Chapter 9 - The Ghost Manifest
Julian dangled fifty feet above the concrete machinery pit, his breath coming in ragged, terrified gasps as Victor’s grip on his lapels remained unyielding. Below, Marcus held up the satellite phone, the tiny screen illuminating the damp air.
""Speak to your mother, Julian,"" Victor commanded, his arm not shaking an inch despite the dead weight. ""It's the last time you'll hear her voice.""
On the screen, Evelyn Vance sat in the back of an unmarked black SUV, her manicured appearance entirely unraveled. Two federal marshals flanking her were checking the seals on a pair of heavy iron transport cuffs.
""Julian?"" Evelyn's voice crackled through the phone's speaker, shrill and frantic. ""Julian, where are you? They intercepted the offshore transfers! The IRS seized the Cayman trusts—they know about the kickbacks from the shipping docks! Tell them it was all you! Tell them I had nothing to do with the pharmaceutical orders!""
Julian stared down at the screen, his face draining of whatever humanity remained. Even cornered in the back of a federal van, facing thirty years for corporate treason and attempted murder, she was still offering him up as the sacrificial lamb.
""She... she's blaming me,"" Julian whispered, the fight completely draining from his limbs. ""She signed the checks, Victor. She contacted the Swiss broker.""
""I know,"" Victor said softly. He pulled Julian back over the railing and dropped him onto the steel grating like a sack of wet laundry. Julian collapsed into a fetal position, sobbing into his knees.
Marcus stepped up the gantry stairs, slipping the phone back into his coat pocket. ""The Department of Justice has unsealed seventy-two indictments against Evelyn’s shell companies. Her trial will be in open court. Every dime she stole will be clawed back into Sarah’s family foundation.""
""And him?"" Marcus asked, nodding down at Julian.
Victor looked at his scorched left palm, then at the shattered man groveling on the iron floor. ""The Kozlov syndicate is missing twenty million. Dmitri respects a man who pays his debts, but he hates a man who makes him look foolish. Put Julian on an unregistered freight container bound for Vladivostok. Let Dmitri’s dockworkers teach him what an honest day of hard labor feels like.""
Julian looked up, his eyes widening in pure horror. ""Vladivostok? No... no, Victor, that’s a labor camp! That’s a death sentence!""
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""It's a life sentence, Julian,"" Victor replied coldly, turning his back and heading down the stairs. ""Pray you're strong enough to survive it.""
As Victor reached the heavy fire door, Marcus's voice stopped him. ""Sir. We just intercepted a priority transmission from the coast guard. One of our private cargo freighters outside the bay just refused port inspection. The captain isn't answering our hailing codes.""
