He Smiled When the Security Dog Entered Because He Thought It Would Choose Me—Instead It Sat by His Girlfriend’s Bag and I Told Them the Case Had Been in My Suitcase Hours Earlier

"Clara, what you accomplished at the airport bought us a critical window of time," Arthur said, adjusting his spectacles as he analyzed the ledger spreadsheets. "Julian managed to siphon nearly forty percent of Reid Enterprises' liquid reserves into holding accounts. But because the physical bearer bonds were seized by federal agents, those transfers remain incomplete."

"Can we freeze the accounts before his overseas contacts notice?" Clara asked, taking a sip of black coffee.

"We can, but we must act swiftly," Arthur replied. "We are filing an emergency petition with the Chancery Court for an injunction against all accounts associated with Reid Enterprises' executive officers."

For the next four hours, Clara and Arthur’s team worked feverishly. They cross-referenced bank routing codes, tracked digital footprints across three time zones, and flagged every flagged transaction bearing Clara's forged digital signature.

Just as the court was preparing to close for the day, the judge signed the emergency order. Worldwide freeze notices were dispatched to financial institutions in London, Zurich, and the Cayman Islands.

A sudden alert popped up on Arthur’s monitor. "Look at this," he said, pointing to a red pulsing node on the screen. "Someone just tried to execute a automated transfer of twelve million dollars from your father's primary trust account."

"From where?" Clara asked, leaning in.

"A terminal inside Reid Enterprises' headquarters. Executive suite."

Clara’s eyes hardened. Julian was in federal custody, which meant someone else inside the company had access to the master system credentials—someone who was attempting to drain the remaining assets before the court order went into full effect.

"They're panicking," Clara said grimly. "Whoever was working with Julian from inside the board is trying to cut their losses and run."