Chapter 3 - WHAT MAYA REMEMBEREDThat afternoon, Arthur called his attorney, Daniel Reeves.
Daniel arrived carrying two laptops and enough files to cover the dining table.
“This is bigger than I thought,” Daniel said.
“How big?”
“If these records are authentic, somebody has been moving money for years.”
“Through my company?”
“Partially.”
Arthur leaned back.
“Why?”
“To make legitimate revenue look connected to legitimate construction projects.”
Arthur understood immediately.
“Money laundering.”
“Potentially.”
Maya entered with coffee.
The moment she saw one document, she stopped.
Arthur noticed.
“What is it?”
Maya pointed toward a photograph attached to the Harbor Street property records.
“I’ve seen that building.”
Daniel looked up.
“When?”
Maya frowned.
“Mrs. Victoria took me there once.”
Arthur stared at her.
“Victoria?”
“About eight months ago.”
“Why?”
“She said she needed help carrying boxes.”
Daniel immediately closed his laptop.
“What boxes?”
“Documents, I think.”
Maya tried to remember.
“There were maybe six.”
“Did you see anything written on them?”
Maya closed her eyes.
Then opened them.
“Sterling.”
Arthur’s stomach tightened.
“What?”
“Some boxes had your company name.”
Daniel and Arthur exchanged a look.
Arthur asked, “What happened to them?”
“Two men carried them downstairs.”
“Downstairs?”
“There was a basement.”
City plans showed no basement.
Daniel turned his laptop around.
“Are you sure?”
Maya pointed toward the rear section of the warehouse.
“There was a metal door here.”
Arthur stood.
“We’re going.”
Daniel immediately shook his head.
“No.”
“Daniel—”
“If Marcus warned you, Charles may already know.”
“Then we move before he clears it.”
Daniel considered that.
Finally he sighed.
“I’m calling a private investigator.”
Arthur nodded.
“Call Rachel.”
Rachel Bennett had handled corporate investigations for Sterling Development for seven years.
Former federal investigator.
Impossible to intimidate.
Forty minutes later, she arrived.
By sunset, Arthur, Daniel, and Rachel were parked across from Harbor Street.
The warehouse appeared abandoned.
Broken windows.
Rusting fence.
No lights.
Rachel studied it through binoculars.
“Someone’s inside.”
Arthur looked.
“Where?”
“Second floor.”
A faint light disappeared.
Then came the sound of an engine.
A van pulled from behind the building.
Rachel photographed the license plate.
Daniel whispered, “They’re moving something.”
Arthur reached for the door.
Rachel stopped him.
“Don’t.”
“They could be destroying evidence.”
“And if you walk in there, they could accuse you of trespassing or worse.”
Arthur clenched his jaw.
Rachel raised her camera again.
A second vehicle emerged.
Then a third.
Each carrying boxes.
Arthur recognized the logo printed on one.
Sterling Development.
His company.
Rachel kept taking photographs.
Then Arthur’s phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
He opened the message.
A photograph appeared.
It showed Maya standing inside Arthur’s kitchen.
Taken less than five minutes earlier.
Underneath were seven words.
STOP DIGGING OR SHE PAYS FOR IT.
May you like
Arthur’s blood went cold.
Someone was watching his house.
