Chapter 11 - The Fortress in Aspen
My breath caught in my throat. "The Rosewood Chalet. It’s the only asset my father never touched. It was deeded directly to my mother’s bloodline."
"Why would Vanessa go there?" Rachel asked.
"Because the physical bearer bonds for The Sterling Group aren't in London," I realized, a wave of cold clarity washing over me. "When my mother became ill, she told me that if anything ever happened to her, the master vault key was hidden in the foundation of the winter house. Vanessa’s father must have known."
"If Vanessa gets her hands on the physical bearer bonds," Marcus warned, "she doesn't need electronic wire authorization. She can walk into any private bank in Geneva and claim seventy million dollars in unallocated gold certificates."
"Get the jet," I ordered immediately.
Two hours later, Marcus, Rachel, and I were cruising at forty thousand feet aboard a chartered Gulfstream, soaring above the snow-capped peaks of the Rockies. Looking out the window at the endless white expanse below, I touched the cropped ends of my hair.
For years, I had run from conflict. I had bowed my head, kept the peace, and swallowed the poison of Julian’s abuse just to avoid making a scene. But the woman who allowed herself to be sheared like a sheep was dead.
When our plane touched down on the snow-slicked runway of Aspen Airport, a team of private mountain security contractors was already waiting with two black Suburbans equipped with snow chains.
"Mrs. Vance," the lead contractor, an imposing former alpine ranger named Briggs, greeted me. "Our perimeter sensors at the Rosewood Chalet were tripped twenty minutes ago. A private helicopter landed on the south ridge. We have visual confirmation of an armed party entering the main lodge."
"Is Vanessa inside?" I asked, pulling on heavy leather gloves.
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"Yes, ma'am," Briggs said. "She has three private security personnel with her. They’ve brought heavy cutting torches. They’re trying to breach the sub-basement vault."
"Let's move," I said. "And make sure the local sheriff is on standby."