Chapter 6 - Adrian’s Ledger
The notebook wasn’t a criminal ledger.
Not exactly.
It was Mia’s reconstruction of transactions she didn’t understand.
She had copied figures from bank statements, company reports, and Adrian’s old files.
Some transfers were legitimate Vale Logistics expenses.
Others weren’t.
A forensic accountant identified approximately $12 million routed through three shell companies over four years.
Victor Hale authorized several.
Adrian approved others.
My name appeared because one account belonged to a holding company I controlled.
That looked terrible.
Until the accountant showed me the transaction date.
I had been in federal custody giving testimony in an unrelated racketeering proceeding the day my authorization supposedly occurred.
Someone used my credentials.
The ugly irony was not lost on me.
A man with my history had little room to complain about appearing suspicious.
But evidence was evidence.
The signature required verification.
Luca found archived access logs.
Victor’s workstation generated the authorization packet.
Claire’s uncle had touched it.
I called Victor.
He sounded offended.
“You’re accusing me because Mia scribbled my initials in a notebook?”
“No.”
“I’m asking why your computer generated a transfer under my name.”
Silence.
Then:
“Adrian handled those entities.”
“So why your machine?”
“I don’t remember.”
Victor had been with the family twenty-five years.
He knew every account.
Every weakness.
Every dead man whose name still opened doors.
Then he made a mistake.
“Mia had no business digging into Adrian’s private affairs.”
I hadn’t told him Mia was investigating Adrian.
“How do you know she was?”
Silence again.
Luca looked at me.
Victor recovered quickly.
“Claire mentioned it.”
Claire was sitting across from me.
I covered the phone.
“Did you tell Victor?”
She shook her head.
Not proof.
But the fracture widened.
Then forensic technicians powered the disposable phone found beneath the cellar mattress.
Most data had been wiped.
One unsent draft remained:
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME, CHECK ADRIAN’S FOUNDATION.
No recipient.
Likely Mia.
The Adrian Vale Foundation funded rehabilitation programs, youth services, and legal aid.
It also moved significant cash.
I had praised Adrian for creating it.
Maybe that had been the point.
Charity was a beautiful place to hide money.
The forensic accountant checked public filings.
The foundation had transferred $4.8 million to a vendor called Northstar Outreach.
Northstar’s registered manager:
Victor Hale.
That was our next real answer.
Adrian and Victor had been moving money through a charity-linked vendor.
Then Luca discovered Northstar’s business address.
A warehouse in Poughkeepsie.
May you like
The same warehouse where Mia’s phone last connected to a cell tower before disappearing.
📖 Mia’s last known signal came from a warehouse tied to Victor’s hidden company, and reaching it would reveal whether she was investigating the money—or being taken there. 👇
