Chapter 6 - The Desperate Hunt
Daniel spent Tuesday afternoon wandering like a ghost through the city that had once bowed to him.
His brother Julian had completely turned off his phone and fled to their cousin’s home in New Jersey. His mother had been evicted from the penthouse at 2:00 p.m. when the building’s management—acting on direct instructions from the interim board’s legal team—revoked their access fobs due to an unauthorized occupancy violation. Evelyn was now sitting in a budget hotel near LaGuardia, weeping into an uncharged iPad.
Daniel had one option left.
He had to find Claire.
He knew her routines. He knew her habits. For eleven years, she had been predictable—the quiet woman who organized his dry cleaning, balanced his ledgers, and sat patiently in the corner of his life. She had to be staying with someone. Her sister in Connecticut? Her old college roommate in Brooklyn?
He borrowed a phone from a stranger at Grand Central, claiming his battery had died, and dialed Claire’s sister, Rachel.
"Rachel," Daniel spoke the moment the line connected, trying to inject authority into his voice. "Where is she?"
"Daniel?" Rachel’s voice turned instantly to ice. "How dare you call this number."
"Listen to me, you little hypocrite!" Daniel snarled, losing control, the venom spilling over. "Tell Claire that if she doesn't drop these fraudulent SEC charges by tonight, I will burn down everything she cares about! I will drag her father’s name through every court in this country! I will prove she was an accomplice to every single transaction!"
Rachel didn't sound intimidated. She sounded pitying.
"My father despised you, Daniel," Rachel said evenly. "He knew you were a hollow, greedy little parasite from the day Claire brought you home. The only reason he let Claire marry you was because he trusted that she was smart enough to protect herself when your true nature came out."
"Rachel, tell me where she is!"
"She’s where you can never touch her again, Daniel," Rachel replied. "Look behind you."
"What?"
"Look behind you, Daniel."
Daniel spun around on the marble floor of Grand Central Terminal.
Standing twenty feet away, cutting through the commuter crowd, were two men in dark trench coats accompanied by two uniform NYPD transit officers.
One of the men held an iPad with a high-resolution photograph of Daniel’s face. The other held a thick manila envelope sealed with red evidentiary tape.
Daniel dropped the borrowed phone, turning to run toward the 42nd Street exit.
"Daniel Vale!" the federal agent’s voice rang out with piercing clarity across the terminal concourse. "Stop right there!"
Commuters froze, parting like water.
Daniel took three frantic strides toward the revolving doors before two transit officers intercepted him, grabbing his arms and slamming him face-first against the cold marble pillar beside the ticket booths.
"Get your hands off me!" Daniel screamed, thrashing wildly. "Do you know who I am? I am the CEO of Vale Holdings! I am an advisor to the Governor!"
"You're Daniel Vale," the federal marshal said calmly, pulling Daniel’s wrists behind his back and clicking cold steel handcuffs around his wrists. "You are under arrest pursuant to an indictment issued by the Southern District of New York for wire fraud, bank fraud, and interstate transportation of stolen funds."
The agent shoved the thick manila envelope into Daniel’s coat pocket.
"And this," the agent whispered into his ear as a crowd of two hundred commuters pulled out their smartphones, filming the entire scene for TikTok and Twitter, "is a restraining order served on behalf of Claire Vale. You are not to contact her, approach her, or breathe in her direction for the rest of your natural life."
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As they marched Daniel through Grand Central in handcuffs, the camera flashes were blinding.
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