Chapter 8 - The Raid on Vanguard
On Monday morning, Adrian arrived at the physical offices of Vanguard Consulting, completely unaware of what had transpired over the weekend. He expected to pack up his personal belongings from his executive suite and walk away a free man with his secret fortune.
Instead, he found the glass doors locked, with two federal marshals and an investigator from the State Department of Revenue standing inside.
Mara and I were waiting in the lobby.
When Adrian tried to scan his keycard, the light flashed red. He banged on the glass, his face contorting with rage. "Julianne! Open this damn door! What is this? We signed the agreement! You dropped the charges!"
I nodded to the security guard, who opened the door just wide enough for Adrian to see the investigators boxing up the hard drives from his private office.
"The agreement stated I would drop the domestic protective order and refrain from pursuing local assault charges, Adrian," I said, standing behind the protection of the federal marshals. "It said nothing about protecting you from state or federal agencies investigating procurement fraud."
The revenue investigator stepped forward, holding up a badge. "Adrian Vance? I am Agent Reynolds with the State Department of Revenue. We are executing a search warrant for all digital and physical financial records of Vanguard Consulting Group LLC under suspicion of grand larceny, municipal contract fraud, and filing false tax returns."
Adrian stumbled back, his eyes darting around the lobby as if looking for an escape route. "No... no, that’s impossible. That was an independent entity. Julianne, you bitch, you set me up!"
He lunged toward me, his hands reaching for my neck exactly the way he had in our kitchen a week ago. But this time, he didn't reach me. The two federal marshals intercepted him instantly, slamming his face against the marble reception desk and pulling his arms behind his back.
"Stop resisting!" a marshal shouted, clicking the heavy metal handcuffs around his wrists.
"She’s the CFO!" Adrian screamed, his face pressed against the stone, spit flying from his lips. "If I stole money, she helped me do it! She signed the tax returns!"
May you like
"Actually, Adrian," Agent Reynolds said, pulling out a folder from his briefcase. "We’ve reviewed the signatures on the 2024 and 2025 Nevada tax returns. They were signed using your digital encryption key and co-signed by your father-in-law, Arthur Vance. Mrs. Julianne Vance’s signature is nowhere on the fraudulent documents. In fact, she is the whistleblower who provided the forensic evidence."
Adrian looked up at me, his eyes wide with a desperate, terrifying realization. He had thought I was a quiet bookkeeper who just checked the balances. He had never understood that in the world of finance, the person who writes the system always controls the exit.
