Chapter 14: The Ledger Comes Due
"You really thought you could run a side operation out of a dead drop in Dutchess County, Clara?" Miller asked, her voice dropping into a conversational tone that was far more terrifying than a shout. She stepped all the way down onto the concrete floor, ignoring the damp and the soot as if she were walking through the lobby of a midtown hotel. Clara pushed off the wall, her chin coming up with a spark of her old defiance, though her hands were shaking visibly at her sides. "They were dead weight, Miller. You were going to scrub them in Buffalo anyway," Clara said, her voice shaking despite the effort to keep it steady. Miller didn't look at Clara; her eyes were fixed on Julian, on the way his arm curved protectively around Maya’s small back. "Maybe," Miller said smoothly. "But they belong to the ledger, Clara. And property doesn't walk away just because the bookkeeper gets sentimental." Julian tightened his grip on Leo’s shoulder, feeling the boy tremble against his side. "The ledger's closed," Julian said quietly, his eyes locking onto Miller’s cold, gray gaze. "I left the car on Route 9 with the books open to the state police. If we don't walk out of this basement in ten minutes, an audit of a very different kind is going to hit every shell corporation you own from here to the harbor."
