Chapter 6
The sun climbed higher into the sky, casting sharp geometric patterns of colored light across the abandoned pews of the cathedral. Julianna sat on a wooden bench near the front, her veil tossed aside onto the dusty seat beside her. The steamer trunk had been carefully secured and moved to the vestry by Agent Hayes’s team, leaving the nave quiet once more. She turned the pages of Victor’s waterlogged journal with immense care. The ink had bled in places, but the sharp, commanding handwriting of her uncle remained entirely legible.
Entry after entry detailed the expansion of Vance Industries and Richard’s rapid rise within the corporate ranks. At first, the notes were filled with praise for Richard’s ambition and sharp financial mind. But as the months progressed, the tone shifted drastically. Victor had discovered offshore accounts, fabricated invoices, and systematic embezzlement designed to strip the family legacy of its assets.
Julianna traced a wet smear of ink with the tip of her gloved finger. “He thinks he can outsmart the board,” Victor had written just three days before his disappearance. “He thinks because I brought him in from the cold, I won't cut him off when he betrays the trust. I am confronting him tonight at the marina. If anything happens to me, look to the vault.”
She closed the journal gently, the soft thud echoing in the cavernous space. Agent Hayes walked back down the center aisle, his footsteps measured and deliberate. He carried a small, secure tablet in his hand, his expression serious.
"The federal marshals have transported Richard to the downtown facility," Hayes said quietly, stopping a few feet away from her bench. "His initial arraignment is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Bail will be denied based on the flight risk and the newly uncovered financial fraud charges."
Julianna looked up at him, her eyes steady. "And the vault he mentioned? The one at my uncle's estate?"
Hayes nodded slowly. "We searched it an hour ago, prior to coming here. The primary documents match the ledgers in the trunk, but there is one item that requires your specific authorization to access. It's a digital drive encrypted with a biometric key that requires Vance bloodline verification."
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Julianna stood up, brushing a stray white petal from the hem of her gown. The illusion of her old life was completely shattered, and she felt no desire to salvage any piece of it. "Take me there."
The drive to the Vance estate took forty minutes through the winding coastal roads of Maine. The autumn landscape flashed past the tinted windows of the federal SUV in a blur of deep reds, oranges, and stark gray granite. Julianna stared out at the crashing waves of the Atlantic, the very ocean that had been weaponized to hide a murder. She felt no hesitation now, only a cold, burning need to finish what her uncle had started and ensure that Richard's empire was dismantled down to its very foundation.
