Chapter 6 - The True Identity of Arthur Vance
Nine hundred miles away, in a private suite at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington, D.C., Senator Charles Sinclair was entertaining two high-profile campaign donors when his chief of staff burst into the room without knocking.
"Senator, you need to look at this right now," the staffer whispered, his face completely pale as he handed an encrypted tablet to the politician.
"What is so urgent, Bradley?" Charles frowned, excusing himself to the private study. "Richard said he had a minor disagreement with his wife in Atlanta. It’s nothing our local judges can't handle."
"Senator... it's not a local matter," Bradley stammered. "The Department of Justice just issued an emergency freeze on your campaign accounts and your family's offshore holding companies. Federal Marshals have just arrested Sheriff Brody in Atlanta."
"What?!" Charles roared, slamming his glass down. "Who authorized this?! What judge signed off on this nonsense?!"
"Judge Evelyn Vance," the staffer read from the screen. "Chief Judge of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. And the complainant on the federal warrant is... Arthur Vance."
Charles Sinclair froze. The color instantly drained from his face, leaving him looking twenty years older in a single second.
"Arthur... Vance?" Charles whispered, his voice trembling so violently he nearly dropped the tablet. "Lily's father... is that Arthur Vance?"
"You know him, Senator?"
"Do I know him?!" Charles shouted, his hands clenching into fists of pure terror. "Arthur Vance was the Director of the Special Operations Intelligence Directorate during the Gulf War! He is the man who built the military intelligence architecture for the entire Middle East theater! He personally holds the classified files on half the Senate! When the President needs a problem buried, he calls Arthur Vance!"
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Charles collapsed into his leather chair, clutching his chest as cold sweat broke out across his forehead.
"My son... that stupid, arrogant, psychotic boy... he beat Arthur Vance's daughter?" Charles breathed, his voice cracking into a whimper. "We are dead. Our entire family is completely dead."
