Chapter 9 - The Anatomy of a Scavenger
By six in the evening, the Grand Plaza Auditorium was empty, but the war had simply moved down to the executive holding floor of the county courthouse.
Vicki sat in a small, private consultation room behind double-paned security glass, drinking tea. Across the table, looking like a bird whose feathers had been ripped out by an industrial fan, sat Jasmine Rivers.
Jasmine’s emerald dress was wrinkled, her makeup smudged beneath her eyes, her high heels kicked off and lying discarded in the corner of the concrete room. Two state marshals stood silently outside the frosted door.
“I have seventy-two hours before the federal indictment is unsealed,” Jasmine said, her voice shaking violently as she clasped her trembling hands together. “Arthur Vance said… he said you have the power to withdraw the civil forfeiture claim on the Miami property. If you withdraw it, I can use the equity to hire a defense team.”
Vicki set her teacup down with a quiet *clink*.
“Why would I help you hire a defense team, Jasmine?”
“Because I can give you everything on Camden!” Jasmine pleaded, leaning across the steel table, her fingernails digging into the metal. “I have voice memos! He used to record his private meetings with the syndicate partners. He called the investors ‘blind pigs’ who deserved to be slaughtered. He has an undeclared safety deposit box in the Grand Cayman holding three million dollars in bearer bonds!”
Vicki looked at her with detached curiosity.
“Last night, you wore red,” Vicki murmured. “You laughed when he kicked me. Do you remember laughing?”
Jasmine swallowed hard, a tear cutting a track through the powder on her cheek. “I was… I was nervous. I didn't know what to do. He was terrifying when he drank, Vicki! You know how he gets! He controlled me!”
“Camden didn't control you,” Vicki said, her voice calm and measured. “You saw an arrogant man with access to an immense vault of money, and you calculated that you could manipulate his vanity better than I could. You thought his cruelty was strength. You thought that by standing beside a bully, you would share his immunity.”
Vicki picked up her tablet and tapped the screen, turning it toward Jasmine.
“This is an extradition notice from the Swiss Federal Banking Authority,” Vicki said. “The four point two million dollars you received was routed through Zurich. Wire fraud involving Swiss banking conduits carries a mandatory twenty-year minimum sentence in international financial tribunals.”
Jasmine’s face lost every remaining drop of color. She looked as though she were going to vomit. “Please. Please, Vicki. I’ll give back the money. Every penny. I’ll sign over the car, the jewelry, the condo—everything!”
“You will sign those over anyway,” Vicki said, standing up and smoothing her jacket. “Because Arthur has already filed the asset seizure liens. By midnight tonight, your credit cards won't even buy you a bottle of water from a vending machine.”
Vicki walked to the door and tapped on the glass. The marshal unlocked the heavy bolt.
“Vicki! Please!” Jasmine screamed, throwing herself against the table, the steel legs screeching against the floor. “Don't leave me here! I have nothing!”
Vicki paused in the open doorway, looking back over her shoulder one last time.
May you like
“You’re right,” Vicki said softly. “You have nothing. But don’t worry, Jasmine. Camden will be in the adjacent cell block. You two can keep each other warm with your vision for the future.”
***
