Chapter 5 - The Cartel's Ledger
The thick manila envelope hit Marcus in the chest and spilled its contents across the pristine Persian rug.
Dozens of bank statements, wire transfer receipts, and encrypted text printouts scattered across the floor.
Marcus scrambled wildly on his hands and knees, frantically trying to gather the papers before anyone could read them.
"Ashley, what have you done?" he screamed, his voice cracking with a genuine, primal terror that I had never heard from him before.
"I saved my own life," Ashley replied coldly, stepping back to stand beside my security detail.
"I found those hidden in your home office safe last night, and I realized you were planning to use my name to open offshore accounts."
Richard bent down, moving faster than his son, and snatched a piece of paper from the pile.
The older man's eyes quickly scanned the document, and all the color rapidly drained from his weathered face.
"Marcus... you took money from the Delgado family?" Richard whispered, looking at his son as if looking at a dead man.
Even Patricia stopped her dramatic sobbing, recognizing the name of the most dangerous organized crime syndicate in Colorado.
"I can fix it!" Marcus pleaded, holding up his hands defensively.
"I just needed a bridge loan to cover my margin calls, and the bank wouldn't approve it!"
I stepped forward, using the tip of my designer heel to pin one of the ledgers to the floor.
"You leveraged company assets to borrow money from a cartel, and when you couldn't pay it back, you tried to frame your girlfriend," I deduced quickly.
Marcus looked up at me, his eyes wide, feral, and completely unhinged.
"They said they would kill me, Kesha!" he sobbed, grabbing the hem of my expensive coat.
"You have billions of dollars, you can pay them off! You have to save me!"
I yanked my coat out of his pathetic grip and stared down at him with absolute disgust.
"I wouldn't spend a single dime to save you from a papercut, let alone a cartel debt," I told him fiercely.
I turned to my head of security, a massive former Navy SEAL named Vance, who was already speaking quickly into his earpiece.
"Vance, get the children to the helicopter immediately," I ordered, my maternal instincts screaming that the environment was no longer safe.
"Mommy, what's wrong?" Ethan asked, his small hand gripping my suit jacket.
"Nothing, sweetie, we are just going to take a fun ride in the sky right now," I lied smoothly, trying to keep them calm.
Vance nodded and began ushering the quadruplets toward the open front door.
But before they could cross the threshold, the deafening roar of powerful engines echoed through the snowy valley.
Three matte-black SUVs tore up the long, winding driveway, crushing the pristine snow and violently blocking the path to my helicopter.
Marcus let out a horrifying shriek of pure panic and scrambled to hide behind the large velvet sofa.
"They found me!" Marcus screamed, covering his head with his arms.
The doors of the SUVs swung open simultaneously, and twelve large men wearing dark tactical gear stepped out into the freezing wind.
They weren't carrying briefcases or legal documents; they were carrying heavily modified assault rifles.
The lead man, wearing a long black trench coat, calmly walked up the porch steps and smiled dangerously at me.
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"Nobody is getting on that helicopter today, Mrs. Sterling," the man said, pulling a signed contract from his pocket.
"Your ex-husband explicitly listed these four children as his collateral."
