Chapter 2 - The Aunt's Complicity
The flashing red and blue lights painted the ballroom walls as they dragged Arthur out the front doors. He was kicking, screaming, and threatening everyone in sight, completely destroying his carefully crafted facade of high-society elegance.
Helen was hyperventilating, clutching her diamond necklace.
“This is insane! Liam, do something!” she shrieked at me. “They are taking your wife’s uncle! Tell them to stop!”
I looked at Helen. I had spent eight years tracking illicit funds. I knew how to read a ledger, but more importantly, I knew how to read people.
“You knew, Helen,” I said, the words cutting through her panic like a scalpel.
Helen froze. “Knew? Knew what?”
“You knew what Arthur was doing to Elise. You knew he was threatening her, manipulating her, hurting her. And you looked the other way because Arthur was funneling money from his offshore accounts into your failing real estate business.”
The remaining wedding guests murmured in shock.
Helen’s face turned the color of ash. “You… you’re just an accountant! You don’t know anything! Elise is a liar! She’s always been unstable!”
“Actually, Helen,” Sarah said, stepping up beside me, her federal badge gleaming on her lapel. “Liam is one of the most decorated forensic intelligence officers this bureau has ever employed. He retired to live a quiet life. But thanks to the encrypted files his wife just provided us, we know everything.”
Sarah handed a piece of paper to a nearby agent.
“Helen Vance, consider this a formal notice. As of ten minutes ago, all of your personal and business accounts have been frozen under the RICO Act, pending a full investigation into your complicity.”
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Helen’s knees gave out. She collapsed onto the polished hardwood floor, weeping into her hands as her precious reputation and stolen wealth evaporated into thin air.
I didn't stay to watch her cry. I turned my back on the ballroom, walked up the stairs, and went back to the woman who needed me.
