Chapter 6 - The Trap Closes
The main branch of First National Bank was a massive, classic building with towering marble pillars and polished brass fixtures. It was the place where the city's old money conducted its business, and where Daniel had maintained his corporate accounts for over a decade.
At 1:15 p.m., I stood on the second-floor mezzanine balcony overlooking the main banking floor, hidden behind a large potted palm tree. Beside me stood Arthur Vance and Detective Vance from the City Police Department’s Financial Crimes Unit.
Below us, sitting at a private mahogany desk in the commercial services office, was Daniel.
He looked terrible. His suit was rumpled, his hair unbrushed, and he kept looking over his shoulder toward the glass entrance doors like a hunted animal. On the desk in front of him was a thick stack of wire transfer request forms.
“He’s attempting to transfer eight hundred thousand dollars from Blake & Partners’ reserve account to an entity registered as 'Helios Holdings LLC' in Grand Cayman,” Detective Vance whispered, reviewing the live digital feed on his tablet provided by the bank's fraud division.
“Is that his shell company?” I asked softly.
“Confirmed,” Arthur nodded. “Camille’s screenshots matched the account routing numbers perfectly. He’s trying to steal his partners’ capital and fly out of the country before the board meeting tomorrow.”
Below us, the bank teller took the paperwork from Daniel, typed something into her computer terminal, and then looked up with a polite, practiced smile. “Mr. Blake, because this wire transfer exceeds five hundred thousand dollars, it requires a secondary verbal verification from the firm's co-signatory or a senior managing partner.”
Daniel’s head snapped up. “What?! No it doesn't! I am the managing director of Blake & Partners! I have sole signing authority on that account!”
“Under normal circumstances, yes,” the teller explained smoothly, following the instructions she had been given by security twenty minutes earlier. “However, due to the administrative freeze placed on the primary credit line this morning, our system automatically flagged all outgoing high-value transfers for secondary authorization.”
Daniel slammed his palm onto the desk, scaring a nearby customer. “Call Richard Sterling then! Call him right now and tell him to approve it!”
“That won't be necessary, Daniel.”
The voice didn't come from the teller. It came from behind him.
Richard Sterling stepped out of the private manager's office, flanked by three other senior partners from Blake & Partners. Behind them walked two uniformed police officers.
Daniel spun around in his chair, his face turning completely chalk-white. “Richard...? What are you doing here?”
“Saving our firm from a thief,” Richard said, his voice trembling with absolute fury. “We called the bank an hour ago to conduct an emergency review of the accounts, Daniel. Imagine our surprise when we found out you were sitting here trying to drain eight hundred thousand dollars of our operational capital into an offshore account!”
“Richard, wait! I can explain!” Daniel scrambled out of his chair, his hands raised in panic. “It’s for an investment! A development opportunity in the Caribbean! It was going to benefit the whole firm!”
“Save it for the grand jury, Daniel,” Detective Vance said, walking down the mezzanine stairs with Arthur and me right behind him.
Daniel’s eyes locked onto me as I stepped onto the marble floor of the main lobby. The terror in his eyes turned into a grotesque, ugly rage.
“You!” he screamed, pointing a shaking finger at me as the two police officers moved in to grab his arms. “You did this! You set me up! You manipulated Camille!”
I walked up to him, stopping just out of reach as the officers snapped steel handcuffs around his wrists.
“You set yourself up, Daniel,” I said softly, looking down at his restrained hands. “You thought you were smart enough to hide money from the woman who manages a ten-million-dollar nonprofit budget every single day. You thought I was stupid because I loved you.”
“I’ll destroy you, Serena!” he yelled, thrashing against the officers' grip as bank customers stopped and pulled out their phones to record the scene. “You’re nothing without me! You’re just a pathetic charity worker! I made you!”
“No, Daniel,” I said, stepping closer and speaking directly into his ear so only he could hear me. “You didn't make me. But I am certainly going to unmake you.”
The officers dragged him out through the heavy glass doors of the bank into the bright afternoon sunlight, where a police cruiser was waiting with its lights flashing.
As the crowd outside gathered to watch the disgraced architect being shoved into the back seat of a squad car, Richard Sterling turned to me, wiping sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.
“Mrs. Blake... Serena,” Richard stammered, looking genuinely shaken. “I don't even know what to say. If you hadn't alerted us, he would have bankrupted our firm by dinner time.”
“I know, Richard,” I said calmly. “Which brings me to our next discussion.”
May you like
Richard blinked. “Our next discussion?”
“Blake & Partners needs a new managing partner,” I said, stepping into the bank manager's private office and gesturing for Richard to follow me. “And I think it’s time Harbor House took a controlling interest in your real estate division.”
