Chapter 9 - The Tiger by the Tail
Daniel snapped the folder shut. The sound echoed like a gunshot in the silent hallway.
He turned toward me, his dark eyes ablaze with an icy, lethal focus. "Rebecca, call the managing partners at my firm. Wake up our senior litigation team. I want emergency ex parte injunction papers drawn up for the Westchester Supreme Court by six a.m."
"Already texted them, Mr. Vance," Rebecca replied crisply. "They're assembling in the conference room in Manhattan right now."
"Wait," I said, putting my hand on Daniel’s arm.
Daniel looked down at me, surprised. "Emily, this is criminal conspiracy. We have enough evidence to put Marcus Kane, your mother, and Vanessa behind bars for ten to fifteen years. We can crush them before the sun comes up."
"I know we can," I said, my voice dropping into a deadly, composed cadence. "And we will. But not by hiding behind an emergency injunction."
I looked down at the forged power of attorney. The clumsy forgery of my name sat right beside Patricia’s neat, arrogant cursive.
"Kane thinks he bought a cowardly little sister who would roll over and cry," I continued, a cold smile touching my lips. "He thinks Patricia and Vanessa are his secret weapon. What he doesn't know is that the commercial deed on the White Plains building was transferred into a blind family trust three months ago as part of our prenuptial restructuring."
Daniel blinked, then a slow, wicked grin spread across his face. "The trust that requires both of our dual-biometric authorizations to execute any encumbrance."
"Exactly," I said. "Which means the mortgage Patricia signed is legally void from the moment it was stamped. But Marcus Kane doesn't know that. He just transferred six hundred thousand dollars of his firm's capital into an escrow account tied to my corporate Tax ID."
Rebecca let out a low whistle. "He funded your escrow account with non-refundable capital under a fraudulent contract."
"He stole from his own investors to bankrupt me," I said. "And tomorrow morning, instead of flying to St. Barts, Daniel and I are going to pay Mr. Marcus Kane a personal visit in his Fifth Avenue penthouse."
"And your mother and sister?" Daniel asked softly.
"They made their bed, Daniel," I said, without a trace of remorse. "Tomorrow, they're going to sleep in it. In a holding cell."
Just as the words left my mouth, the sound of raised voices echoed from the main lobby downstairs.
Heavy footsteps pounded up the grand marble staircase. Julian Hawthorne appeared at the end of the hall, flanked by two private security officers. His face was pale, his tie loosened.
"Emily, Daniel," Julian said hurriedly, out of breath. "You need to come downstairs right now."
"Julian, what happened?" Daniel asked, stepping forward.
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"The county sheriffs processed Vanessa at the local precinct forty minutes ago," Julian explained, glancing nervously over his shoulder. "Patricia posted her bail using a private bond guarantee. They didn't leave town. They just drove back through the service gate with Marcus Kane and three private security guards of their own."
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