66
EN ROUTE TO SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
Sean stored his carry-on and settled back in his first-class seat. He closed his eyes, putting the past behind him. Even though Sandstrom had messed with Sean’s life behind the scenes, Sean didn’t need to see the guy arrested. The photos couldn’t yet be proven, but Sandstrom’s criminal negligence now could. His sister had done her job well. Sean might never get any personal revenge for what Sandstrom had tried to do to him—and what Carson could still do to him—by revealing the photos, but Sandstrom would at least pay for some of what he’d done. He’d likely spend time behind bars, thinking about what he should have done differently. That was enough for Sean.
He focused now on what was in front of him—the new plan that had been working through his head since his time on the mountain in Corvo. That plan had everything to do with a certain quirky scientist named Elizabeth Shapiro at the University of Washington.
CEO Eric Sandstrom looked like he was in shock. Now in handcuffs, he was being led out of the American Frontier headquarters under police escort. He would be arraigned for criminal negligence—knowing there were problems with the oil platform, drilling, and other procedures, and ordering the process to not only continue but be pushed ahead—and also for numerous counts of environmental abuses that had devastated international waters and communities along those waters since then. But it was the campaign cash violation that had triggered the arrest. Carson had turned on him.
Will had joined the shareholder suit against AF, giving muscle and confidence to the other shareholders.
With only a few texts, Sean had engineered the agreement of multiple ecological NGOs across the world to also file suit against Sandstrom. Their signed agreements had been scanned or faxed to Sarah and already were sitting on her desk this morning.
At the very least, Sandstrom would face some jail time and stiff penalties that would strip him of any resources.
Sarah and Darcy watched as he was urged into the backseat of the squad car. Sarah wished they’d also been able to prove he’d set up the bombing of his own building and perhaps also engineered the death of the Polar Bear Bomber. But she, Darcy, and Jon hadn’t been able to do that yet, nor could they touch Jason Carson, who was protected by the former attorney general’s deal with the president.
As the squad car drove off, Darcy high-fived Sarah. “One down, more to go.” She grinned.
“You got that right,” Sarah declared.
It was her job to take the CEO down, but in this case she felt a personal satisfaction. The man who had tried to attack her family in multiple ways would now go through the due process of law. She’d closed the book on Sandstrom.
Jon’s full exposé of Sandstrom’s criminal negligence in the Arctic fiasco would run online at the New York Times within the hour and then in hard copy on the front page Tuesday morning. The rumors of the end had given Sandstrom just enough hours to be nervous, try to lawyer up, and then realize he’d need to get out of the country pronto. He’d been throwing a thumb drive of key documents in his briefcase and erasing a sector of his laptop when the squad cars arrived.
Sarah and Darcy exchanged a look of steely determination. Now that Sandstrom was wrapped up with a bow, Jason Carson was next in their sights.
Will couldn’t help it. He didn’t need to be there officially. He was no longer a board member of American Frontier. But his long history with the company and his sense of justice won out. He had to see Sandstrom taken down. So he stood now just outside the AF building—the scene of one of the most notorious domestic terror incidents in American history—and watched as Sandstrom ducked into the backseat of the patrol car.
What would happen to American Frontier next? Will had an idea, and it wouldn’t be pretty. If it was to survive as a company, AF would need to find new leadership, redirect their efforts, invest heavily in research before jumping the gun on any project, deal honestly with the media nightmare that would surround them, and push forward on any and all efforts to repair whatever environmental damage could be fixed. In other words, the company faced an overwhelming mountain.
However, Will also knew that somehow the company would survive and press forward. It just wouldn’t be on his watch, as he’d thought. Things would have to greatly change in the mix of board members for Will to have the opportunity to assume the CEO position.
When the squad car drove away, Will turned to leave. He caught a flash of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye, across the street from him. But it couldn’t be . . .
The man watched the arrest of Eric Sandstrom. He nodded to himself, then walked away into the throng of people that crowded New York City.
So the White House thought they’d distract Sarah Worthington by throwing her into the pool of AG vetting, he thought. And by falsely framing Sean, to take both Sean and Will down.
He chuckled. They don’t know the Worthingtons at all.
Bill Worthington had trained his kids well.