Chapter 32 - The missing file
Grace stood in the study under the warm glow of the desk lamp, the photograph resting between her calloused palms. Ethan walked in, holding two glasses of water, but stopped the moment he saw the tight line of her jaw. In a decade of knowing Grace, he had only seen that look once before—the night she tackled Sabrina to protect Lily from a poisoned life.
"Who sent it?" Ethan asked, placing the glasses down and stepping beside her.
Grace didn't answer immediately. Her fingers traced the face of the man standing to her right in the old photograph—Colonel Marcus Vance. Vance had been her commanding officer before he went rogue, selling military logistics to an international black-market syndicate that specialized in moving dirty money through high-end corporate accounts. Grace had been the whistleblower whose testimony brought down his command.
"Someone who was supposed to be serving life in Leavenworth," Grace said quietly. "Vance."
Ethan’s brow furrowed. "Julian’s old defense attorney mentioned a shell company five years ago during the bankruptcy proceedings. An offshore account registered in Panama called Vanguard Logistics. The board assumed it was liquidated."
Grace looked up, her pulse racing. "It wasn't Julian who built those offshore accounts, Ethan. Julian was an arrogant coward with an MBA. He was laundering money for Vance’s network. When you took Lily's trust back and froze Julian’s access, you didn't just strip him of his wealth. You froze forty million dollars belonging to the most dangerous syndicate in North America."
Ethan reached into his desk drawer and pulled out the encrypted tablet linked to Caldwell Industries' legal division. He typed in his master security code, scanning the corporate ledger.
May you like
His face went pale.
"Grace," Ethan whispered, turning the screen toward her. "The liquidation hold on Julian’s private accounts expired forty-eight hours ago. And someone just filed an emergency petition in federal court to claim every cent under Lily’s name."
