Chapter 14 - The Gold in the Well
Within an hour, state forensics teams had excavated the old brick dry well beneath my basement floorboards.
Hidden inside two watertight Pelican cases were forty ten-ounce bars of certified gold bullion—worth over $800,000 at current market value—along with the master client list for the Dayton counterfeit operation.
Marcus, singing like a canary to avoid a twenty-year sentence for armed home invasion, admitted that Eleanor had hired him to recover the bullion before the federal search warrants were executed in the morning.
By 3:00 a.m., the federal prosecutor, an austere woman named District Attorney Judith Vance—who turned out to be another distant relation through Uncle Arthur’s extended family network—personally called my house.
“Nina,” Judith said over the secure line. “With this client list and the physical bullion recovered from your property, the grand jury has returned a fifty-count superseding indictment against Wesley Ward, Eleanor Ward, and Marcus Gable. There will be no bail. There will be no plea deal without a mandatory fifteen-year sentence.”
I leaned back against the counter, looking down at Buster, who was now peacefully chewing on a beef bone Deputy Miller had bought him from the 24-hour convenience store.
“What happens to the gold, Judith?” I asked.
“Under the Federal Civil Asset Forfeiture and Victim Restitution Act, forty percent of recovered assets from domestic fraud rings are allocated to compensate the victims who uncovered the conspiracy,” Judith explained. “Clara will receive full restitution for her home. Iris will receive her back pay. And you, Nina, will receive a court-ordered settlement that clears your mortgage three times over.”
A weight I hadn't realized I was carrying lifted off my chest.
I wasn't just safe.
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I had systematically dismantled an entire criminal dynasty in less than a week.
***