PART 19: THE RETURN OF THE GHOSTS
PART 19: THE RETURN OF THE GHOSTS
"What do you mean he's out, Clara?" I asked, stopping three feet away from her, my hands clenched into tight fists inside my pockets.
"The federal compliance audit was compromised," she stammered, her teeth chattering despite the warm spring air. "His uncle Martin used a legal loophole in the Delaware charter to dissolve the receivership order. They released him at midnight."
I took the black leather folder from her hands.
Inside were forty pages of encrypted routing logs, but these logs didn't belong to Zurich or Wilmington.
They belonged to Hayes Logistics. My family's original company.
My father, Richard Hayes, had signed over the remaining silent shares to Nicholas Montgomery-Cross while I was stationed overseas in 2025.
They hadn't been enemies; they had been partners, working quietly to turn my life and my family's estate into their private property.
"They are coming to Charlotte tonight, Jacob," Clara whispered, looking around the open park as if the trees had eyes. "They hired a private security firm to repossess the Maple Grove deeds using the original power of attorney."
I looked over at Lily, who was watching us with serious, observant eyes from the baseline structure.
She didn't look afraid.
She reached into her cardigan pocket and pulled out the small, polished river stone I had given her for bravery.
"Let them come, Clara," I said, my voice dropping into a low, dangerous whisper that cut through the garden air.
May you like
"They have the legal paper, Mr. Bennett," she cried. "They have the city master registry stamp."
"They have a polished folder and a loud opinion," I replied, a cold smile spreading across my lips. "But I have the digital ledger they forgot to delete."
