Chapter 17 - Setting the Bait
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Six months passed. Life settled into a wonderful, blissful routine.
The construction of the Claire Dawson Sloane Children's Center was progressing ahead of schedule. The triplets were growing rapidly, filling our home with endless laughter, tiny footsteps, and chaotic joy. Daniel Price and Sarah Mercer had both been convicted in federal court, sentenced to lengthy prison terms without the possibility of parole.
One Friday evening, I was sitting in my private home office, reviewing the quarterly financial audits for our international holdings.
My phone rang. It was Detective Elena Ruiz.
"Mason," Ruiz said, her tone unusually sharp and guarded. "I'm calling from the precinct. We just intercepted a package sent to Daniel Price's prison cell from an offshore account in Zurich."
I frowned, leaning back in my leather chair. "A package? Daniel is serving thirty years. Who is sending him mail from Switzerland?"
"That's the strange part," Ruiz said. "The package contained a cashier's check for two million dollars, drawn from a dummy corporation named Vance Global Holdings."
I paused, searching my memory. "Vance Global? I've never heard of them. Why would an offshore company send two million dollars to a convicted felon?"
"Because of the note inside the envelope," Ruiz replied quietly.
"What did the note say?"
"It said: 'Thank you for keeping our name out of the Decatur investigation. Your family will be taken care of.'"
May you like
A cold, familiar chill began to creep back into my chest. "Ruiz... are you saying Daniel wasn't working alone?"
"I'm saying Daniel Price was just a foot soldier, Mason," Ruiz warned softly. "Someone else financed his return to Atlanta. Someone much bigger than Daniel."
