Chapter 5 - The Legal Ambush
The steel wheel on the outside of the vault spun violently, but because I had thrown the internal deadbolt from within, it couldn't engage. Furious curses muffled through the thick steel walls.
"Open the damn door, Julian!" a voice shouted. "We have a court order signed by a federal magistrate! You are obstructing a legal investigation!"
I didn't answer. Instead, I sat at the wooden desk, plugged my phone into an old, battery-operated inverter I found in the corner, and began photographing every single page of the documents in the legal boxes. My hands were steady now. The fear had transformed into a cold, clinical determination.
Hazel had documented everything: illegal offshore accounts, shell corporations used to siphon money from public timber grants, and explicit bribes paid to local judges—including Judge Lawrence, the very man who had signed the emergency injunction against me an hour ago.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Arthur Vance’s private line.
"Arthur, I’m inside the vault," I whispered. "They’re outside the door right now trying to break it down. But I have everything. I have the receipts for the bribes they paid to Judge Lawrence."
On the other end of the line, I heard Arthur let out a sharp breath. "My God, Julian... that changes everything. If we have proof of judicial corruption, their injunction is completely void, and we can move this to a federal court outside their sphere of influence. Can you transmit the files?"
"I’m uploading them to the secure server you set up right now," I said, watching the progress bar on my phone screen slowly tick up using the faint cellular signal filtering through the concrete vents. "But they brought a blowtorch, Arthur. I can smell the burning metal."
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"Hold on, Julian," Arthur said grimly. "I’m calling the FBI field office in Portland. Don't open that door until the real authorities arrive."
Outside, a bright orange spark burst through the top seam of the vault door. The smell of burning steel and melting rubber filled the small concrete room. They were cutting their way in.
