Chapter 13 - THE SHADOW BOARD
Z
By Thursday evening, the weight of the Zurich documents sat heavily inside my floor safe. I hadn't told Thomas yet. He had spent the last seven years running from shadow to shadow, and I wanted him to enjoy his new sense of freedom for a few weeks before plunging him back into the brutal world of corporate greed.
However, the world didn't give us the luxury of time.
At 9:00 PM, my phone rang with an unlisted number. I picked up, keeping my voice low.
"Rick," a voice whispered. It was Agent Sarah Miller. Her voice was taut, laced with static and background noise. "Where are you right now?"
"Home," I said, standing up from my desk. "What's going on, Sarah?"
"Get out of the house," she said firmly. "I'm ten minutes away in an unmarked car. Do not turn on your outside lights, do not pack a bag, and do not call Thomas."
"Why? What happened with Marcus?"
"Marcus is in a federal holding facility, but his defense team just filed an emergency motion in federal court," Sarah reported, her tone heavy with frustration. "They submitted an anonymous affidavit claiming that Julian Vance was mentally incompetent when he drafted the Elm Street property transfer. They're trying to freeze all family assets, invalidate the evidence we seized from the garage vault, and force Thomas into a state-appointed guardianship."
"Under whose custody?" I demanded, feeling a cold knot form in my stomach.
"A dummy corporation called Apex Legacy Holdings," Sarah replied. "It's a shadow company backed by three of Marcus's former board members in Chicago. They just hired a team of private security contractors—former military mercenaries—to secure all properties linked to Julian Vance. They have a court injunction allowing them to seize your house on Elm Street as a 'crime scene asset' starting at midnight."
I looked out my kitchen window. The street was dark, lit only by the pale yellow glow of the distant streetlamp. But as I watched, two dark sedans turned slowly off the main boulevard and pulled to a stop at the curb three houses down. Their headlights switched off instantly.
"They're already here, Sarah," I whispered, stepping back into the shadows of the hallway.
"Rick, listen to me," Sarah urged, her voice crackling over the receiver. "They know about the Zurich trust. Someone inside the probate court leaked Victoria Vance's visit to your house two days ago. They aren't coming for the garage this time. They're coming for you. If they force you to sign those power-of-attorney documents under duress, Apex Legacy Holdings gets complete control over the seventy-five million dollars."
May you like
I hung up the phone, stepped into my study, and opened the floor safe beneath the rug. I pulled out the green waterproof case, packed the Swiss folder inside it, and secured the latches.
Outside, the faint sound of footsteps crunching against my front lawn gravel cut through the stillness of the night.
