Chapter 7 - The Unraveling
The fallout from the press conference was swift and destructive.
Within two hours, trading on Croft Financial stock was halted as federal regulators swarmed the building. The city issued an immediate eviction notice for Croft Tower, citing structural lease default, causing the building's valuation to collapse by eighty percent before noon.
Back at the Solmere Hotel, Charlotte sat in her mother’s old office—a grand room filled with rare oil paintings, fresh white orchids, and wide glass windows looking out over the harbor.
The door opened, and Chief Vance of the FBI walked in, tossing a black leather binder onto her desk.
"We found Victoria Sterling at Julian Croft’s NJ estate," Vance reported. "She was terrified. The second we pulled her out, she sang like a canary. She gave us the location of Croft’s private server room hidden in a warehouse near the docks."
"Did you recover the poison logs?" Charlotte asked, standing up from her desk.
"Everything," Vance confirmed grimly. "Digital receipts for the synthetic toxins purchased through a black-market pharmaceutical company in Zurich, signed off directly by Julian Croft’s private doctor. It matches the toxicology reports we performed on your mother's exhumed remains this morning."
A heavy tear welled in Charlotte’s eye, but she quickly brushed it away, her heart hardening into pure, unyielding resolve. "Issue the arrest warrant for murder in the first degree."
"We tried, Miss Vale," Vance sighed, shaking his head. "Julian knew the net was closing. Ten minutes ago, his private helicopter took off from the roof of Croft Tower. He's heading toward his private airfield in Westchester. He has a jet waiting to take him to a non-extradition country."
Charlotte reached for her coat hanging on the rack. "Not on my watch."
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"Charlotte, wait! The state police are handling it—" Vance began.
"He murdered my mother and stole four years of my life, Chief Vance," Charlotte said, her voice dropping to a register that made the seasoned FBI officer freeze. "I am going to see him put in chains myself."
