Chapter 5 - The Web Tightens
Wade staggered out of the Sterling Tower like a dead man walking. The heat of the morning sun felt like fire on his skin.
"Wade! Wade, wait!" Brynn hurried behind him, her high heels clicking loudly against the marble pavement. "What are we going to do? Is it true? Is she really the head of Vanguard?"
Wade turned on her, his face contorted in rage. "You! This is your fault! You told me to kick her out! You told me she was weak!"
"My fault?!" Brynn yelled back, her eyes flashing. "You were the one boasting about how you owned everything! You lied to me! You told me you were a multi-millionaire! You’re nothing! You’re just a leech living off a rich girl's money!"
Before Wade could respond, three police cruisers pulled up to the curb, their lights flashing. Two officers stepped out, accompanied by an agent wearing a dark vest with the letters IRS Fraud Division printed across the back.
"Wade Marlowe?" the lead officer asked.
Wade backed away, his heart pounding against his ribs like a trapped bird. "Yes... what is this?"
"You are under arrest for corporate tax evasion, bank fraud, and grand larceny," the IRS agent announced, pulling out a set of handcuffs. "A forensic audit completed this morning by Vanguard Financial revealed that you embezzled over $2.4 million from state-guaranteed construction funds, transferring them to personal off-shore accounts and unapproved luxury purchases."
"No! That was corporate spending!" Wade screamed as the officer grabbed his arm and slammed him against the hood of the police cruiser. "My wife approved that!"
"Mrs. Montgomery-Marlowe’s legal team provided complete documentation showing that you forged her signature on twelve separate line-of-credit draw requests over the last eighteen months," the agent replied coldly. "You have the right to remain silent."
As the handcuffs clicked shut around Wade’s wrists, he looked up through the tinted glass windows of the Sterling Tower. High up on the 40th floor, standing behind the sweeping glass, was Celeste.
She was holding her baby in her arms, looking down at him with cold, detached indifference. She didn't look victorious; she looked like a sovereign who had simply cleared away a minor nuisance from her gates.
Brynn backed away slowly into the crowd of onlookers who had gathered to watch the dramatic arrest, trying to blend in. But two officers stepped into her path.
"Brynn Hollowell?"
Brynn froze. "I... I didn't do anything! I was just a consultant!"
"You are named as a co-conspirator in the grand larceny warrant regarding the unauthorized transfer of trust assets and intellectual property theft," the officer said, clicking a pair of cuffs around her wrists as well. "Come with us."
Within twenty minutes, the news broke across Charlotte’s local media outlets:
"FALL OF MARLOWE DEVELOPMENT: CEO ARRESTED FOR MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR FRAUD; SECRET HEIRESS EXPOSES FRAUDULENT EMPIRE."
Back at the Highway Motel, Lorraine Carrington sat on the edge of the bed, watching the news broadcast on the small television screen. When she saw her son being put into the back of a police car in handcuffs, she let out a blood-curdling shriek.
Seconds later, a heavy knock sounded at her motel room door.
Lorraine ran to open it, expecting a miracle. Instead, she was met by two uniformed process servers and a representative from the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office.
"Lorraine Carrington?" the process server asked.
"Yes! Yes! Help me! My son has been framed by his evil wife!"
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"You are being served with a civil lawsuit from the Montgomery Trust for intentional infliction of emotional distress, breach of caretaker duty, and theft," the process server said, shoving a thick stack of legal papers into her hands. "Furthermore, the local housing authority has issued a formal freeze on your personal pension accounts pending the recovery of stolen property."
Lorraine dropped the papers, her knees giving out as she collapsed onto the dirty carpet of the motel room, sobbing hysterically. She was alone, broke, and facing a wall of legal destruction she could never hope to escape.
