Chapter 14: Ravenna’s Move

The drive back to Geneva was silent.

Jennifer held the video Ravenna sent on a loop in her head. _I still have one move left._ The woman was in a Swiss federal prison, under 24-hour surveillance, and she still sounded like she was in control.

David gripped the steering wheel tighter with every mile.

“She’s bluffing,” he said finally. “She has nothing left. Harry’s in custody, the evidence is verified, and the vote’s in 48 hours.”

Jennifer didn’t answer. She couldn’t shake the image of Ravenna’s smile. That wasn’t the smile of a woman with nothing left.

Mara sat in the back with Agent Laurent, clutching Henri Voss’s journal like it might vanish if she let go. Interpol had agreed to keep her under protection until after the board vote.

“Where are we taking her?” Jennifer asked.

“Safe house outside Geneva,” Agent Laurent said. “Different location from before. No one knows about it but my team.”

Jennifer nodded, but her gut twisted. Safe houses hadn’t been safe so far.

They reached the Geneva safe house at 4 AM. It was a concrete bunker built into the hillside, accessible only through a single road with a checkpoint.

Marcus met them at the gate.

“Perimeter’s secure,” he said. “But we’ve got chatter. Someone’s buying up Benz Holdings shares on the open market. Small blocks. Anonymous accounts.”

David frowned. “How much?”

“Up to 4% in the last 24 hours,” Marcus said. “If it hits 5%, they can force a shareholder meeting.”

Jennifer felt cold. “Harry can’t trade from jail.”

“No,” David said. “But someone working for him can.”

They got Mara settled in a secure room. David posted two guards outside her door and one in the hallway.

Jennifer didn’t sleep. She sat at the kitchen table with the journal open, reading Henri Voss’s shaky handwriting by lamplight.

_Robert Loriss entered the room at 22:14. He was angry. He held a gun to Edward Benz’s head.

Edward signed. I did not want to witness it, but he threatened my family.

God forgive me._

The signature page was a photocopy. The real signature was clearly traced.

It was enough to void the contract. But only if a judge agreed before the board vote.

At 6 AM, David’s phone rang.

He answered, listened for ten seconds, and went pale.

“Where?” he asked.

Jennifer stood up.

“Mara’s room,” David said, hanging up. “The guards are down.”

They ran.

Mara’s door was open. The room was empty. The window was open, the screen cut clean through.

Jennifer’s heart stopped.

“Check the cameras!” David shouted to Marcus.

Marcus was already on his comms. “They’re dark. All of them. Power cut to the west wing.”

Agent Laurent came running down the hall, gun drawn. “We’ve got a breach. Two guards unconscious. No sign of Mara.”

Jennifer grabbed David’s arm. “Ravenna.”

David’s jaw clenched. “She’s in maximum security. She can’t—”

“She has people,” Jennifer said. “She always has people.”

Marcus’s voice came through the comms. “We’ve got a vehicle leaving the east gate. Black van, no plates. Moving fast.”

David was already moving. “Get the cars. Now.”

They took two armored SUVs and tore out of the safe house, Marcus driving lead.

The van was heading south, toward the French border.

“Call Interpol,” David ordered. “Get roadblocks up.”

Jennifer stared out the window, hands shaking.

“Mara didn’t even try to run,” she said. “She was taken.”

David glanced at her. “We’ll get her back.”

But Jennifer saw the doubt in his eyes.

They chased the van for twenty minutes through the hills outside Geneva. It swerved onto a dirt road leading to an abandoned quarry.

The van stopped.

Four men got out, guns raised.

David slammed on the brakes.

“Stay in the car,” he told Jennifer.

She didn’t listen.

The men opened the back of the van.

Mara was dragged out, hands bound, a bag over her head.

Jennifer opened her door.

“Stop!” she shouted.

One of the men turned and fired into the air.

“Don’t move!” he yelled.

David stepped out, hands up.

“Let her go,” he said. “You have what you want. The journal’s with Interpol.”

The man laughed. “We don’t want the journal. We want her to deliver a message.”

He pulled the bag off Mara’s head.

Mara was bruised, her lip split, but her eyes were defiant.

“Tell Jennifer,” the man said, “the vote doesn’t matter. The company’s already gone.”

Jennifer stepped forward.

“What did you do?” she asked.

The man smiled.

“We sold it.”

The ground fell out from under her.

“Sold what?” David asked.

“Benz Holdings,” the man said. “To a shell company in the Caymans. Yesterday. All 51%. Transaction’s already cleared.”

Jennifer felt sick.

“That’s impossible,” she said. “The shares were frozen.”

“Not after the forged contract went public,” the man said. “Once that hit the news, the freeze was lifted. Pending investigation. And Harry’s people moved fast.”

David’s face went blank.

“Who bought it?” he asked.

The man looked at Jennifer.

“Check your email, Ms. Benz,” he said.

He nodded to the others.

They got back in the van and drove off, leaving Mara stumbling in the dirt.

David ran to her and cut her bindings.

Jennifer stood frozen, phone in her hand.

She opened her email.

There it was.

Subject: _Notice of Transfer – Benz Holdings Ltd._

Attached was a certificate of sale. Buyer: Argent Global Holdings Ltd. Seller: Harry Argent, acting as legal representative of Benz Holdings.

Date: Yesterday. 11:47 PM.

Jennifer’s vision blurred.

“It’s gone,” she whispered.

David came to stand beside her.

“No,” he said. “It’s not gone. It’s stolen. And we can get it back.”

Jennifer looked at him.

“How?”

David’s eyes were hard.

“We go to court,” he said. “Right now. We file an emergency injunction. We prove the sale was based on a forged document and criminal coercion.”

Jennifer nodded, but her hands were shaking.

Mara limped over to them.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

Jennifer hugged her. “It’s not your fault.”

David was already on the phone with Ms. Okoro.

“We need a judge. Now,” he said. “File in Zurich. Emergency hearing. Fraud, coercion, theft of corporate assets.”

Ms. Okoro’s voice was calm. “It’s already filed. Hearing is in two hours.”

Jennifer looked at David.

“How did you know?”

“Because I expected this,” he said. “I didn’t expect them to take Mara.”

Jennifer felt a surge of anger hot enough to burn through the fear.

They drove to Zurich in silence.

The courthouse was packed. Reporters, shareholders, lawyers. The live-stream was already running.

Harry Argent sat in the defendant’s box, looking calm. Too calm.

Ravenna wasn’t there. She’d been denied transport due to “security concerns.”

The judge, a severe woman named Richter Weber, took the bench at 9 AM sharp.

“Ms. Okoro,” she said. “You have two hours to present your case for an emergency injunction to reverse the sale of Benz Holdings.”

Ms. Okoro stood.

“Your Honor,” she said, “this sale was based on a forged contract, executed under duress, and facilitated by criminal conspiracy. We have witness testimony, forensic evidence, and the journal of the deceased notary.”

Harry’s lawyer stood up.

“Objection,” he said. “The contract is valid on its face. The sale was conducted legally. My client acted as legal representative of Benz Holdings.”

The judge looked at him.

“Mr. Argent, you are not a representative of Benz Holdings,” she said. “You have no legal standing to sell those shares.”

Harry smiled.

“I do now,” he said.

He nodded to his lawyer.

The lawyer placed a document on the table.

“Power of Attorney,” he said. “Signed by Edward Benz, granting Harry Argent authority to act on behalf of Benz Holdings in all matters.”

Jennifer felt the room tilt.

David stood up.

“That document is a forgery,” he said.

Harry laughed.

“Prove it,” he said.

The judge looked at Ms. Okoro.

“Do you have evidence to refute this document?” she asked.

Ms. Okoro hesitated.

“We have the notary’s journal,” she said. “It states the original contract was signed under duress.”

Harry’s lawyer smiled.

“The journal is hearsay,” he said. “The Power of Attorney is notarized and legal.”

The judge frowned.

“Unless you can prove forgery, I have no grounds to grant an injunction,” she said.

Jennifer stood up.

“I can,” she said.

The room went quiet.

Jennifer walked to the front of the courtroom.

“I knew Edward Benz,” she said. “He was my father. And he never would have signed over his company to Harry Argent.”

Harry sneered. “Sentiment isn’t evidence, Ms. Benz.”

Jennifer looked at the judge.

“No,” she said. “But this is.”

She placed Henri Voss’s journal on the table.

“And this is,” she said, pulling out her phone.

She played the audio file.

It was a recording. Faint, old, but clear.

Edward Benz’s voice.

“If you’re hearing this, it means they forced me to sign. The contract is a lie. Harry Argent will never own Benz Holdings. Not while I’m alive.”

The room erupted.

Harry’s face went white.

“Where did you get that?” his lawyer demanded.

Jennifer looked at Mara, standing in the back of the courtroom with Agent Laurent.

“Mara recorded it,” Jennifer said. “The night before my father died. He knew they were coming for him.”

The judge leaned forward.

“Is this recording authentic?” she asked.

Ms. Okoro nodded. “Forensic analysis confirms it’s unedited and matches Edward Benz’s voiceprint.”

The judge banged her gavel.

“Injunction granted,” she said. “The sale of Benz Holdings is frozen pending a full criminal investigation. All shares revert to the estate of Edward Benz, effective immediately.”

Harry slammed his hands on the table.

“This isn’t over!” he shouted.

The judge looked at him coldly.

“It is for now, Mr. Argent,” she said. “Bail is revoked. You will remain in custody.”

As Harry was led out, he looked at Jennifer.

“You won this round,” he said. “But Ravenna’s move isn’t finished.”

Jennifer didn’t answer.

Outside the courthouse, reporters swarmed.

Jennifer and David walked through them, holding hands.

“Is it over?” a reporter shouted.

Jennifer stopped.

“No,” she said. “But we’re winning.”

Back at the safe house, Jennifer opened the email again.

The sale certificate.

At the bottom, in small print, was a note.

_This transaction was authorized by Ravenna Argent, acting as trustee for the Argent Family Trust._

Jennifer showed it to David.

David stared at it for a long time.

“Ravenna’s in prison,” he said.

Jennifer nodded.

“So how did she authorize it?” she asked.

David’s face went pale.

“Because she never stopped being trustee,” he said. “Even in prison.”

Jennifer felt cold.

“What does that mean?” she asked.

David looked at her.

“It means she still controls Argent Global Holdings,” he said.

“And if she controls Argent Global Holdings,” Jennifer said slowly, “she controls the company that just tried to buy Benz Holdings.”

David nodded.

“And if she controls that,” he said, “she can try again. As many times as she wants.”

Jennifer sat down hard.

Ravenna was in prison.

But she still owned the board.

Jennifer’s phone buzzed.

Another message. From an unknown number.

It was a photo.

Ravenna, sitting in her cell, holding up a piece of paper.

On it, in bold letters:

*BOARD MEETING. 24 HOURS. BE THERE.*

Jennifer looked at David.

“She’s calling a meeting,” she said.

David nodded.

“And we have to go,” he said.

Jennifer stood up.

“Then let’s go,” she said.

Outside, the sun was setting over Geneva.

And somewhere in a prison cell, Ravenna Argent was smiling.