Chapter 3 - The Auditor's Secret
I stared at the chilling photograph in absolute, paralyzing terror.
Julian had known I was standing behind that concrete pillar the entire time.
The conversation I overheard was not a careless mistake on his part.
It was a carefully orchestrated performance designed to make me panic.
He wanted me to rush back to the house so I would find the empty safe.
I grabbed the photograph and immediately ran out of the master bedroom.
I pushed past the confused real estate agent and sprinted to my car.
I locked the doors and sped away from my own property as fast as the engine would allow.
I called David, my hands shaking violently against the steering wheel.
"Julian completely emptied my hidden safe, and he knows we are onto him," I yelled into the phone.
"Maya, you need to come to my secure downtown apartment immediately," David instructed urgently.
"I just ran a background check on the brunette woman from your airport recording."
"She is not a coworker, and she is not just a random mistress."
I merged onto the highway, desperate to put as much distance between myself and the house as possible.
"Who is she?" I demanded.
"Her name is Chloe Vance, and she is a senior auditor for the Internal Revenue Service," David revealed.
The words hit me like a physical blow to the chest.
Julian was not just trying to steal my money and my house.
He was actively framing me for massive federal tax evasion.
Chloe was using her high-level government clearance to manipulate my corporate tax records.
If I went to the police right now, I would immediately be arrested as a fleeing felon.
I arrived at David's secure apartment building and took the private elevator to his penthouse.
David was pacing across the hardwood floor, surrounded by stacks of printed financial documents.
"They diverted thirty million dollars of unpaid federal taxes into your personal accounts," David explained grimly.
"Then Julian immediately transferred that money into an offshore account using the paperwork you signed."
I realized with absolute clarity that I was being set up to take the fall for a massive federal crime.
"We need hard evidence from Julian's personal laptop to prove he initiated the transfer," I stated firmly.
"His laptop is sitting inside his secret downtown bachelor pad," I added.
David looked at me in surprise.
"You knew he had a secret apartment?" David asked.
"I found a utility bill for it three months ago, but I never confronted him," I explained.
I grabbed a heavy flashlight from David's kitchen drawer and headed for the door.
"I am going to break in and download his entire hard drive," I declared.
Before I could turn the doorknob, my cell phone buzzed with an incoming text message.
May you like
It was from my best friend, Rachel, who was supposed to be flying to her conference.
"Maya, Julian just boarded my flight to the Cayman Islands, and he is frantically looking for you," the text read.
