Chapter 6
Daniel discovered why the Moretti contract mattered beyond money.
Vantage’s insurance renewal was due in two months.
Its carrier had raised concerns about revenue concentration and declining long-term contracts.
A three-year Moretti agreement would stabilize the company enough to satisfy both its lender and insurer.
Without it, Vantage might lose access to credit.
Victor knew.
He had been lobbying Gabriel for the extension all summer.
Gabriel remembered the conversations.
“You already know our family.”
“Exactly.”
“You’ve protected us for years.”
“We need people who understand the kids.”
That phrase now sounded different.
Gabriel had repeatedly delayed the decision.
He wanted competitive bids.
Victor hated that.
“Competitive bids? For your own family?”
Gabriel answered:
“For a five-million-dollar contract.”
Victor called it humiliating.
Gabriel called it business.
Then Noah’s supposed security problems started appearing.
The first Vantage report was dated nine days after Gabriel announced the contract would go out for bid.
Laura looked at the timeline.
“That’s significant.”
Rebecca agreed.
“But still circumstantial.”
They continued.
Vantage’s proposal argued that outside companies lacked “embedded behavioral knowledge of the Moretti minor children.”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
The company was selling knowledge it had manufactured through private access.
Another section said:
Recent incidents demonstrate that generic event security is insufficient. Effective protection requires personnel familiar with the children’s resistance patterns and family-specific command structure.
Emma had been labeled:
low-risk / compliant.
Noah:
moderate-to-high supervision need.
Gabriel hated every word.
Then Daniel found something in his old email.
Victor had asked him three months earlier whether Gabriel would ever permit a full-time guard assigned directly to Noah.
Daniel said no.
Victor replied:
He’ll change his mind once he sees enough incidents.
Daniel had assumed Victor meant ordinary childhood accidents.
Now he sent the email to Rebecca.
Gabriel read it twice.
Laura said:
“He needed incidents.”
“Yes.”
“And when real incidents didn’t happen?”
May you like
Gabriel looked toward Noah’s football sitting on the shelf.
Victor created circumstances where they would.
