Chapter 5 - The Ledger of Blood and Gold
"Arthur Vance," Julian said, his tone smooth and professional. "For the past six months, my firm has been auditing the municipal bids for the Hudson River Pier project. We found thirty-four instances of wire fraud, forty million dollars in offshore shell account transfers, and structural concrete falsifications that carry a mandatory federal sentence of twenty-five years."
Arthur swallowed hard, his chest heaving. "Julian... we had an agreement... your father and I—"
"Our father is dead, Arthur," Leo Sterling interrupted, his voice like grinding stones. "And his agreements died with him."
Marcus Sterling pulled out a dark leather ledger from his inner jacket pocket. "We didn't come here tonight for your corporate fraud, Arthur. We knew about that six months ago. We were going to let the Federal prosecutors take you in the spring."
Marcus looked directly at Isaac.
"Then your pathetic excuse for a son touched our sister."
Isaac stepped back, his confidence vanishing as he looked at the five imposing figures surrounding him. "Listen here... this is my house! You're trespassing! Security!"
The two private security guards who had tied my wrists were standing near the terrace doors. They looked at Noah Sterling, then at the four heavy-set men in black tactical gear who had just stepped through the broken front doors behind my brothers.
The guards dropped their wooden batons onto the floor and raised their hands in the air.
"Smart," Caleb murmured, stepping past them to stand beside me.
Caleb gently reached out, taking my injured hand in his. He looked at the deep red welts around my wrists, his jaw muscles clenching so hard a vein throbbed at his temple.
"Who tied the knots, Flora?" Caleb asked softly.
I pointed a trembling finger at the lead guard. "He did. On Isaac’s orders."
Caleb turned his head slowly toward the guard. "Leave the state of New York by midnight. If I see your face in this city tomorrow, you won't walk again."
The guard didn't argue. He turned and sprinted out the rear service exit.
Wendy Vance finally found her voice, though it cracked with hysterical indignation. "This is outrageous! You can't just break into a private residence and threaten my family! Do you know who we are?"
Noah turned his cold gray eyes onto her.
May you like
"You are Wendy Vance," Noah said coldly. "Born Wendy Miller in Queens. Your father ran a fraudulent insurance firm that went bankrupt in 1994, leaving eighty families without pensions. You married Arthur because he had stolen enough Sterling money to buy this estate."
Wendy gasped, stepping back into the shadow of the fireplace.
