Chapter 15 - The Vanguard Connection
Arthur Vance slid into the vinyl booth across from Evie and Thorne, ordering a black coffee from the terrified waitress. He looked at Evie, his eyes filled with a profound, melancholic sadness.
"I tried to warn you, Evelyn," Arthur said softly, his voice thick with regret. "When you were ten years old, I told you that your father was a dangerous, hollow man. Richard banned me from the estate the very next day. He told you I was a drunken lunatic. But I was just the only person in the family who refused to ignore his corruption."
"You said grandmother kept a ledger," Evie interrupted, unwilling to delve into painful childhood memories while her parents were currently orchestrating their legal escape. "Where is it?"
"Eleanor was brilliant, but she was also incredibly paranoid," Arthur explained, leaning closer. "She didn't trust digital files, and she certainly didn't trust safety deposit boxes. She believed physical evidence had to be guarded by the very people it condemned. She hid the master ledger inside the walls of the Vance estate."
Thorne frowned heavily, crossing his arms over his chest. "Arthur, the Vance estate is currently a smoldering pile of toxic ash. The fire burned for six hours. The roof collapsed. The interior was completely gutted. If there was a paper ledger hidden in the walls, it’s nothing but carbon dust now."
"Eleanor wouldn't put paper in a wall," Arthur smirked, a brief flash of rebellious pride in his eyes. "She used an aviation-grade titanium black box. The kind they use to record flight data on commercial airplanes. It can withstand temperatures up to three thousand degrees Fahrenheit for an hour. The fire wouldn't have even melted the paint."
Evie sat up straighter, a new surge of adrenaline fighting through her sheer exhaustion. "If we find that black box, it has the financial records of his embezzlement. It will show exactly when and how he paid Vanguard for the hit."
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"Exactly," Arthur confirmed. "But there is a catch. Vanguard knows about the ledger. Richard has been using it as leverage for years, threatening to expose their local money laundering operations if they ever came after him. If Vanguard figures out Silas failed to kill you tonight, their next move won't be an assassination. It will be a salvage operation. They will send a crew to the burned estate to find that black box before the police do."
Thorne stood up, pulling his service weapon from its holster and checking the magazine. "Then we better get to the ashes before the cartel does."
