Chapter 13 - The Hidden Ledger
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Back at the law firm, Declan plugged the flash drive Cleo had provided into a secure, air-gapped terminal.
For the next four hours, Declan and his senior forensic accountants combed through the encrypted files. What they uncovered was far bigger than just a messy divorce or a failed real estate contract.
It was a systematic roadmap of corporate racketeering spanning over a decade.
“Look at these ledger entries,” Declan pointed at the screen, his voice filled with intense focus.
“Every time Sterling Apex acquired a property upstate through forced sales, a parallel transfer was made from their primary offshore account in Nevis to an entity called ‘S.V. Consulting Services.’”
“Silas Vance,” I murmured, reading the initials.
“Exactly,” Declan said, zooming in on the dates.
“And look at the date on this specific transfer: October 14th, eight years ago. That’s the exact week my grandfather was hospitalized after his farm was vandalized.”
The wire transfer amount was $150,000, categorized under corporate expenses as “Environmental Remediation.”
“They paid Silas a hundred and fifty grand to destroy my family’s greenhouse and terrorize my grandparents,” Declan said, his fist clenching so hard his knuckles turned white.
“It’s all here. The paper trail directly links Richard Sterling’s personal signature to payments made to Silas for criminal enforcement.”
“Is this enough to arrest Richard?” I asked.
“It’s enough to indict the entire senior board under the RICO Act,” Declan confirmed, looking up at me with a fierce, triumphant expression.
“Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations. The federal government can freeze every single asset owned by Sterling Apex, including their personal bank accounts, properties, and vehicles, before the trial even begins.”
At that exact moment, Declan’s desk phone rang. He pressed the speaker button.
“Declan, it’s Detective Rivera from the NYPD task force,” a deep voice announced over the line.
“We just executed a arrest warrant for Jax Miller—the guy who cut Sloane’s brake lines. We caught him trying to board a private flight to Cabo at Teterboro Airport.”
I let out a breathless gasp, gripping the edge of the desk.
“Did he talk?” Declan demanded immediately.
“He cracked the second we showed him the federal conspiracy charges,” Rivera replied over the speaker.
“Jax gave us Silas. And Silas... well, Silas just flipped on Richard Sterling to save himself from a life sentence for attempted murder.”
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The room went completely silent.
The house of cards wasn’t just shaking anymore. It was tumbling to the ground in real-time.
