Chapter 12 - The Federal Shadow-12
At 2:00 PM, we arrived at a neutral location—a high-rise federal building in downtown Raleigh.
Through a contact Thomas had listed in the back of his journal, I had arranged a meeting with Special Agent Marcus Vance of the FBI's Financial Crimes Division.
Agent Vance, a gray-haired man with sharp blue eyes and a methodical demeanor, sat across from us in a secure conference room. On the table between us lay Thomas's journal, the flat brass key, and the digital photographs I had taken of the blueprint and remodeling estimates.
"Your late husband was a remarkably cautious man, Mrs. Collins," Agent Vance said, turning the pages of the journal with gloved hands. "We’ve been building a case against Blackwood Securities and Claire Morrison for six years. We knew Miller had compiled a ledger detailing thirty years of judicial bribery and illegal land seizures, but we could never prove the location of the physical vault."
"The vault is under the furnace room in the Charlotte house," I said. "Claire bought the house through her shell buyers—the Hendersons—to get to that vault."
"And she kidnapped your son to get the key," Vance added, looking sternly at Daniel and Vanessa. "You two are lucky to be alive. Claire Morrison doesn't leave loose ends."
Daniel stepped forward, leaning his hands on the conference table. "Tell us what we need to do to put her away."
Vanessa looked at her husband, surprised by his sudden resolve, then looked at me. She stood up beside him. "I'll testify. I found the blueprints. I can prove Claire's firm was trying to access the property before the deed was even cleared."
Agent Vance smiled faintly. "Good. Because Claire doesn't know you escaped to Raleigh. She thinks you're still running scared in Charlotte. We're going to set up a sting."
The plan was simple yet dangerous. Daniel would call Claire from a monitored federal line, claiming he had stolen the key from my bag while I was asleep at a motel. He would offer to trade the key at the old timber mill on Route 9 in exchange for immunity and a cash payoff.
Daniel looked at me, his eyes filled with a desperate need for my approval. "Mom... is this okay with you?"
May you like
I walked over to him, adjusted his collar, and patted his cheek.
"It's time to clean up the mess, Daniel," I said softly. "Do it for your father."
