Chapter 7 - The Confrontation at the Bank
I didn’t wait. I called Sarah, who rushed over in her slippers to sit in the living room while Maya slept peacefully upstairs.
I got into my SUV and drove straight downtown.
The rain started falling in thick, heavy sheets, the wipers slapping violently against the windshield. By the time I reached the financial district, the red and blue flashing lights of four police cruisers illuminated the limestone façade of the Chase Bank branch.
A crowd of onlookers was huddled under umbrellas across the street. Two security guards in black tactical vests stood outside the glass double doors.
I parked on the curb, threw on my raincoat, and marched straight toward the perimeter tape.
“Ma’am, you can’t cross this line,” an officer barked, holding up a hand.
“My name is Lauren Sterling,” I said firmly, my voice cutting through the rain. “My husband and sister-in-law are inside. My signature was forged on the documents that caused this call.”
Anthony stepped out from behind a squad car, holding an umbrella. He nodded to the officer. “She’s with me, Officer Briggs. She’s the primary victim of the identity fraud.”
The officer hesitated, then lifted the yellow tape. “Keep her behind the glass.”
Anthony walked me to the front entrance. Inside the brightly lit lobby, the scene was pure, unadulterated madness.
Olivia was sitting on an imported leather chair, her mascara smeared down her cheeks, screaming hysterically at a uniformed sergeant. Her designer handbag was tipped over on the floor, gold jewelry and foreign currency envelopes spilled across the marble tiles.
Across the room, Carter Vance was being held against a pillar by two patrolmen, his hands cuffed behind his back, his expensive bespoke suit soaked and disheveled.
And Shawn was standing in the center of the room, his tie undone, waving a legal brief wildly in the air, his face completely flushed red.
“I am her legal representative!” Shawn was shouting, his voice carrying through the glass. “This is a civil corporate dispute! You have no legal standing to detain Mrs. Sterling without a formal warrant from a magistrate!”
“Shut up, Shawn!” Olivia shrieked from the chair, pointing a manicured finger at him. “You told me this was bulletproof! You told me Anthony would never look at the Delaware accounts! You idiot, you promised me we had six more months!”
The officers stopped listening to Shawn. The sergeant simply turned to a rookie and said, “Read her the Miranda rights. She just admitted knowledge of the shell company on bodycam.”
Shawn’s arms dropped to his sides. The legal papers slipped from his fingers, fluttering to the floor.
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That was when Shawn turned and saw me through the glass.
***
