Chapter 1 - The Federal Bait
Elena stared at my bruised face with a mixture of profound shock and rising anger.
She stepped closer to the sterile hospital bed and tightly gripped my trembling hand.
"What exactly are you planning to let them steal?" she asked in a hushed whisper.
I looked at the encrypted evidence drive resting safely on the white bedsheets.
"Derek has been desperately trying to access the restricted federal development fund for six months," I explained.
"It contains ten million dollars of government grant money meant for my father's community housing project."
"He could never bypass the dual-authorization security protocols without my physical security token."
"I am going to intentionally disable the security protocols right now."
Elena gasped loudly and immediately shook her head in sheer disbelief.
"If you let him take that money, you will be an accessory to a massive federal crime," she warned.
"Not if I file a suspicious activity report with the Department of Justice before he clicks the transfer button," I countered.
A slow, dangerous smile crept across my attorney's face as she finally understood my brilliant strategy.
"You are turning a simple domestic embezzlement case into a massive federal wire fraud sting," Elena whispered in awe.
I nodded slowly, opening my encrypted laptop to remotely lower the digital shields on the company's banking portal.
"Once he moves those specific federal funds into his mother's offshore account, he will face a mandatory minimum of twenty years in federal prison."
I typed in my master password and successfully removed the final security barrier.
My secure cell phone suddenly buzzed on the nightstand, displaying an incoming call from my husband.
I let it go directly to voicemail, feeling a cold wave of anxiety wash over my exhausted body.
Elena tapped her manicured finger against her chin as the notification chime echoed in the quiet room.
"Play the message on speaker," she instructed firmly.
Derek's heavy, aggressive breathing filled the sterile hospital room before he even spoke a single word.
"You think you are so clever for running away into the cold night," Derek sneered through the phone.
"I know you took your laptop, but you left your precious security token in the desk drawer."
"I am transferring the ten million dollars right now, and you are going to be left with absolutely nothing."
The voicemail clicked off, leaving a heavy silence hanging between me and my attorney.
I looked at my laptop screen to trace the IP address of the massive financial transfer he had just initiated.
My blood ran completely cold as the geographic location of the login pinged on my digital map.
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Derek was not executing the transfer from our house or the downtown corporate office.
The active IP address was pinging from the VIP suite located on the fourth floor of this exact hospital.
