Chapter 7 - The Midnight Call To Capital
At 2:00 a.m., the rain outside intensified, pounding against the library glass as Mark dialed a private number on his encrypted desk phone.
He placed the call on speakerphone, stepping back to stand beside my chair as the line clicked open on the second ring.
“Mark?” a deep, authoritative voice answered from Washington D.C. “It’s two in the morning. Is something wrong at the estate?”
It was Special Agent Thomas Miller from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Public Corruption Division in the capital.
Agent Miller had been investigating Senator Richard Vance’s financial dealings for two years but had lacked the physical paper trail to secure an indictment.
“Agent Miller, I have Arthur Sterling’s original 2021 private ledger in my hands,” Mark stated clearly into the microphone.
“And I have thirty-five million dollars in offshore wire transfers carrying Senator Vance’s personal authorization stamp.”
There was a three-second silence on the line before the sound of rapid computer keys clicking echoed through the speaker.
“Are you certain about the authorization stamp, Mark?” Agent Miller asked, his tone shifting into intense professional focus.
“I’m sitting right next to the woman whose name was forged on those documents five years ago, Agent Miller,” Mark replied flatly.
“My legal wife, Clara Sterling, and our son Ethan are standing in this room with me.”
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“Send a federal tactical team to the estate immediately,” Agent Miller commanded firmly over the line.
“Senator Vance just boarded a private jet in Baltimore heading for Zurich. We have ninety minutes to intercept his flight.”
