Chapter 5 - The Midnight Break-In
The rain began to fall around 8:00 p.m., a torrential Texas downpour that masked the sound of Evelyn’s tires as she pulled into the overgrown lot of St. Jude’s Church. The gothic structure loomed against the dark sky like a rotting monument to forgotten sins.
Armed with a heavy flashlight, a crowbar, and the tiny brass key, Evelyn slipped through a broken stained-glass window. The interior smelled of mold, damp wood, and old incense. Her flashlight beam cut through the darkness, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air.
She found the stairs leading to the basement behind the ruined altar. The wooden steps groaned under her weight, each sound amplified in the cavernous silence. At the bottom of the stairs was a heavy steel door, secured with a modern electronic keypad lock.
Evelyn cursed silently. The brass key wasn't for this door. She examined the keypad. It was a high-end security system, but it had a vulnerability—the worn keys. Under her flashlight, she could see slight smudges on the numbers 2, 4, 7, and 9.
"Come on, Richard," she whispered to herself. "You're a creature of habit."
She tried the birth year of their deceased brother, Arthur: 1-9-7-4. The keypad beeped red. Access Denied.
She tried the date of Arthur's death: 0-7-2-4. Access Denied.
The clock on her watch read 10:15 p.m. Time was slipping away like sand. She closed her eyes, thinking back to their childhood. Richard had always been obsessed with his own grandeur. What was his favorite number? His old football jersey? No, he was arrogant. He would use the statutes of his biggest legal victory.
She took a gamble and entered the case file number of the Gavin Cole conviction, a number she had memorized from the appellate briefs: 7-4-2-9.
Click. The lock disengaged with a heavy, mechanical thud.
Evelyn pushed the door open. Inside was not a dusty church basement, but a pristine, climate-controlled office setup. In the center of the room stood a massive, old-fashioned Swiss iron safe.
She stepped forward, her heart hammering. She inserted the tiny brass key into the lock underneath the main dial. It fit perfectly. With a smooth twist, the internal gears clicked. She turned the dial to the combination she found written on a sticky note inside the back cover of Arthur’s old planner she carried in her bag.
The heavy door swung open. Inside lay stacks of neatly bound ledgers, hundreds of thousands of dollars in illicit cash, and a digital drive labeled: Vance Shipping / Port Authority Transactions.
May you like
She opened the top ledger. As she scanned the pages, the horrifying truth came to light. Arthur Vance hadn't been killed over a personal dispute with Gavin. Arthur had discovered that Richard and Judge Sterling were using Vance Shipping to smuggle contraband and launder millions in cartel money through corrupt court forfeitures. Gavin Cole had been chosen as the perfect scapegoat because he was a quiet, independent contractor who had access to the wharf offices.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed from the stairs above.
