Chapter 4 - Behind Closed Steel Doors
The arrival of two more unmarked black Crown Victorias ten minutes later signaled the end of any illusion that this was a private domestic dispute.
Detective Briggs, a burly man with a weathered trench coat and an unlit cigar perpetually clamped in his teeth, didn't bother with introductions. He flashed his gold shield at Julian, glanced at Claire Montgomery, and nodded with the familiarity of someone who had seen her dismantle corporate criminals in county courtrooms for years.
“Miss Montgomery,” Briggs grunted. “Your office sent over the digital packet twenty minutes ago. My analysts at the Financial Crimes Unit already pulled the notary log.”
Julian’s knees visibly buckled. Tyler caught his older brother under the armpit, struggling to keep him upright.
“The notary log?” Julian whispered, his voice cracking like dry kindling.
“A mobile notary named Sarah Jenkins,” Detective Briggs said, opening a small spiral notebook. “She signed off on your ex-wife’s signature at an office park near Teterboro Airport yesterday afternoon. Funny thing is, Ms. Jenkins already rolled over. Two of my detectives paid her a visit forty-five minutes ago. She admitted on body camera that Victoria Vance was never in the room.”
Detective Briggs looked up from his notes, his dark eyes fixing on Julian with zero sympathy.
“Jenkins said an older woman matching your mother's description handed her ten thousand dollars in cash, presented an expired passport belonging to Victoria Vance, and stood over her while she stamped the deed of trust.”
“No!” Evelyn wailed, her voice hitting a register so shrill it startled a flock of crows from the nearby pines. “She’s lying! That woman is a criminal! I’ve never been to Teterboro in my life!”
“We have the toll booth transponder records from your Mercedes, Mrs. Sterling,” Briggs said dryly. “Entered the turnpike at one-fifteen, exited at Teterboro at one-forty-eight. Returned south at three-twelve. Unless your car was driving itself, you were there.”
Deputy Miller stepped behind Julian. “Hands behind your back, Mr. Sterling.”
“Wait! No! Please!” Julian begged, twisting away from the officer’s grasp. He lunged toward Victoria, his arms outstretched, but Marcus instantly stepped forward, catching Julian by the lapels of his jacket and slamming him flat against the hood of the black Porsche.
“Do not advance on Ms. Vance,” Marcus growled into Julian’s ear, his massive forearm pinning the younger man down like a specimen on a dissecting table.
“Victoria! Tell them!” Julian wept into the hot metal of the hood. “It wasn't my idea! It was my mother’s! She told me we had no choice! She said the creditors from the London estate were coming for the family trust! She said if we didn't put up Ironwood as collateral, they’d repossess her house in Southampton! She told me you’d never find out until we paid it back!”
“Julian, you cowardly dog!” Evelyn screamed, her face turning an apoplectic shade of purple. “How dare you! How dare you blame your mother after everything I sacrificed to keep your worthless fund afloat!”
“You sacrificed ME!” Julian screamed back, tears and snot smearing against the glossy black paint of his car. “You spent every dollar my father left! You bought jewelry, you paid off Chloe’s debts, you kept up appearances while we were drowning! You made me forge the power of attorney!”
“Fascinating,” Claire Montgomery remarked, her pen already scratching notes onto a yellow legal pad. “Deputy, make sure that statement is recorded on your lapel mic. An explicit confession of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and forgery.”
Deputy Miller clicked the handcuffs around Julian’s wrists with two sharp, metallic snaps.
*CLICK-CLACK.*
Julian let out a broken sob as he was hauled off the hood of his sports car. His immaculate suit was rumpled, his hair matted with sweat, his social status stripped away in the span of thirty minutes on the driveway he had planned to claim as his own.
“Get him into the back of Unit Two,” Briggs ordered.
As Julian was led away, Detective Briggs turned his attention to Evelyn Sterling.
The older woman had retreated toward her white Mercedes, her hand trembling as she searched her designer handbag, likely looking for her phone to call her private attorneys.
“Mrs. Sterling,” Briggs said, stepping between her and the vehicle door. “I suggest you keep your hands out of that bag.”
“I am calling my legal representation!” Evelyn hissed, her voice shaking with rage. “You have no right to detain me! You have no warrant!”
“Actually, ma’am, I do,” Briggs said, pulling a folded legal document from his breast pocket. “Judge Harrison signed an expedited telephonic search and arrest warrant ten minutes ago based on the notary’s sworn confession. Evelyn Sterling, you are under arrest for conspiracy to commit grand larceny, identity theft, and uttering a forged instrument.”
Tyler stepped in front of his mother, his youthful arrogance finally giving way to genuine terror. “Officer, please! She’s sixty-four years old! She has a heart condition!”
“Then the county jail’s medical wing will take excellent care of her, son,” Briggs replied without missing a beat. “Now move aside before I add obstruction of justice to your family’s morning itinerary.”
Deputy Miller’s partner, a tall female deputy named Alvarez, approached Evelyn with a pair of stainless-steel handcuffs.
“Turn around, ma’am.”
“Don't you dare touch me with those filthy things!” Evelyn shrieked, backing away. She lunged toward Victoria one last time, her fingers curled into claws. “You ruined us! You cold, ungrateful orphan! Julian gave you his name! He gave you our heritage! You were nothing before you married into this family, and you’ll be nothing when we’re done with you!”
Victoria didn't back down. She stood her ground, her gaze locking onto Evelyn’s with an absolute, unshakeable calm.
“My father worked forty years to build his legacy with his own hands, Evelyn,” Victoria said, each word measured and lethal. “Your family spent forty years stealing from others to maintain the illusion of one. Today, the bill came due.”
Deputy Alvarez grabbed Evelyn’s arm, twisted it behind her back, and clicked the cuffs into place.
The sound of the ratchets locking seemed to echo off the stone walls of Ironwood Manor.
May you like
Chloe stood frozen on the grass, her face pale, the gimbal hanging limp in her hand like a dead snake. Tyler collapsed onto the curb, his head in his hands, staring at the driveway gravel as the reality of their complete social and financial destruction crashed down upon them.
***
