Page 56 of Billionaire Corruption

It was basic money laundering. I realized that Ladden was in even bigger trouble than I realized.

“Look, we’re going to make this whole investigation go away,” my uncle said in a level voice I’d never heard before. “It’s as good as buried.”

“What? How?”

“We know people,” was all he was willing to say.

“But, it has come to my attention that some people may have been using the current investigation as a cover to promote their own agenda.”

“Who?”

“Brenneman,” my uncle said. “He’s trying to get rid of your father and the MHG group.”

“And me,” I suddenly realized.

My uncle nodded. “He wants us out. He has managed to find another investor to buy out our share.”

I thought of Brock’s many visits to Washington, the people I’d seen him with at the club. Hedge fund people, financiers. Maybe they wanted to clean up the business, get rid of any criminal taint.

“You’re beginning to get it I see,” my uncle said, watching my face closely. “The thing is, we don’t want to sell at his price, and that was making Brock a little antsy. He decided to bring in some leverage.”

“The investigation was his idea?”

“He was never going to let it continue, but then your little friend became involved and threw a spanner in the works. Once the wrong people got hold of that kind of evidence, that caused quite a ruckus!” Uncle Richard laughed, his double chin wobbled, even his stomach joined in. But there was nothing merry about his laugh. I saw that he was really much smarter, much more malicious than my father ever was. He’d never retired from the business, he’d merely stepped away from the day-to-day operations, still pulling the strings from behind the scenes. The friendly uncle was his persona, but underneath it all, he was a tough guy, a criminal boss of an organization that had gone to great lengths to appear legitimate.

“What do you want me to do?”

My uncle looked at me with shiny eyes. “Clever boy. You just sit tight while we sort everything out. But we need the information you have on Jerome. That can’t get into the wrong hands. Your girlfriend has to stop digging.”

“This has nothing to do with Grace!”

“As long as you keep her in line,” my uncle agreed.

Was he threatening me? And Grace?

“And my father?”

My uncle leaned back, took a breath. “I think it’s time he retired from the business. Took a step back, don’t you think? Better for his health, yes? It may be time to step out of Ladden, the heat is becoming a bit much. Reinvest, so to speak.”

My head was spinning a little, from the alcohol and the new information. I got up, shook my uncle’s hand, and left the hotel, getting a ride straight to Grace’s place.

I needed to talk to her.

While I was in the car, I opened my phone and started googling the mayor. Davis Pritchard had been elected to office a few years ago. I knew him well, he had been at dinner parties at our house. At the Ladden charity dinner, he had been the guest of honor, talking about the importance of partnerships in business.

But which partnerships was he talking about?

By the time I got to Grace’s apartment, it was almost dark. I made my way to the buzzer and realized that I didn’t know what number their apartment was. I hadn’t met her family yet, hadn’t even been upstairs.

Impatiently, I pressed some of the buttons of the other apartments, but they either weren’t in or weren’t answering. I heard someone’s voice and asked about the Bishops, but the person hung up on me.

I tried calling Grace again but there was no answer.

I stood around outside the front door for a bit, but it was freezing. I was about to leave when someone came out from inside and I was able to slip inside the building. There were only four floors, and I knew Grace was on the second floor. That narrowed the options down quite a bit. The first door I knocked on was opened by an elderly man with a yapping dog who pointed me to the right door.

I knocked again. I heard voices inside and called out my name. The door opened and I recognized Grace’s brother, Toby. He let me in, taking me into the living room, where his grandmother was standing with Grace. As soon as she saw me, Grace came running into my arms. She was shaking and I knew something was wrong.

“What happened?” I asked.

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