Chapter 5 - The Corporate War
An hour later, my new attorney, Sarah Jenkins—a brilliant, sharp-eyed woman who formerly served as a federal prosecutor— laid out a thick stack of legal documents across the coffee table.
"The criminal charges against Derek Vance are ironclad," Sarah reported with a confident smile. "The video footage from the hospital room left zero room for interpretation. His bail request was flatly denied this morning by Judge Harrison, who happened to be extremely appalled by the strangulation marks on a mother who had just given birth."
"What about Richard Vance?" I asked. "Is he trying to fight the financial transfers?"
Sarah chuckled softly. "Richard Vance's legal team attempted to file an emergency injunction yesterday, claiming the asset transfers were made under physical duress from your uncle. However, when the judge asked Richard to provide a sworn deposition explaining why a billionaire defense contractor felt threatened by an unarmed sixty-year-old mechanic with no criminal record, Richard broke down in tears and refused to testify."
Ray smiled faintly into his tea cup.
"Without Richard's testimony," Sarah continued, "the court verified the asset transfer as a valid, voluntary settlement agreement to avoid a catastrophic civil lawsuit. As of eight o'clock this morning, Clara, you are now the primary shareholder of Vance Logistics' commercial real estate branch, holding over sixty-two percent of their liquid commercial holdings, valued at roughly four hundred million dollars."
I gasped, looking at the numbers printed on the official bank verification forms. "Four hundred million?"
"Derek’s personal inheritance was completely tied up in those funds," Sarah explained. "He is officially broke. In fact, he currently owes over two hundred thousand dollars in unpaid legal fees to his defense team, who are already considering dropping his case because he can no longer pay their retainer."
"Good," I said, feeling a cold, righteous surge of empowerment replacing the fear that had controlled me for years. "What's our next step?"
"Now," Ray interrupted, his voice dropping into a stern, strategic register, "we cut off Richard's retreat."
Sarah nodded, pulling out another document. "Richard Vance’s defense contracting firm, Vance Dynamics, is currently undergoing a mandatory federal audit. Following the news of Derek's arrest and the public release of the non-confidential police report regarding domestic violence, three major defense contracts with the Department of Defense have been temporarily suspended pending an ethics investigation."
"Richard will try to liquidate his offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands to cover his corporate shortfalls," Ray noted calmly. "He has an encrypted stash of bearer bonds hidden in a private vault in Zurich."
Sarah looked at Ray with a mixture of awe and slight terror. "How... how could you possibly know about his Zurich holdings? Even the IRS hasn't uncovered those."
Ray merely raised an eyebrow. "I have old friends who specialize in tracking international paper trails. Call the Federal Securities Commission, Sarah. Give them the account routing numbers I'm about to write down for you. Tell them it's an anonymous whistle-blower tip regarding illegal defense kickbacks."
Ray picked up a pen and wrote down a complex series of twenty-four alphanumeric digits on a yellow notepad.
May you like
Sarah took the paper, her fingers trembling slightly as she realized the sheer level of intelligence network Ray possessed. "If this account gets frozen by the federal government, Richard Vance won't just be ruined... he'll be facing federal treason and tax evasion charges."
"Precisely," Ray said smoothly. "Richard thought he was a big fish in a small pond. It's time he learned what happens when he swims into deep waters."
