Chapter 24 - Blood on the Ledger
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For six hours, my father and I worked side by side inside the vault, pulling apart the complex strands of financial forensic data. My legal background and accounting training allowed me to decipher complex shell arrangements that standard intelligence analysts often missed.
"Look at this node," I said, tapping the touch screen. "Every time Arthur Vance's companies moved money through offshore banks, three percent was siphoned into an account registered under a private charity foundation."
"The Saint Jude Educational Trust," my father read off the screen, frowning. "That foundation is run by Victoria Sterling."
I froze. Victoria Sterling was one of the city's most prominent philanthropists. She was a fixture at high-society galas, a woman who donated millions to children's hospitals and sat on the board of the city's ethics commission.
"She was at my trial when I prosecuted Daniel," I whispered, memories rushing back. "She sat in the front row. I thought she was there to support domestic violence survivors."
"She was there to make sure Daniel didn't talk," my father corrected grimly. "Victoria Sterling is the Treasurer of the Iron Vanguard."
My sat-phone buzzed on the desk. I picked it up. Elena's frantic voice came through the speaker.
"Audrey, where are you?" Elena demanded. "We have a massive situation. The federal task force headquarters just suffered a breach. Our local internal backup drives were completely wiped from an inside terminal!"
"Is everyone okay?" I asked, my heart pounding.
"No," Elena said, her voice cracking with raw emotion. "Agent Miller—my lead forensic analyst—was found dead in his office. It was staged as a suicide, Audrey. But he left a bloody thumbprint on his keyboard, pointing to a single file."
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"What file?"
"Your father's old case file from twenty years ago," Elena said. "The mole isn't just in the police department, Audrey. The mole is inside my own federal task force."
