Chapter 6 - THEIR FATHER BUILT THE FIRST WEAPON
Seamus Gallagher had been mythologized inside the estate.
Founder.
Patriarch.
Monster.
Visionary.
Depends who spoke.
Desmond described him rarely.
Patrick used his name constantly.
Frankie feared him even after death.
The archive held four cabinets marked S.G.
Desmond had never opened two.
“Why?” Sadi asked.
“My father told me not to.”
She stared.
“You’re a forty-year-old crime boss still obeying a dead man?”
His mouth flattened.
She pulled open the cabinet.
Locked.
“Key?”
Desmond removed one from the chain beneath his shirt.
Sadi blinked.
“You wear the key?”
“He said not to open it.”
“That makes even less sense.”
He unlocked the cabinet.
Inside were engineering contracts.
Vehicle specifications.
Government subcontract bids.
Then:
Project AEGIS.
In 2008, Gallagher Freight developed armored-vehicle security technology with Meridian Automotive Defense.
Predecessor to Meridian Recovery Systems.
The remote ignition modules Michael Callaway flagged had not been random aftermarket devices.
They were prototypes.
Designed for emergency engine disablement.
Anti-hijacking technology.
Legitimate purpose.
Terrifying secondary use.
Someone with encrypted authorization could remotely kill an engine.
Or overload a control circuit.
Potentially ignite fuel systems in older configurations.
Sadi whispered:
“My father wasn’t saying your company bought bombs.”
“No.”
Desmond read.
“He was saying the system could become one.”
Then another memo.
Michael Callaway objected to field testing after discovering remote commands were being stored on external servers.
Risk:
Unauthorized takeover.
Seamus overruled him.
Why?
Major contract.
Millions.
Michael demanded safeguards.
Then the maintenance explosion occurred.
Afterward, AEGIS was canceled publicly.
Privately?
Meridian retained the patents.
Gallagher retained partial licensing rights.
Then Seamus did something strange.
He transferred all Gallagher licensing shares into a trust.
Beneficiaries:
Desmond and Patrick.
But not equally.
Desmond:
70%.
Patrick:
30%.
Patrick had spent years believing the split reflected favoritism.
Maybe it did.
Then Sadi found an addendum.
If Desmond became medically incapable of executive control for more than six months, Patrick received temporary voting authority over the licensing trust.
Six months.
The bombing happened almost exactly six months ago.
The Meridian acquisition vote was today.
Sadi felt cold.
“If they buy Meridian while Patrick holds temporary control…”
“He consolidates both sides of the patent.”
Desmond finished the thought.
“And AEGIS becomes wholly Gallagher-owned.”
Worth?
Potentially billions if revived for military logistics, autonomous fleet security, and armored transport.
Patrick had motive.
But motive did not prove bombing.
Then Frankie found another name.
Dr. Alan Mercer.
Desmond’s physician.
Before becoming a rehabilitation specialist, Mercer had worked as a medical consultant for Meridian Defense.
Sadi stared.
“He prescribed the medication.”
“Yes.”
“Patrick delivered the replacement bottle.”
“Yes.”
“Mercer signed the forged capacity modification.”
“Yes.”
Desmond’s face became terrifyingly calm.
Then Sadi stopped him.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“What?”
“You’re doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Deciding before the evidence finishes.”
His eyes flashed.
“Everything points to them.”
“Everything pointed to Victor too.”
Silence.
That hit.
Good.
Sadi continued.
“We test the pills.”
“We audit the signatures.”
“We trace the bomb component.”
“And then?”
“Then you act on what is proven.”
Desmond looked furious.
Not at her.
At himself.
Then Frankie’s phone rang.
Hospital laboratory.
The tablets from Desmond’s bottle contained clonazepam.
But that was not all.
They also contained a low dose of propranolol.
Enough to suppress heart rate.
Increase fatigue.
Potentially worsen dizziness and weakness.
Someone had custom-compounded them.
Not pharmacy error.
Then the lab tech said something stranger.
Trace binder profile matched a private compounding lab.
Owner:
Mercer Clinical Services.
May you like
Dr. Alan Mercer had manufactured the pills himself.
And security showed Mercer entering the estate ten minutes ago.
