Chapter 2 - Freezing the Empire
By noon, the news of the eviction had begun to spread, but Daniel and Vanessa still didn't understand the full scope of their destruction. They had loaded three suitcases into the luxury German SUV that Daniel drove, believing they could simply check into a five-star hotel down the street and figure out how to manipulate me later that week.
What they didn't realize was that the SUV did not belong to Daniel either.
I sat in Claire’s high-rise law office downtown, watching the live GPS tracking data on Claire’s computer monitor. The SUV was currently parked outside the Grandview Hotel downtown.
"Watch this," Claire said, tapping a key on her keyboard.
At the Grandview Hotel reception desk, Daniel handed the clerk his black credit card—the card linked directly to the Hartwell Family Commercial Line.
The clerk swiped the card. A red light flashed on the terminal screen.
DECLINED.
Daniel frowned, pulling out a second card. "Try this one. The system must be having a glitch."
The clerk swiped the second card.
DECLINED - ACCOUNT FROZEN BY TRUSTEE.
Vanessa, standing beside him surrounded by her designer luggage, stamped her foot. "Daniel! What is taking so long? I need to wash my hair! Tell them to call the manager!"
"Sir," the clerk said politely but firmly. "Both accounts have been flagged for emergency fraud prevention. Furthermore, we received an official notification from Hartwell Legal Services twenty minutes ago. All line-of-credit privileges associated with your name have been suspended pending an active criminal investigation."
Before Daniel could scream at the clerk, two tow trucks pulled up to the hotel valet stand outside. The valets watched in awe as recovery agents attached heavy chains to Daniel’s luxury SUV.
Daniel ran out the glass revolving doors, his face bright red. "Hey! What the hell are you doing to my car?!"
The tow truck operator didn't even look at him. He handed Daniel a single sheet of paper. "Vehicle Repossession Order #882. Owned by Hartwell Holdings LLC. The registered owner has revoked authorization for you to operate this vehicle. Have a nice day, pal."
Within thirty seconds, the SUV was hoisted into the air and driven away, leaving Daniel and Vanessa standing on the curb in the drizzling rain, surrounded by six suitcases, with zero working credit cards and less than eighty dollars in cash between them.
Inside Claire’s office, I watched the live security feed transmitted from the hotel entrance.
"Is the restaurant secured?" I asked softly.
May you like
Claire opened another file on her desk. "Hartwell Bistro was built using a three-million-dollar capital disbursement from your late husband’s trust. Daniel was appointed as General Manager with a monthly stipend. However, because he used restaurant funds to purchase Vanessa's clothes, pay for exotic vacations, and fund her social media campaigns, he has committed grand embezzlement."
"Call the restaurant board," I instructed. "Tell them the Chief Executive Trustee is calling an emergency meeting at 2:00 p.m. Today, Daniel learns what it actually costs to run a business."
