Chapter 10 - Unearthing the Final Betrayal
While the deputies escorted Eleanor into the guest suite to oversee her packing—allowing her only a single canvas duffel bag and confiscating every piece of jewelry from her vanity—Agent Miller led Daniel into the study to supervise the recovery of corporate electronic devices.
Claire remained in the grand salon with Evelyn Vance and Harrison.
"The federal freeze is holding," Harrison whispered, tapping on his encrypted tablet. "Daniel’s personal accounts are zeroed out pending the restitution hearing. But Claire, there’s an anomaly."
Claire frowned, leaning closer to the screen. "What kind of anomaly?"
"The transaction history from two nights ago," Harrison said, his brow furrowing deeply. "At 2:14 AM on Tuesday—the night before you discovered your mother on the bathroom floor—Daniel executed an automated wire transfer of four point two million dollars out of Bennett Foundry's secondary escrow account."
Claire’s eyes narrowed. "I thought you said all Bennett accounts were frozen under the master trust."
"This was an older routing number," Evelyn explained, adjusting her glasses. "An account Thomas established in 2008 for international supply chains. Daniel must have discovered the dormant routing protocol in your father’s archived tax filings. The wire cleared before our lis pendens was registered."
"Where did the four point two million go?" Claire demanded.
Harrison scrolled through the encrypted clearinghouse codes. His eyes widened slightly as the recipient institution appeared on the ledger.
"It wasn't sent to an offshore shell company," Harrison said quietly, glancing toward the study where Daniel was being monitored. "It was transferred to a private legal trust account registered under the name *Vane & Montgomery LLC* in Wilmington, Delaware."
Claire felt a cold shiver run down the back of her neck. "Who owns Vane & Montgomery?"
"It’s a retainer trust," Evelyn murmured, her legal instincts instantly alerting her to danger. "A defense retainer. Daniel didn't just plan an exit scam, Claire. You only put four million dollars in an irrevocable legal escrow if you know an indictment is coming... or if you are paying off someone who has leverage over you."
At that moment, the study door flew open.
Agent Miller rushed out into the hallway, his face grim. Behind him, the junior deputy had his hand on his holstered firearm.
"Where is he?" Claire asked, her heart slamming against her ribs.
"He went through the service corridor," Agent Miller snapped, pressing his radio transmitter. "Command, this is Miller! Subject Daniel Whitmore has breached the secondary service elevator via the utility closet! Lock down all subterranean exits on the 71st Street ramp immediately!"
Daniel had not been packing clothes. While the deputies were watching Eleanor, Daniel had used a hidden access panel behind the mahogany bookshelf—a panel designed for fire maintenance that led directly into the building's freight elevator shaft.
"What did he take from that study, Agent Miller?" Claire asked, stepping toward the open door.
May you like
Agent Miller pointed to the floor of the private office. The master safe was open, its metal door swinging loose. But the bearer bonds and currency bundles were still sitting on the shelves untouched.
The only thing missing was Thomas Bennett’s leather-bound journal, which Claire had brought back from the bank and placed on the desk an hour earlier.
