Chapter 5 - The Empty Room
I stared at the tracking map on my phone as the red dot moved rapidly north toward the city.
I realized my mother was using the deepfake video as a distraction while the prototype buyer closed in on my location.
I immediately forwarded the deepfake threat and the original, untampered security footage to a federal cyber-crimes detective.
The detective ran a rapid forensic analysis and confirmed my mother's video was a digital forgery.
This provided the absolute proof of extortion needed to trigger a federal arrest warrant.
The detective promised to coordinate with the Miami tactical team to raid their luxury hotel room instantly.
I held my breath as I waited for the confirmation call from the authorities.
I imagined my arrogant mother and greedy sister finally being slammed to the floor in handcuffs.
Fifteen minutes later, the federal detective called me back with a completely baffled tone.
He said the Miami tactical squad had breached the hotel room doors just seconds ago.
They did not find my mother, my sister, or my brother-in-law inside the expensive suite.
The massive room was completely empty of all luggage, clothing, and personal belongings.
The only thing left behind was a cheap burner phone resting on the glass coffee table.
The phone contained a single, mocking audio message recorded by Mark.
He laughed into the microphone, stating that they always knew I would check the cameras eventually.
He revealed that the credit card swipe for the charter flight was just a decoy to waste the police's time.
The detective asked me if I had any idea where my highly dangerous family might actually be.
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I looked down at the GPS tracking application on my laptop screen.
The red dot representing the stolen prototype had just crossed the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan.
