Chapter 5 - A Traitor in the Ranks
Victoria entered our home, looking around with a mix of sorrow and fierce resolve. She hadn't spoken to Ryan in over five years, driven away by Arthur’s relentless legal maneuvers and character assassination during their bitter divorce.
"I tried to warn you about him, Ryan," Victoria said, setting the leather briefcase down on the dining table. "Arthur is a narcissist who views people as assets or liabilities. When I realized he was moving funds out of the family foundation, he used my past struggles with depression to strip me of my parental rights and reputation."
"Why didn't you push harder?" Ryan asked, his tone hurt but open.
"Because I was alone, and he controlled every judge and lawyer in the state," Victoria replied, her eyes glistening. "But I never stopped gathering evidence. I knew one day his ambition would override his caution. When I heard what he did to little Sophie..." Her hands trembled into fists. "...I knew I had to give you the missing piece of the puzzle."
She opened the briefcase, revealing a series of encrypted thumb drives and certified bank statements from offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands.
"Arthur didn't act alone," Victoria explained, pulling out a document highlighted in yellow. "He had a partner inside the district attorney's office. Someone who has been quashing complaints against him for over a decade. That’s why your report to local police almost got buried yesterday."
Ryan leaned over the documents, his eyes widening. "Assistant District Attorney Marcus Vance... my cousin."
"Yes," Victoria nodded. "Marcus was filing altered police reports whenever complaints were made about Arthur’s property dealings or business practices. That’s why Arthur felt invincible. He had a web protecting him. But they didn't account for you bypassing local law enforcement and filing directly with the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
Just then, Ryan’s phone chimed with an urgent email alert. It was a formal summons from the State Attorney General’s Office. Marcus Vance had just issued an emergency gag order attempting to seize all digital evidence collected from Melissa's apartment, claiming it was "corrupted and unverified."
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"He’s panicking," Ryan said, a cold smile touching his lips. "They know the federal authorities are stepping in, so they’re trying to destroy the evidence before tomorrow morning's grand jury hearing."
"Not if we strike first," I said, joining them at the table. "We have the original files backed up on three secure cloud servers. Let Marcus try to issue a gag order. We’re taking this straight to the federal prosecutor tonight."
