Chapter 13 - The Grand Jury
Two weeks later, the federal courthouse in Richmond was packed with reporters, legal aides, and curious onlookers eager to catch a glimpse of the high-profile white-collar fraud case involving former defense consultant Victoria Carter and her son, Julian.
Maya and I sat in the front row of the gallery, watching as the federal grand jury handed down a formal twenty-count indictment covering wire fraud, identity theft, interstate extortion, and fraudulent asset seizure under active military deployment.
When the bailiff led them into the courtroom in orange jumpsuits, the transformation was jarring.
Victoria’s silk dress and pearls were gone, replaced by coarse institutional cotton. Her hair was unstyled, her posture slightly stooped, though she still carried herself with a rigid, bitter defiance. Julian wouldn't even look up; he stared fixedly at the polished linoleum floor, his shoulders hunched as the judge read the formal charges.
When Victoria’s eyes swept across the gallery, they landed directly on me.
For a fraction of a second, I saw a flash of maternal recognition—the mother who had raised me, before greed and ambition rotted everything underneath. Then her expression hardened into pure, unadulterated venom.
She turned her face away, refusing to acknowledge us as the judge denied bail due to the high flight risk and offshore asset trails discovered by Marcus’s team.
As the gavel came down and the marshals led them away, I felt no triumphant rush of vengeance. Just a cold, clean closure. The chapter was finished. The debt was settled.
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“Are you ready to go home?” Maya asked, slipping her hand into mine as the gallery began to empty.
“Let’s go home,” I said.
