Chapter 7 - The Woman Behind the Anonymous Account
The anonymous post backfired.
Thousands of people condemned the attempt to shame a cancer patient for seeking counseling.
But Julian cared less about public reaction than the source.
Torres traced the upload through several proxies.
Eventually investigators found a device.
It belonged to Derek’s public-relations consultant, Vanessa Reed.
Vanessa surrendered within hours.
She brought a laptop.
“I didn’t know where the information came from,” she insisted.
“You published private medical information,” Torres replied.
“Derek gave it to me.”
“What else?”
Vanessa opened a folder.
Hundreds of photographs.
Clara leaving hospitals.
Clara dropping Alba at school.
Julian entering restaurants.
Evelyn shopping.
Even Alba playing at a park.
Julian felt physically ill.
“How long?”
“Almost two years.”
“Who took these?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who paid?”
“Derek.”
Vanessa showed them an invoice.
Consulting services.
Twenty thousand dollars monthly.
Then she showed them something else.
A scheduled post.
It had not yet been published.
JUDGE VANCE TOOK BRIBES TO PROTECT DAUGHTER.
Attached was fabricated bank evidence.
Julian stared.
“They were going to destroy me.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“They were going to make you resign.”
“Why?”
She hesitated.
“Because Shepherd needs your seat.”
Silence.
Julian leaned forward.
“My judicial seat?”
“Yes.”
“Who replaces me?”
“I don’t know.”
Torres asked, “Why does Shepherd care?”
Vanessa whispered, “Because Courtroom 4 handles sealed emergency motions.”
Julian finally saw the architecture.
The network had not targeted Clara merely because Derek wanted custody.
Clara had provided leverage.
Destroy Julian.
Force his resignation.
Replace him with someone cooperative.
Then the network would control one of the busiest emergency judicial pipelines in the county.
Clara’s illness had been both weapon and opportunity.
“Who is Shepherd?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I never met him.”
“But Derek did?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“The Union League Club.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
Torres stared.
“They still have a meeting scheduled?”
Vanessa nodded.
“Derek doesn’t know I’m talking.”
Julian stood.
“Then tomorrow we meet Shepherd.”
Torres immediately objected.
“You are not going anywhere near that operation.”
“He knows me.”
“Exactly.”
“He might reveal himself if he sees me.”
“He might run.”
Clara’s voice came through Julian’s phone.
He had accidentally left their video call connected.
“Dad.”
Julian looked down.
Clara was staring at him.
“Don’t try to be a hero.”
He smiled faintly.
“I’m a judge.”
“That’s exactly why I said it.”
Julian sat again.
Torres developed another plan.
Derek would attend.
Vanessa would cooperate.
Investigators would watch.
The next afternoon, Derek entered the club.
A camera captured him taking a seat.
Five minutes later, an older man approached.
White hair.
Glasses.
Slight limp.
Gold sunflower pin.
Alba’s Mr. Flower.
Torres zoomed in.
Julian’s face went blank.
He knew the man.
Everyone in Cook County legal circles knew him.
Retired Justice Samuel Whitmore.
Former appellate judge.
May you like
Mentor to half the city’s senior judiciary.
And the man who had personally recommended Julian Vance for the bench thirty years earlier.
