Chapter 3 - The Enemy Within
I stared at my own name on the glaring screen, feeling the sterile walls of the hospital rapidly closing in around me.
Whoever orchestrated this highly sophisticated theft knew exactly how the State Attorney General’s office operated.
They had successfully used my own restricted digital signature to lock the funds in an untraceable shadow account.
I immediately called my deputy, Mark, demanding to know exactly who had accessed my secure office terminal tonight.
Mark sounded completely panicked, telling me that someone had physically logged into my computer just an hour ago.
The building's internal security footage showed a woman wearing a heavy trench coat and a cheap blonde wig.
Dana was blonde, but she had been at the police station crying on my brother's shoulder at that exact time.
I realized with a terrifying jolt that Dana was not the mastermind of this operation.
Dana was just a violent, greedy pawn in a much larger and more dangerous game.
Captain Ross had the security clearance, the local connections, and the sheer audacity to bypass our state protocols.
I aggressively ordered Mark to lock down the entire government building and remotely wipe my hard drives immediately.
I absolutely could not risk them finding the confidential audit files I had secretly built against the Westbridge precinct.
I hired two private, heavily armed security contractors to stand directly outside my mother's hospital room door.
I kissed her warm forehead and promised I would be back to protect her before sunrise.
I drove straight to my mother’s sprawling suburban house to secure her personal floor safe and her passport.
The heavy oak front door was wide open, swaying gently and eerily in the harsh wind.
I smoothly drew my concealed carry weapon and stepped quietly into the dark, silent foyer.
The beautiful childhood home I remembered had been completely and violently ransacked.
Antique furniture was overturned, expensive paintings were ripped from the walls, and shattered glass covered the hardwood floor.
The intruders were desperately and systematically looking for something very specific.
I made my way to the master bedroom, keeping my gun raised and my tactical senses sharp.
My mother’s hidden floor safe had been brutally pried open with a heavy industrial crowbar.
The safe was completely empty, stripped of every document and family heirloom.
Suddenly, the blinding, aggressive glare of heavy police flashlights completely filled the narrow hallway behind me.
A harsh, booming voice commanded me to drop the weapon and put my hands on my head immediately.
It was Captain Ross, standing confidently in the doorway flanked by three heavily armed tactical SWAT officers.
I slowly and carefully lowered my gun, reminding him in a cold tone that this was my mother’s private property.
Ross smiled a deeply unsettling smile and pulled a folded piece of paper from his tactical vest.
He proudly announced that he had a signed, expedited warrant for my immediate arrest.
The listed charges were severe elder abuse and the brutal attempted murder of my own mother.
He slowly stepped aside to reveal my brother Michael standing nervously in the deep shadows of the hall.
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Michael refused to meet my eyes as he pointed a trembling finger at me.
He quietly and clearly stated to the officers that I was the one who broke our mother's ribs.
