The Sterling Ledger

Three weeks after the fall of the Sterling syndicate, the sun finally broke through the heavy rain clouds that had blanketed the city for over a month. The morning light poured through the tall glass windows of my newly renovated office at the state attorney general’s financial crimes division.

My promotion to senior lead forensic investigator had been officially signed and sealed by the governor’s office three days prior. My old desk was gone, replaced by a spacious corner office overlooking the sweeping plaza downtown.

The state media had dubbed the scandal 'The Sterling Ledger Affair,' a sweeping multi-agency corruption sweep that resulted in the indictments of thirty-four corporate executives, twelve corrupt judges, five state senators, and both Daniel and Claire Sterling.

Because of her full cooperation in dismantling the inner layers of the political bribery network after her arrest, Claire’s federal prosecutors offered a plea deal: twelve years in a minimum-security federal correctional facility in upstate New York, with parole eligibility after eight.

Daniel Sterling, facing mounting evidence of racketeering, pension embezzlement, and obstruction of justice, accepted a plea of twenty-five years without parole.

There were no victors in our family—only survivors.

My phone rang on my mahogany desk. I picked up the receiver.

'Maya Miller speaking,'

'Hey, Maya,' Ethan Hayes’s voice came through, warm and relaxed. 'Are you taking a lunch break today, or are you buried in another three-thousand-page corporate audit?'

'I’m actually staring at a completely clean desk for the first time in five years, Ethan,' I smiled, leaning back in my leather chair. 'So yes, lunch sounds wonderful.'

'Great. The little Italian place on Fifth Street. Twenty minutes.'

'See you there.'

I hung up, locked my leather briefcase containing my personal files, and walked out of my office, pausing for a moment to look at the city skyline stretching endlessly into the bright, unobstructed horizon.