Chapter 4 - Traces of the Past
An hour later, Officer Reid insisted on taking me back to the police station to complete a formal statement and arrange protective custody at a secure location. My parents objected vociferously, claiming I would be "much safer" at home with them, but I flatly refused to step foot near Willow Creek Drive ever again. Harper met me at the station, holding two warm cups of coffee. While Officer Reid went to confer with his detective team, Harper and I sat in a private interview room. My hands were still shaking as I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out the folded piece of paper I had retrieved from under my dresser. "What's that?" Harper whispered, leaning in close. I unfolded the paper carefully. It was a printed bank wire receipt dated three weeks ago. The sender was listed as Richard Barnes—my father. The recipient was an offshore entity named Sterling Apex Assets LLC, based in Grand Cayman. The transfer amount was staggering: $250,000. But what made my blood run cold was the handwritten notation scribbled at the bottom of the receipt in my father's sharp cursive: Partial payment for Jade's liability. Collateral guarantee: Primary residence & IVY. "Ivy..." Harper gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "What does that mean? Why is your name written on a wire receipt as collateral?" Before I could answer, the door opened and Officer Reid walked in, carrying a thick yellow folder. His face was grim. "Miss Barnes," Reid said, closing the door behind him. "We just ran a deep background sweep on your father's business holdings and your sister's personal accounts. Things are getting very complicated, very fast." "Look at this," I said, sliding the wire receipt across the table to him. Reid picked up the paper, his eyes scanning the numbers and the handwritten note. A dark, dangerous shadow passed over his face. "Where did you get this?" "It was under my dresser," I explained. "The intruder must have dropped it when they cleared out that floor safe." Reid pulled a chair out and sat down opposite us. "This confirms our secondary investigation," Reid said, lowering his voice. "Three months ago, your sister Jade was involved in a massive illegal gambling racket operating out of an underground club downtown. She accumulated over six hundred thousand dollars in debt to a high-level organized crime figure named Victor Sterling." "Victor Sterling..." I murmured. "The owner of Sterling Apex Assets." "Exactly," Reid continued. "Sterling isn't just a loan shark, Ivy. He's a ruthless human trafficker and extortionist. Your parents' logistics company has been functionally bankrupt for two years. They didn't have six hundred thousand dollars to clear Jade's debt." I felt a sudden, suffocating weight pressing down on my chest. "So what did they do?" "They made a deal," Reid said softly, looking me dead in the eye. "They offered Sterling something else to settle the balance."
