Chapter 29 - The Setup at the DinerBy 1:00 PM the next day, the federal sting operation was fully underway.
Following Agent Miller’s instructions, Julian used a secure burner phone to send an anonymous tip to Assistant DA Marcus Vance, claiming that a hidden safe deposit box containing the missing Vanguard ledger was located at a quiet, retro diner on the outskirts of Nashville.
Sitting in an unmarked federal surveillance van parked across the street from the diner, I stared through the tinted glass at the entrance. Julian sat beside me, monitoring the audio feeds from the hidden microphones agents had planted inside booth number four.
Through the video monitor, we watched as Marcus Vance walked briskly into the diner, wearing a dark suit and scanning the room nervously before sliding into booth number four.
Ten minutes later, a local courier hired by the DOJ walked in and placed a plain brown envelope on Vance’s table—the bait containing digital copies of the hacked Vanguard ledger.
We listened through our earpieces as Vance opened the envelope, his eyes widening as he realized what he was holding.
“This is it,” Vance muttered into his phone, believing he was speaking securely to my mother’s defense attorney. “If the Bennetts get their hands on this, the whole operation goes down. I need forty grand wired to my offshore account by tonight, or I burn the evidence myself.”
Inside the surveillance van, Agent Miller smiled faintly, picking his radio mic up off the dashboard.
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“All units, this is Miller. The target has accepted the bribe and confirmed extortion on federal wire. Move in.”
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