Chapter 3 - The Wire and the Trap
Arthur Vance’s suburban home on the outskirts of Cedar Ridge was an ostentatious spread of red brick and manicured lawns, bought with the commissions of a hundred corporate transactions.
I didn't call ahead. I walked up his paved walkway, opened the front door with the emergency key he had given me years ago for legal courier deliveries, and walked straight into his study.
Vance was sitting at his mahogany desk, a glass of scotch in hand, reviewing a stack of blueprints. When he saw me step into the room, he jumped, spilling the liquor across his blotter.
"Mason!" Vance gasped, clutching his chest. "Jesus Christ! You scared the hell out of me. What are you doing here? I thought you were back in Nashville finalizing the commercial loans."
I walked over to the desk, pulled the folded legal document Dalton had given me out of my inner jacket pocket, and slapped it down on top of his blueprinted papers.
"Care to explain why my legal counsel's signature is on an illegal custody waiver for three children living on my property?" I asked, my voice dangerously calm.
Vance’s face drained of color. He looked at the document, then up at me, his eyes darting frantically toward the door.
"Mason... look, you don't understand the full scope of what's happening down here," Vance stammered, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his forehead. "Dalton... Dalton is dangerous. He holds paper on half the county commissioners, including the regional probate judge."
"You're in business with him," I said, stepping closer. "RidgeLine Holdings. You deferred my property sale to force me into selling cheap, while helping Dalton terrorize three orphans off the lot so you could flip the entire corridor to the state infrastructure committee."
Vance swallowed hard, trembling. "It wasn't my idea! Dalton came to me three months ago. He had records showing Mateo Ruiz owed him ninety thousand dollars in gambling markers and back loans. He told me if I drafted the emergency conservatorship filings to force the kids out, he'd give me a fifteen percent stake in the bypass development!"
"Where is Mateo?" I demanded, leaning over the desk until I was inches from his face.
"I don't know! I swear to God, Mason, I don't know!" Vance cried out, throwing his hands up defensively. "Dalton handles the enforcement! I just handle the paper!"
"You're going to fix this, Arthur," I said coldly.
"I can't!" Vance whimpered. "If I pull those court filings, Dalton will ruin me. He’s got recordings of the judge accepting kickbacks. He’ll put a bullet through my front door!"
"Then you better hope my security team finds him before he finds you," I replied. I reached down, grabbed Vance by his lapels, and pulled him out of his leather chair. "Starting right now, you work for me again. Except this time, you aren't drafting land deals. You're going to help me tear Dalton’s operation apart piece by piece."
I pulled a small recording device out of my pocket—one that had been transmitting everything Vance said directly to Trent’s secure server for the last five minutes.
Vance looked at the blinking red light on the device and collapsed back into his chair, his head in his hands.
"You're insane, Mason," Vance groaned. "Dalton isn't a corporate competitor. He’s a thug who runs this county with an iron fist. He won't let you walk away with those kids or that land."
"He doesn't have a choice," I said, turning toward the door. "Because unlike Dalton, I have nothing left to lose in Cedar Ridge. I lost my past here thirty years ago. I’m not letting him steal those children's future."
As I stepped out into the night, my phone buzzed. It was Trent.
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"Mason, we got a hit on Mateo Ruiz," Trent said urgently over the line. "A local ER in Knox County just admitted a male matching his description under an alias. Severe blunt force trauma. He’s alive, but barely. And Mason... the doctor says two men claiming to be his uncles just checked in at the front desk asking for his room number."
"Get your team to that hospital now," I ordered, running toward my truck. "Don't let them touch him."
