Chapter 5 - The Fall of the Accomplice
While Barrett Hayes was signing away his freedom in a jail visitation room, Taryn Vance was discovering that the world of the fallen was far colder than she had ever imagined.
Released on a fifty-thousand-dollar bond secured by her elderly aunt, Taryn arrived at her Soho apartment at three o'clock that afternoon, desperate to retrieve her passport, her designer handbags, and her jewelry before the court proceedings escalated.
When her taxi pulled up to the cobblestone street in Soho, she found two official county sheriff vehicles parked outside her building's cast-iron entrance.
Her key card didn't work at the door.
A tall, sharp-looking female deputy stepped out from the lobby, holding a clipboard and a court-ordered seizure warrant.
"Taryn Vance?" the deputy asked.
"Yes! What is going on?!" Taryn shouted, her voice shrill with panic. "This is my building! I live on the fourth floor!"
"Not anymore, Miss Vance," the deputy replied coldly. "Under Civil Order 882, issued by the Supreme Court of New York, this property, along with all contents inside, has been placed under emergency asset freeze due to active corporate embezzlement and grand larceny charges filed by Romano-Hayes Design."
"You can't freeze my clothes!" Taryn shrieked. "My clothes aren't corporate assets!"
"They were purchased using checks drawn from the Romano-Hayes operating account between March and November of this year," a quiet, elegant voice spoke from behind her.
Taryn turned around sharply.
Miriam Cross stepped out of a sleek black town car, wearing a pristine beige trench coat and leather gloves. She looked at Taryn as if she were a dirty smudge on a marble floor.
"Miriam..." Taryn gasped, backing away an inch. "Please... talk to Mallory! We were friends! We were roommates in college! I was her maid of honor!"
"Which makes your betrayal all the more repulsive, Miss Vance," Miriam said calmly. "I have just filed formal disbarment and professional ethics complaints with the American Society of Interior Designers. Your professional architectural license has been temporarily suspended pending criminal trial."
"You're ruining my life!" Taryn wept, pulling at her hair. "I have no money! The bank froze my debit cards! I can't even get a hotel room!"
"Then I suggest you call your family in Ohio," Miriam offered smoothly. "Though I should inform you that your father's accounting firm is currently undergoing a full federal tax audit due to his involvement in processing the fraudulent shell transfers for Vance Luxury Holdings."
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Taryn dropped to her knees on the cold Soho pavement, sobbing hysterically as bystanders pulled out their phones to record the disgraced designer weeping outside her padlocked luxury building.
Miriam did not offer a handkerchief. She simply turned, stepped back into her town car, and pulled away, leaving Taryn to drown in the ruin she had built with her own greed.
