Chapter 9 - The Devil's Ledger
The interior of the speeding SUV was completely silent except for the driving rain.
Vincent stared at the handwritten names inside the blood-stained ledger.
Charmian leaned over tentatively to look at the pages.
"What is it?"
She asked, her voice trembling slightly.
"This is a list of offshore bank accounts."
Vincent traced a specific column of numbers with his finger.
"Dante has been siphoning millions from the syndicate for the past five years."
He looked up at Aleandro in the rearview mirror.
"He used the Petrov syndicate as a front to wash the stolen money."
Aleandro nodded grimly from the driver's seat.
"The Russians thought they were getting rich, but Dante was using them as a shield."
Vincent turned the page of the ledger.
He stopped breathing.
His eyes locked onto a single, familiar name written in the margin.
Tommy Flannery.
Charmian saw her brother's name and gasped.
"Tommy is in the ledger?"
She asked, pure horror washing over her bruised face.
Vincent looked at her with a complicated expression.
"Your brother did not borrow forty thousand dollars from the Russians."
He closed the heavy leather book.
"Your brother is the accountant who actually set up the offshore accounts for Dante."
Charmian shook her head in desperate denial.
"No, that is impossible."
She protested, tears welling in her eyes again.
"He is just a stupid gambler."
"He played you."
Vincent stated the brutal truth without sugarcoating it.
"He faked his debt to the Petrovs so they would come after you."
Vincent explained the sickening strategy.
"He knew I would eventually protect you, which would start a war between me and the Russians."
Tommy had orchestrated the entire conflict as a massive distraction.
"Where is he now?"
Vincent asked Aleandro.
"The ledger coordinates point to a private airfield on the northern border."
Aleandro replied, turning the steering wheel sharply.
"He is trying to flee the country with the remaining cash."
May you like
Vincent cocked his weapon.
"Drive faster."
