Chapter 6
Arthur dropped the soggy envelope onto the minimalist console table in the entryway. The thud was heavy, weighted with documents that neither Julian nor Helen wanted to see. Julian stepped forward, his fists clenched at his sides, his voice dropping into a dangerous baritone. "You shouldn't be here, Arthur. We had an agreement. You take your severance, and you stay out of the district until the civil suits are settled." Arthur let out a dry, humorless laugh that ended in a wet cough. He reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a crumpled pack of cigarettes before remembering he was inside, and stuffing them back away.
"Agreements don't mean much when the district attorney's office starts freezing personal assets," Arthur said, looking directly at Helen. His gaze was sharp, carrying a mixture of pity and warning. "Mrs. Vance—Helen—do you actually know what your husband used your signature for? It wasn't just offshore accounts in the Caymans. He used your personal trust to buy land in Nevada that was already zoned as a federal toxic waste dump. When the EPA traces the title, your name is going to be at the top of the criminal indictment." Helen felt the room tilt slightly on its axis. She looked at Julian, whose face had gone completely bloodless in the dim light of the hallway.
Julian stepped between them, his voice rising in desperation. "Arthur is lying, Helen. He's trying to cut a deal with the prosecutors by shifting the blame onto us. I bought that land to develop a green-energy park. The zoning issues were supposed to be cleared by the state legislature last spring." Arthur sneered, shaking his head slowly. "Green energy? Julian, you couldn't even green the grass on your own trampoline. You bought worthless dirt with stolen money to hide embezzlement from the primary investors. And Helen was the legal owner of record because you didn't want your own credit rating flagged."
