Chapter 8 - The Auditor's Leverage
Arthur Vance’s composed demeanor flickered for a fraction of a second—just enough for a micro-expression of genuine panic to cross his features before he forced his mask back into place.
"Camilla," Arthur said, his voice dropping an octave. "You have no jurisdiction in a family law custody dispute. This is a private domestic matter between a mother and her son."
"It stopped being a domestic matter the second your firm drafted an emergency custody petition using fabricated evidence purchased with embezzled funds from the Linwood corporate shell accounts," Camilla replied, walking right up to the foot of my bed. She didn't look at Arthur; she looked directly at me, her expression softening with an unexpected, fierce warmth. "You hold onto that baby, honey. Nobody is taking him anywhere tonight."
She turned back to face Arthur and Marcus Vance, pulling a thick set of printed documents from her briefcase and holding them out toward the corporate executive.
"Marcus," Camilla said, her voice crisp and authoritative. "Before you sign off on Caleb’s suspension, you might want to check page twelve of this forensic audit. Your own signature appears as a secondary beneficiary on the offshore account Beatrice used to fund her legal defense retainers—funds funneled directly from client escrow accounts at your firm."
Marcus’s face went completely ash-gray. He snatched the papers from Camilla’s hand, his eyes scanning the lines of numbers and signatures with mounting horror. "This... this is an internal bank routing number from five years ago. How did you—?"
"When you spend thirty years auditing people like Beatrice and her associates, you learn that corruption leaves a very distinct paper trail," Camilla interrupted smoothly. She turned her gaze back to Arthur Vance, who was now slowly backing toward the door. "So here is how this is going to play out. Arthur, you will call the family court judge right now, wake him up if you have to, and move to withdraw the interim custody petition with prejudice. Marcus, you will reinstate Caleb’s partnership candidacy in writing before midnight. And Beatrice..."
Camilla’s smile was thin and razor-sharp. "...Beatrice is currently spending her second night in a federal holding cell facing grand larceny and wire fraud indictments. She won't be filing any more paperwork anytime soon."
Arthur swallowed hard, his hand sliding slowly into his jacket pocket. "You're bluffing. You can't bypass the standard legal filings without a formal hearing."
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"Try me," Camilla said softly, pulling her own cell phone from her pocket and tapping the screen. "I have the United States District Attorney on an open encrypted line waiting for my signal to execute asset-seizure warrants on every single partner at your law firm, Arthur. Do you want to check my bluff?"
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