Chapter 30 - The Shadow Behind the Curtain
Marcus opened the black binder, sliding several crime-scene photographs across the oak table.
"Tori wasn't working alone," Marcus said bluntly.
Caleb leaned forward, staring at the pictures. "What do you mean? We thought Brenda was her only accomplice."
"Brenda was just the idiot who stamped the paper," Marcus said. "In the storage locker, the police found twenty-two counterfeit credit card blanks, an embossing machine, and high-end photographic equipment used for manufacturing fake state IDs. But more importantly, they found correspondence."
"Correspondence with whom?" Patrice asked, leaning in.
"A man named Julian Vance," Marcus replied. "Brenda’s older brother. Julian served four years in federal prison for real estate deed fraud in Florida before moving to Chicago two years ago. He was the architect. Tori didn't get scammed by an online crypto broker, Caleb. Julian Vance was running the entire operation from an apartment in Oak Park. Tori was laundering equity through him, taking a thirty-percent cut, while Julian funneled the rest into offshore accounts."
Caleb looked sick to his stomach. "She... she was having an affair with him?"
"Worse," Marcus said. "She was his partner. And when the bridge loan fell through and the default notice was triggered, Julian realized the heat was coming down. He didn't flee to Dubai, Caleb. Tori had a ticket, but Julian's name wasn't on that flight."
"Where is Julian Vance right now?" I asked, a sudden chill creeping down my neck.
"That's why I'm here tonight, Myrna," Marcus said quietly, closing the binder. "Detective Kowalski went to arrest Julian at his apartment three hours ago. The door was kicked open from the inside. The apartment was stripped clean. Julian is in the wind."
"And Tori?" Caleb asked, his voice shaking.
"Tori was released on bail at five o'clock," Marcus said. "Her father drove her back to that motel on Route 59. But when Detective Kowalski checked on her an hour ago to serve an additional federal conspiracy warrant... her room was empty. The window was unlatched. She had cut off her ankle monitor and left it sitting in the toilet bowl."
Silence fell over the dining room.
May you like
The house was dead quiet. Upstairs, the faint, steady breathing of four sleeping children was the only sound in the world.
***
