Chapter 8 - THE VALE MONEY
Financial investigators traced the wallet.
Nine million dollars.
Not all stolen.
That mattered.
Roughly:
$3.4 million could be tied to legitimate post-fund investments.
$2.1 million came from distributions that should have remained available to Vale Meridian creditors.
The rest was disputed.
Enough to make Spencer look terrible.
Not enough to prove every accusation Mason believed.
Ryan confronted him.
Spencer said:
“My attorneys structured those transfers.”
“Legal?”
“At the time.”
“Ethical?”
Spencer smiled without humor.
“That’s not your department.”
Ryan disliked him instantly.
Then federal financial investigators joined.
Spencer’s attorneys became less talkative.
Daniel gave them system logs.
Emma watched him cooperate.
Then asked afterward:
“Would you have told anyone if Leo hadn’t been taken?”
Daniel did not answer quickly.
That was answer enough.
“I would have pushed Spencer.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
She stared.
Daniel was not corrupt.
But he liked being the competent person powerful clients trusted.
He liked confidential rooms.
Important secrets.
He had let that identity become excuse.
Then Ryan received a message.
Unknown number.
Video.
Mason Burke.
Face visible now.
He looked exhausted.
“I took the wrong kid.”
Then:
“That’s on me.”
No apology could fix it.
Then Mason held up a small drive.
“But Vale still has the money.”
He gave Spencer six hours to move the wallet into a restitution account.
Otherwise:
Mason would release financial evidence publicly.
Ryan frowned.
No threat to a child.
Mason’s plan had changed.
Kidnapping had failed.
Now he wanted exposure.
Then he added:
“If police come for me before the transfer, everything gets deleted.”
Ryan smiled slightly.
May you like
Criminals loved believing deletion was magic.
Usually, it wasn’t.
