Chapter 51 #2
“From what my team has uncovered,” Jim started, “we have reason to believe that Christian Jameston must’ve discovered this information about Herbert Hawk and brought it to the attention of the Valdéz family. That’s when the investigations began.”
“What a piece of shit,” I blurted out.
Spencer sipped his Pellegrino. “I could think of worse words,” he said.
I nodded. “So, how is any of this illegal?”
Spencer leaned back in his chair. “Because old man Hawk wasn’t interested in paying retail prices,” he said.
“What does that mean?” I questioned.
“It means that once the Valdéz family knew Herbert Hawk wanted something, the price immediately doubled.”
“I’m lost.”
“It’s very easy to get lost in all this shit,” Spencer chuckled.
Jim nodded. “Allow me to make it simpler to understand…”
“Please do,” I said.
“Let’s say your family owns a piece of coastline.”
“Okay.”
“It’s valuable. Developers want it. Investors want it. Everyone wants it,” he said.
I nodded. “So?”
“So, let’s say there’s one person your family absolutely refuses to sell to. He’s essentially made himself an enemy of your family…”
“Titus’s dad in this case?”
“Exactly.”
Spencer gestured toward me. “Now, Herbert comes in with an offer, and your family declines. Or maybe they don’t, and they just double the price, so he loses interest because it’s no longer a good investment for him.”
“Okay…”
“Well,” Jim continued, “Herbert wasn’t a man who accepted being told no very often. If ever. So instead of buying the property himself, he creates Company A.”
I waited.
“He uses Company A and then makes an offer.”
“Then Company B purchases the neighboring land,” Spencer added. “And then Company C acquires access rights.”
“And all three shell companies belong to Herbert?”
“Bingo,” Spencer said.
“But in this case, the Valdéz family doesn’t know they belong to him,” Jim said.
“Right. They think they’re dealing with different buyers,” I said, following along a bit better now.
“Correct,” Jim said.
I sat back. “That’s shady.”
“Very.” Spencer nodded. “But being shady isn’t necessarily illegal.”
“It isn’t?”
“No.” He shrugged.
“People use holding companies and subsidiaries every day,” Jim said. “What’s illegal is lying about who controls them. That’s what happened in this case.”
“According to investigators,” Spencer continued, “Herbert signed documents stating that he had no ownership interest in several entities involved in those transactions.”
I stared at him. “When he actually did?”
“That’s what they’re claiming,” Jim said, leaning back in his chair.
Now it was starting to make sense to me. The Valdéz family hadn’t simply lost a business deal; they believed they had been intentionally deceived by the man for years.
“So Herbert obtained assets he could never have acquired honestly,” I said.
“That’s the argument,” Jim answered. “The government believes those structures remained active long after Herbert’s death.”
I looked at him. “And because Titus inherited the company…”
Jim nodded. “They’re attempting to prove he discovered those entities, understood what they were, and intentionally left them hidden.”
I stared at him. For several seconds, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Do you both think he knew about them?”
“No,” Jim answered. “Titus reviews everything. He’d probably audit his own toothbrush if someone gave him enough time.”
Spencer’s mouth twitched.
I looked back at Jim. “So, the entire case depends on proving Titus knew these companies existed?”
“Exactly.” Jim folded his hands. “They don’t need to prove Herbert created them. They already believe he did. They need to prove Titus inherited the knowledge.”
“And it was Christian Jameston who managed to dig all of this shit up?” I asked.
“From what we’re seeing, yes,” Jim said.
“And you truly believe Titus had no idea he had inherited this?” I asked Jim again.
“Yes, I believe that one hundred percent. Titus is ruthless, but he’s not crooked.
He has no need to be,” Jim insisted. “Titus wasn’t even old enough to know about any of it,” he continued.
“Colton and Wyatt said that whenever Titus discovered any wrongdoing his father had committed, he did everything he could to make it right with the families involved.”
Jim’s lips tightened. “When their mother was on her deathbed, they said Titus assured her that her husband’s sins were known and that he had done everything he could to make them right.
He wanted her to die in peace with that.
Unfortunately, these secrets were buried far deeper, and Jameston became obsessed with tracing the shell companies Titus never even knew his father had created. ”
“Unless his father told Lowell Jameston about them at the time,” I said.
“That would be the only reason those two idiots knew anything about Herbert owning those companies and about Titus never knowing for himself,” Jim said.
“Jesus,” I said.
“Our thoughts exactly.”
“Will they release him on bail?” I asked, knowing that if Titus were at least out, he would definitely know where to start clearing his name.
“Unfortunately, he’s the poster child for a flight risk,” Jim said. “I believe they’ll keep him detained for fear he’ll use his aircraft or hide in homes overseas. He could disappear off the face of the Earth in minutes if he wanted to.”
“I don’t think he would do that,” I said.
“No, but convincing the feds that Titus has a teddy-bear heart while facing charges that tell a different story makes it highly unlikely he’ll walk out of there until his name is cleared.”
“Goddammit,” I said, trying to think of a solution. “Perhaps I can talk with the Valdéz family. I mean, they were like a family to me when I was young. That’s got to count for something, right?”
“It couldn’t hurt,” Jim answered.
“Right. Well, I need to get working on that then, unless there’s anything else I need to know right now?” I said, grateful there might be something I could do to help.
“Nothing else as of now,” Jim said. “I will make plans to visit that family overseas with you, if you are willing.”
“Yeah, I might need a translator for all the legal stuff I don’t understand in your world.”
Jim let out a soft laugh as I rose, preparing to leave.
He stood with me. “I’ll be in touch as soon as my legal team has everything prepared for us when we meet with the family.”
“What about Christian Jameston?” I said before leaving.
“Don’t worry about that one,” Jim said. “Men like him die tripping on their swords in wars like these all the time.”
I smiled at the thought. What a fucking nightmare. I had to get out of here and clear my head.
The next step in all of this—and hopefully one that could help Titus—was to contact my mother, a woman I hadn’t spoken to in years.
We really didn’t have a relationship to speak of, and given the narcissistic parent she was to my sister and me, it was healthier that way.
However, Titus was in trouble, and my mother could easily get me an appointment to meet with the family.
They respected her more than anything, and I just had to hope she cared enough to at least do that for me.