Chapter 25 - The Federal Injunction
By 3:00 AM, the perimeter of Maplewood Court was secured by a convoy of King County Sheriff cruisers and unmarked black Suburbans belonging to the Department of Justice.
Julian Montgomery and his two operatives had been cornered in my backyard, hands raised against the blinding glare of police searchlights. The concrete saw, the cellular jammer, and Julian’s encrypted satellite phone were cataloged as evidence right on my patio.
Sitting in the back of Marcus Vance’s SUV wrapped in an emergency wool blanket, I watched Julian being shoved into the back of a squad car in handcuffs. He caught my eye through the rear window, his expression stripped of all corporate poise, replaced by raw, venomous fury.
"He won't be getting bail," Marcus said, handing me a steaming paper cup of black coffee as he sat down beside me on the tailgate. "Not for attempted murder, home invasion, and domestic terrorism using military-grade electronic countermeasures."
"What about Arthur?" I asked, my voice raw from concrete dust. "And Eleanor?"
Marcus opened the waterproof Pelican case resting between us on the truck bed. Inside lay the green leather ledger, the sovereign land patents, and a stack of signed, notarized agreements bearing Arthur Montgomery and Eleanor Vance’s signatures from August 1989.
"This is the holy grail of financial fraud," Marcus murmured, carefully turning a page with gloved hands. "Arthur Montgomery used offshore shell companies registered in the Cayman Islands to transfer undeclared profits into Maplewood Court’s initial land trust. Eleanor was his straw buyer. When your father refused to sign the revised development rider in 2007, Eleanor forged his consent."
"My father didn't die in an accident, Marcus," I said quietly, looking up at him. "He was driving to the federal courthouse in Seattle with these exact documents when his brake lines failed on Highway 101."
Marcus’s jaw tightened. "The King County prosecutor has already reopened the 2007 vehicular fatality file. Arthur thought his political connections in Olympia would shield him forever. But these documents bypass state courts entirely. This is federal racketeering under the RICO Act."
His phone buzzed on his belt. Marcus checked the caller ID and answered, putting it on speaker.
"Vance here."
"Marcus, it’s Assistant U.S. Attorney Hayes," a sharp female voice sounded from the receiver. "We’ve just executed the emergency freeze on all liquid accounts belonging to Montgomery Pacific Holdings and the Eleanor Vance Family Trust. The Japanese consortium pulled their acquisition tender twenty minutes ago after our emergency filing hit the SEC docket."
"And Arthur Montgomery?" Marcus asked.
"He’s currently barricaded in his penthouse at the Montgomery Tower downtown," Hayes replied. "His private jet at Boeing Field has been grounded by federal marshals. But Marcus... Eleanor Vance just checked into the lobby of Montgomery Tower ten minutes ago. She’s up there with him."
I looked at Marcus, setting the coffee cup aside.
May you like
"She thinks Arthur is going to protect her," I said. "She still thinks they’re in this together."
"Then she’s walking into an execution," Marcus said grimly, standing up. "Arthur Montgomery has never left a loose end alive in forty years."
