Chapter 10 - The Envoy
The door of the Mercedes opened, and a tall man in an immaculate charcoal-gray trench coat stepped out into the pouring rain. He didn't carry an umbrella. He stood perfectly still, looking around the empty pier with the detached confidence of a man who believed he held absolute leverage over everyone in the county.
Conrad stepped out of the truck, the rain instantly soaking through his jacket. He walked slowly across the wet concrete, his boots making a steady, rhythmic crunch against the gravel.
“You didn’t have to drive all the way from Zurich just to drop off a message,” Conrad called out, his voice cutting cleanly through the sound of the wind and crashing surf.
The man in the trench coat turned slowly. He had silver-rimmed glasses that caught the pale amber streetlamp light, and a faint, cold smile played on his lips.
“Mr. Vance,” the man said, his accent clipped and European. “I am Viktor Vance’s old... adjustments officer, though you may call me Richter. You’ve been making quite a bit of noise down here. Disrupting accounts that have been quietly managed for decades.”
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“You mean stealing from families who couldn't fight back,” Conrad corrected, stepping closer until only ten paces separated them.
Richter chuckled softly, adjusting his glasses against the rain. “Money doesn't belong to the sentimental, Mr. Vance. It belongs to those who maintain the structure. Julian and Agatha were incompetent fools who let their personal malice jeopardize a trillion-dollar architecture. But you... you think a single waterproof folder gives you control of the board?”
