Chapter 6 - The Federal StrikeBy six o'clock that evening, the federal strike against Vale Meridian Holdings was in full swing.

While Adrian and Celeste sat in separate holding cells at the central federal detention facility, teams of FBI and IRS agents raided the corporate headquarters downtown. Computers were seized, servers mirrored, and mountain loads of paper files loaded into black vans.

I sat in an office at the Department of Justice, wearing a comfortable sweater and jeans, working alongside Agent Marcus and the forensic accounting team.

My laptop was hooked directly into the federal database.

“Look at this line, Marcus,” I pointed to a spreadsheet on my screen. “This is the secondary layer of shell companies Adrian opened under my name six months ago. He was using a bank in Panama to wash twenty million dollars of stolen pension funds from Vale Meridian’s manufacturing division.”

Agent Marcus whistled, leaning over my shoulder. “He was setting you up to take a twenty-year federal prison sentence.”

“He thought because I was an accountant, I would be easy to frame,” I said, pulling up another file. “He didn't realize that a forensic accountant knows how to follow the money back to the person who actually signed the wire transfers.”

The door opened, and Victoria walked in carrying two cups of hot coffee.

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“The judge just finished the initial bail hearing,” Victoria announced with a sharp smile. “Given the flight risk, the severity of the human trafficking charges involving Clara, and the mountain of financial fraud evidence, bail has been DENIED for both Adrian and Celeste.”

I took a slow sip of coffee, feeling the last remnants of fear evaporate from my chest.