cafeteria with Santiago Rivas by the weekend."
Sterling stared at the drive, his jaw clenched so hard I could hear his teeth grind.
