Chapter 7 - The Trap in the Dark
Twenty minutes later, I slipped through the back gardens toward the detached carriage house. The midnight air was frigid, the scent of wet pine and distant thunder hanging heavy in the atmosphere.
A single yellow light burned inside the guest bedroom.
I pushed the door open without knocking.
Mia sat on the edge of the twin bed, still wearing an oversized sweatshirt, her knees pulled to her chest. She looked up in terror, scrambling backward against the headboard.
“Mrs. Caldwell… please,” she choked out. “I didn't steal anything from your room, I swear—”
“Stop talking, Mia,” I said calmly, pulling a wooden chair over and sitting down.
She looked at me, trembling violently. “Are you going to call the police on me?”
“That depends entirely on what you do in the next five minutes,” I replied.
I set my phone on the nightstand, sliding open the corporate registration documents for Aura Holdings.
“Do you know what this is?” I asked.
Mia shook her head, tears spilling down her pale cheeks.
“It’s a shell corporation registered under your name and social security number. Julian Vance deposited four point two million dollars of stolen Caldwell funds into an offshore account tied directly to your signature.”
Mia’s jaw dropped. “What? No… no, Mr. Vance told me to sign some employment verification forms for tax purposes!”
“He didn't make you an employee, Mia. He made you the fall guy,” I said, leaning in. “When the Securities and Exchange Commission and the FBI trace the stolen funds—which they will, by tomorrow afternoon—Julian and Beatrice will claim you embezzled the money from behind their backs. They’ll say you seduced Julian to gain access to the house, stole my passwords, and wired the cash.”
Mia gasped, her hands flying to her throat as if the air had been sucked from the room. “No… no, Beatrice swore she would help my brother! She swore!”
“Beatrice Vance doesn't help people, Mia. She uses them until they break, then discards the pieces.” I leaned closer, my voice steady and deadly serious. “Right now, you’re facing twenty years in federal prison for grand larceny and wire fraud.”
“Please,” Mia sobbed, dropping to her knees on the rug before me. “Mrs. Caldwell, please help me. I swear I never wanted to hurt you. You were the only person in this town who ever treated me like a human being. Julian… he told me he loved me. He told me he was going to take care of my family.”
“I can protect you,” I said quietly. “And I can ensure your brother gets an honest review from an independent legal defense team I will personally fund.”
Mia looked up, hope flashing through her desperate eyes. “What do I have to do?”
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“Tomorrow morning at ten o'clock,” I said, “Julian is hosting an emergency shareholder meeting at Vance Tower to ratify the merger transfer. You are going to be there. And you are going to tell the truth.”
***
