Chapter 9 - The Federal Trap
I stared at the television screen in complete disbelief as the anchor displayed heavily doctored footage of the alleyway encounter.
Eleanor had used her limitless wealth to frame us for a murder we did not commit, completely turning the entire country against us.
I knew that running was no longer an option, because any local police officer would simply shoot us on sight.
Suddenly, the clinic doors burst open, and Alexander stumbled inside, covered in bruises and clutching his bleeding side.
He had somehow escaped the penthouse ambush and used a tracker in the maintenance car to find us.
I rushed to help him, showing him the poison patch and the news broadcast playing above our heads.
Alexander smiled through the pain, stating that Eleanor had finally made a fatal, arrogant mistake.
By using an experimental chemical manufactured across state lines, she had officially elevated this to a federal crime.
He pulled a secure satellite phone from his pocket and called a federal judge whose life he had saved during a corporate scandal years ago.
The judge agreed to a secret, midnight meeting at an abandoned shipyard on the edge of the city to receive the physical evidence.
We drove to the shipyard in silence, the heavy fog rolling off the dark ocean waters.
We found the judge standing alone under a flickering streetlamp, wearing a long trench coat.
I stepped out of the car, holding the evidence bag tightly, and walked toward the man who could end our nightmare.
May you like
As I handed the bag to the judge, he let out a dark, familiar laugh.
The judge slowly turned around, and Eleanor stepped out from the shadows directly behind him, holding a suppressed pistol.
