Chapter 3 - Blood on the Balance Sheet
Detective Ruiz didn't knock when he arrived at the precinct interview room later that afternoon; he walked straight in like a man who owned the building, carrying a manila folder stuffed with bank statements.
“Miss Bennett, Mr. Sterling,” Ruiz greeted us, nodding respectfully. He pulled out a metal chair and sat across the steel table. “I watched the security footage from your father’s dining room three times. Your brother’s lawyer is trying to claim self-defense. He says Daniel lunged at him first.”
Daniel let out a dry, humorless chuckle, adjusting his collar. “I was holding a napkin. Victor was holding a bottle of twenty-year scotch. Unless my napkin was lethal, Detective, that defense is going to get laughed out of a municipal court, let alone a felony trial.”
“Oh, it’s already getting laughed at,” Ruiz said, opening the folder and sliding a stack of printed emails across the table. “Especially since the financial crimes division took a look at the ledger entries Claire provided this morning. Your brother didn't just smash a bottle over a rejected investment. He was panicking because Daniel was about to discover where the missing four million dollars from the municipal bridge project went.”
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the cold steel table. “Is Victor in custody?”
“Not yet,” Ruiz admitted, running a hand over his stubbled jaw. “He skipped town right after the payroll bounced. Our intelligence units tracked his burner phone to a private airstrip in New Jersey. But his corporate jets have been grounded by the FAA due to your asset freeze.”
“He’s trapped,” I said quietly.
“Like a rat in a burning warehouse,” Ruiz agreed. “Which makes him dangerous. Your father is currently holding a press conference on the steps of City Hall, claiming this is a malicious corporate conspiracy led by vengeful outsiders.”
I scoffed, shaking my head. “My father is delusional. He thinks if he shouts loud enough, reality will bend to his will. It’s how he ran our household for thirty years.”
“Well, reality is about to hit him like a freight train,” Ruiz said, sliding another document toward us. “The district attorney just signed off on search warrants for the Bennett family trust. Every offshore account, every hidden shell company, every luxury vehicle registered under corporate names—it’s all being seized under the RICO act.”
Daniel looked at me, his eyes softening slightly beneath the fluorescent lights of the precinct room. “You knew this would trigger the RICO investigation when you called the emergency line, didn't you?”
“I knew the moment Victor picked up that bottle that there was no going back,” I answered honestly. “My family built an empire on intimidation, bribery, and silencing anyone who got in their way. I didn't start this war, Daniel. I just finished it.”
Just then, the door swung open, and an anxious junior detective rushed in, holding a ringing landline receiver toward Ruiz.
“Captain, you need to take this. It’s the U.S. Marshals. They just raided the Bennett country club estate.”
Ruiz grabbed the phone, listening intently as the color drained from his face. He slowly lowered the receiver and looked straight at me.
“Miss Bennett... your father just tried to burn down his own mansion to destroy the physical audit records.”
My breath caught in my throat. As much as I despised Richard Bennett, the sheer madness of his actions sent a chilling shockwave through my spine.
“Did they stop him?” I asked.
May you like
“The fire department got there just in time,” Ruiz said grimly. “Your father is in handcuffs. And your brother... your brother just posted a video online threatening to release every dirty secret our family has buried for the last two decades unless we drop all charges.”
I pulled out my phone, opened social media, and watched as Victor’s panicked face glared back at me from millions of screens nationwide.
