Chapter 9 - The Eviction at Dawn "My sister?" I choked out, stepping out from behind Alexander. "Clara is running the rehabilitation center on the north acreage. She has an active agricultural lease!"
TXT
"She had one," Rayburn replied, looking down at the gravelly floor. "Until twenty-four hours ago, when a private equity trust based out of Milwaukee executed an immediate accelerated default clause. They claim the lease was co-signed under Derek Sterling’s corporate umbrella."
TXT
Alexander took the folder from Rayburn's outstretched hands, flipping through the court-certified attachments. "Who signed the purchase authorization for the mezzanine debt?"
TXT
"Someone who doesn't use commercial banks," Rayburn muttered, pulling his collar against the damp draft. "The wire cleared through a private family trust. Apex Northern Capital."
My pulse hammered in my ears. Clara had spent two years rebuilding the family farm after our mother died, taking in rescue horses and providing outpatient therapy for domestic trauma survivors. She had stayed away from Chicago, away from Derek’s threats, believing she was finally safe.
TXT+ 1
Alexander closed the folder and tossed it into the front seat of the Maybach.
TXT
He turned toward Rayburn with an unreadable, lethal stare. "Why are you bringing this to me instead of collecting your consulting fee from Milwaukee?"
TXT
Rayburn swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Because I saw the signature on the third-party debt guarantee, Moretti. Derek was never the mastermind. He was just a dumb, greedy middleman with expensive taste."
TXT
"Whose name is on the guarantee, Rayburn?" Alexander demanded, his voice dropping into that dark, suffocating register that made the concrete walls feel tighter.
TXT
May you like
Rayburn took a step back toward his sedan, his voice cracking beneath sheer exhaustion.
"Julian Vance. Emily’s estranged uncle... and your late father’s former chief financial officer."
Related Stories
