Chapter 6: What Richard Did Next
Richard did not go in voluntarily at eight o'clock.
I found out at nine-fifteen, when the case officer called me at my hotel.
"He retained new counsel at seven this morning," she said.
"They're filing a motion to suppress the recording on Fourth Amendment grounds."
"The recording was made in a one-party consent state by a party to the conversation," I said.
"That motion won't survive first review."
"We know.
It's a delay tactic.
His new attorney is good at delay tactics." A pause.
"There's something else.
He withdrew sixty thousand dollars in cash from a personal account last night.
After you left the house."
I sat down on the edge of the hotel bed.
"He's preparing to move," I said.
"That's our read.
We've flagged his passport.
But I want you to know — if he contacts you directly, or if anyone in that family contacts you to negotiate, you need to tell me immediately."
"Understood."
"Colonel Sterling — you should also know that Julian's name is on two of the shell accounts.
He may be interviewed as a witness, or he may end up as a secondary subject.
We don't know yet."
I thought about Julian's face when the recording played.
The way the arrogance had drained out of him like water from a tub.
"He didn't know about the transfers," I said.
"He let Richard use his name, but I don't think he understood what it was for."
"That may matter.
Or it may not.
That's for the prosecutors to determine."
After the call, I stood at the hotel window for a moment.
Outside, Hartford was going about its morning — traffic, coffee shops, ordinary Tuesday things.
None of it knew what was happening in the Sterling estate three towns over.
My phone rang again.
Unknown number.
I answered.
"Sienna." Richard's voice.
Careful.
Measured.
The voice of a man who had decided on a strategy.
"I think we got off on the wrong foot last night."
"Richard."
"I'd like to meet.
Just the two of us.
No attorneys, no recordings.
I think there's a version of this that works for everyone."
"There isn't."
"Hear me out.
The federal thing — that can be managed.
These cases take years.
They're expensive.
They're public.
Your career, your clearance — a prolonged federal proceeding touches everything." He paused.
"I can return the full amount.
Every dollar.
Plus interest.
Structured over eighteen months.
In exchange for a signed statement that the transfers were authorized loans, documented after the fact due to an administrative oversight."
I looked at the window.
At my own reflection.
"You're asking me to commit federal fraud," I said.
"I'm asking you to protect your family."
"You're not my family, Richard."
A beat of silence.
Then his voice shifted — just slightly, just enough.
"Victoria is.
And she's going to be caught in this whether she deserves it or not.
The press won't distinguish between the guilty and the adjacent.
Is that what Arthur would have wanted?
His wife's name in the financial news?"
There it was.
The threat wrapped in concern.
The last card.
"My mother is not named in any filing," I said.
"Her exposure is yours to worry about, not mine.
And if you're attempting to influence a federal witness, I'd suggest you stop talking and call your attorney."
Silence.
"I'm going to end this call now," I said.
"And I'm going to report it.
Immediately."
"Sienna—"
"Goodbye, Richard."
I called the case officer before I had even set the phone down.
She picked up on the first ring.
"He called me," I said.
"Attempted to negotiate a false documentation agreement.
I have the call on my phone's recent log.
He may have recorded it himself — I'd assume he did."
"Did he threaten you?"
"He threatened my mother's reputation.
Indirectly."
"That's enough." I heard her chair move.
"We're accelerating the timeline.
I'll have a warrant for his financials by end of day.
Can you come in this afternoon?"
"I'll be there at two."
I put the phone down.
I looked at the garment bag hanging on the hotel closet door.
My uniform jacket.
The silver eagle on the shoulder.
My father had never seen me wear it.
May you like
But he had known, somehow, that I would know what to do.
I got dressed, and went to finish what he had started.
