Chapter 14 - The Investigator’s Clue
The next morning, I refused to cower. Instead, I called Sienna and enlisted an old private investigator she trusted named Marcus Vance—no relation to David, a seasoned ex-detective with sharp eyes and a reputation for digging up buried bones.
Marcus met us in my living room, spreading out a collection of yellowed newspaper clippings and corporate filings across the coffee table.
“I looked into the original corporate registry of your mother’s foundation from twenty-five years ago,” Marcus said, pointing a scarred finger at a signature block. “Everyone focuses on Arthur Vance and Eleanor. But look at the funding source.”
I leaned in. The signature line for the primary venture capital firm backing the foundation was partially faded, but the corporate seal was distinct: Apex Holdings, registered in Zurich, Switzerland.
“Apex Holdings?” I frowned. “That sounds like a shell corporation.”
“It is,” Marcus nodded grimly. “And it’s still active. In fact, three days ago, Apex Holdings transferred five million dollars into a domestic holding account right here in California—registered under a dummy LLC named Vance Legacy Group.”
David slammed his hand onto the table. “That’s impossible. My father’s accounts were frozen a decade ago. Who opened a new LLC under that name?”
“Someone who wants you and Nora to know they’re coming,” Marcus replied quietly. “And according to corporate filing data, the primary manager of Vance Legacy Group is someone named Victor Thorne.”
The name meant nothing to me, but the moment David heard it, his face drained of all color. He staggered backward, gripping the edge of the sofa as if the floor had dropped out from beneath him.
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“David?” I asked, alarmed. “Do you know who Victor Thorne is?”
“He’s not just an investor,” David whispered, his voice trembling with dread. “Victor Thorne is Arthur Vance’s illegitimate son. My half-brother. And unlike Julian or me… Victor is a sociopath who washed his hands clean of our family years ago to build a criminal empire of his own.”
