Chapter 6 - The Paper Fortress
While Derek had been drinking champagne in Carytown, Audrey Vance sat by a floor-to-ceiling window on the twelfth floor of the Vance Penthouse on Monument Avenue.
The space was serene. There were no ghosts here. The apartment had been purchased by her maternal grandfather forty years ago, decorated with classic French provincial furniture, muted velvet upholstery, and walls of dark, leather-bound books.
Maisie lay sleeping in an antique wooden cradle beside Audrey’s chair, her tiny chest rising and falling in rhythmic peace.
Dr. Eleanor Hayes, Richmond’s top private pediatrician, gently closed her medical bag on the coffee table.
"She is in pristine health, Audrey," Dr. Hayes said with a warm smile. "Lungs are clear, weight is stable, and her reflexes are exceptional. You did an incredible job keeping her calm through all of this."
"Thank you, Eleanor," Audrey murmured, her eyes never leaving her daughter.
A private nurse, Mrs. Gable, stepped into the room with a silver tray carrying hot chicken broth and fresh bread. "You need to eat, Mrs... excuse me, Ms. Vance. You've lost three pounds since your discharge yesterday. Healing requires fuel."
Audrey smiled faintly. "Ms. Vance is fine, Mrs. Gable. Thank you."
The heavy oak doors of the penthouse library swung open, and Arthur Pendelton stepped into the room. Despite being seventy-eight years old, the attorney moved with the brisk, predator-like energy of a man forty years his junior.
Under his arm, he carried two thick leather binders.
"Arthur," Audrey said, setting her soup spoon down. "Is it done?"
Arthur pulled a high-backed wing chair up to the low mahogany table and sat down, resting his silver-topped cane against the armrest.
"My dear Audrey," Arthur began, his eyes twinkling behind round, wire-rimmed spectacles, "in my nearly fifty years of practicing corporate and trust law in the Commonwealth of Virginia, I have rarely executed an operation with such profound personal satisfaction."
He opened the first binder, turning it toward Audrey.
"Let us review the anatomy of Derek Halston’s life," Arthur said, pointing a manicured index finger at a series of financial charts.
"Item one: Halston Capital. Derek has spent five years telling anyone who would listen that he is the principal shareholder. In reality, Halston Capital is an LLC ninety-two percent owned by Vance Holdings. Derek was granted an operational managing partnership, subject to a morality clause and a discretionary performance review by the board of trustees."
Arthur pulled a crimson pen from his pocket and drew a firm, diagonal line through the corporate ledger.
"At nine-fifteen this morning, the board of Vance Holdings met in emergency session. Derek was removed as managing partner for gross fiscal negligence, unauthorized personal expenditures, and breach of fiduciary trust. The corporate bank accounts were frozen at nine-forty-five."
Audrey felt a strange, cold wash of stillness over her chest. "And his personal accounts?"
"Derek doesn't have personal accounts, Audrey," Arthur said with a dry, wicked chuckle. "Not really. His personal checking account was an executive sweep account linked to the Vance Trust operational line. By ten o'clock, the sweep facility was terminated. His balance currently stands at approximately four hundred and twelve dollars and eighteen cents."
"What about his mother?" Audrey asked. "Evelyn’s stipend?"
"Ah, the delightful Evelyn," Arthur smiled, turning a page. "Evelyn’s 'family trust allowance' was never an actual trust. It was a discretionary gift authorized annually by you, Audrey, at your late father’s request, to maintain family peace. You signed the revocation order at midnight. Her monthly distribution of twenty-five thousand dollars has been halted. The country club membership at Willow Oaks has been revoked for non-payment."
Audrey looked down at her sleeping daughter. Maisie let out a soft sigh in her sleep, burying her cheek deeper into the soft cotton sheet.
"And Riverwood Lane?" Audrey asked.
Arthur looked at his gold pocket watch. It read 3:15 p.m.
"The deed to 14 Riverwood Lane," Arthur stated, his voice turning to pure stone, "was purchased in 1984 by William Vance. It was placed in the Vance Heritage Real Estate Trust. When you married Derek, a leasehold agreement was executed, granting Derek the privilege of residency so long as the marriage remained intact and cohabitation was maintained with you."
Arthur snapped the binder shut with a sound like a pistol shot.
"The leasehold terminated automatically the moment you vacated the premises due to marital infidelity. Legally speaking, Derek Halston, his mother, and his guest are currently unlawful trespassers on private property owned exclusively by the Vance Trust."
Arthur picked up his cane and stood up.
May you like
"The Henrico County Sheriff’s Department has already been served with the emergency writ of ejectment. The private security team is in position. And I believe," Arthur looked at his watch once more, "it is time for me to go greet the master of the house."
***
