Chapter 3 - The Eviction & The Counter-AttackThe tires of my heavy duty pickup truck tore through the fresh layer of ice as I slammed through the wrought-iron gates of the Montgomery Estate.
Beside me in the passenger seat, Marcus held a stack of federal court documents. Behind us followed three dark SUVs carrying private tactical security operators I had hired using my military discharge settlement funds.
When we pulled up the long, winding drive, the mansion was lit up like a Christmas tree.
Two black sedans belonging to Donald Vance’s private legal team were parked near the front fountain. Through the massive front bay windows, I saw Victoria, wearing a cream mink coat, directing two hired movers who were hauling my father’s antique lockboxes out of the library.
I kicked my truck door open and strode up the marble steps.
"Stop right there!" A heavy-set private security guard stepped into my path, reaching for a holster at his belt.
Before his hand could touch his sidearm, my lead security officer, a former Marine named Jackson, stepped up, grabbed the guard’s wrist, twisted it back, and forced him face-down onto the icy steps with a crisp snap of metal handcuffs.
"Clear the entrance!" Jackson yelled.
I kicked the front doors open. The loud CRACK echoed through the three-story grand foyer.
Victoria turned around, a crystal glass of bourbon in her hand. Chloe stood nearby, holding an armful of leather-bound ledgers from Arthur’s safe.
"Julian!" Victoria scoffed, her face twisting in disgust. "You just don't know when you're beaten, do you? Donald signed the court order. This house is under judicial lock until the trust contest is heard in court. You are trespassing on a court-sealed property."
A man in a tailored $3,000 suit stepped out of Arthur’s private study. Judge Donald Vance. He offered a slimy, practiced smile.
"Son," Donald said smoothly, adjusting his silk tie. "I suggest you take your military roughnecks and leave. I have issued a temporary order revoking Marcus’s trusteeship due to conflict of interest. As presiding judge, I have granted interim guardianship of the estate to your mother."
"You don't have jurisdiction over this property, Donald," Marcus barked, walking past me with his briefcase. "And you know it."
"I am the Senior Circuit Judge of this county, Marcus!" Donald sneered. "My word is the law here!"
"Not when the property sits on Federal Tribal-Leased Reserve land," Marcus said calmly.
Donald froze. The smug smile faltered on his face.
Marcus pulled a golden-sealed document from his folder and dropped it onto the glass coffee table.
"Thirty years ago, Arthur Montgomery bought the underlying land rights to this 500-acre estate through a joint venture with the Sovereign Federal Tribal Commission," Marcus explained, turning to face Victoria and Donald. "Under federal law, local state circuit judges have zero legal authority over land held under federal tribal designation. Your emergency injunction, Donald, is legally useless."
"That's impossible!" Victoria shrieked, dropping her glass. It shattered across the marble floor. "Arthur never told me that!"
"He didn't tell you because he knew you were scheming with Donald," I said, stepping into the middle of the room.
I looked at the movers holding my father’s ledgers. "Put those down and leave. Now. Or you’ll be named as co-conspirators in a federal racketeering indictment."
The movers dropped the boxes immediately and ran out the front door.
"Chloe, call Donald’s legal partners!" Victoria yelled, her composure crumbling into panic. "Do something!"
"It gets better," Marcus continued, pulling out his cell phone. "While you were abusing your judicial office to issue illegal bail orders, Donald, I sent Arthur’s private medical files directly to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the State Attorney General’s Office. A federal marshal is currently en route with a federal arrest warrant for judicial corruption, conspiracy to commit murder, and fraud."
Donald’s face turned gray. He took a step back toward the study, but Jackson cut off his path, folding his massive arms.
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"You can't do this to us!" Chloe screamed, her fingernails digging into her arms. "We are Montgomerys! We built this town!"
"No," I said, stepping right up to my sister. "Dad built this town. You two just lived off his blood. And now, you're going to pay for every drop."
