Chapter 29 - The Prison Visit
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By sunrise, the safehouse was crawling with uncompromised federal agents personally dispatched by the Director of the FBI. Deputy Director Vance was taken away in heavy chains, while Chloe was wrapped in a warm blanket, fast asleep in my father's arms upstairs.
I sat in the kitchen, nursing a mug of black coffee, while Elena had her shoulder bandaged by a paramedic.
"The federal government is locking down every asset tied to Victoria Sterling," Elena reported, setting down her tablet. "Her accounts are frozen. Her security team is being rounded up across three states. But she vanished before my backup teams reached her estate."
"She didn't vanish alone," I said, staring into my coffee. "Deputy Director Vance said she answers to someone else. Someone above her."
"There's only one person alive who knows the complete organizational chart of the Vanguard," Elena said softly.
I looked up at her, realizing what she meant.
Two hours later, I stood inside the glass partition room of the Federal Supermax Penitentiary.
Across the thick bulletproof glass sat Arthur Vance. He wore an orange jumpsuit, his hands and feet bound in heavy iron shackles. His hair had turned completely gray, his face hollowed by months of solitary confinement, but his dark eyes still flashed with malice when he recognized me.
He picked up the red telephone receiver. I picked up mine.
"You look terrible, Audrey," Arthur Vance sneered, his raspy voice humming through the wire. "Did my mother's oil leave scars on your pretty little back?"
"Your mother is in a state prison, Arthur," I answered coldly. "Your brother is in federal custody. Victoria Sterling is on the run. The Vanguard is falling apart."
May you like
Arthur chuckled, a low, dry sound that turned into a violent cough.
"Victoria is a foolish accountant," Arthur spat. "She thought she could run the family business. But you... you still don't get it, do you, Audrey? You're looking at the puppets, but you haven't looked at the man pulling the strings."
