Chapter 9 - The Federal Snare
"Get down!" I screamed, diving toward Robert.
I grabbed his suit jacket and pulled him forcefully to the floor just as a suppressed gunshot cracked through the night air.
The bullet shattered the heavy ceramic vase resting on the table exactly where Robert had been standing a second earlier.
Chloe shrieked in terror and scrambled under the heavy oak dining table.
"Victoria, call it off!" I yelled into the phone lying on the floor.
"Fifty seconds," Victoria laughed maniacally over the speaker.
"Make the call, Sarah."
Robert lay flat on his stomach, completely unfazed by the bullet that had nearly ended his life.
He pulled a small tactical radio from his pocket and pressed the transmission button.
"Alpha Team, this is Eagle," Robert barked into the radio.
"I have a hostile marksman on the roof of the parking garage across the street."
"Eliminate the threat."
We waited in agonizing silence as the seconds ticked down on Victoria's twisted countdown.
"Thirty seconds," the evil woman taunted over the phone.
Suddenly, a massive burst of automatic gunfire echoed from the building across the street, followed by a loud, echoing crash.
"Target neutralized, Eagle," a deep voice crackled over Robert's tactical radio.
"The sniper is in custody."
Robert smiled and picked up the phone from the floor.
"Your assassin missed, Victoria," he said coldly.
The line was dead silent for a moment before I heard the sound of police sirens blaring in the background of Victoria's end.
"Get out of the vehicle with your hands up!" an officer yelled through a megaphone on her end of the call.
Victoria let out a blood-curdling scream of pure defeat before the call disconnected entirely.
Robert stood up and brushed the glass off his expensive suit.
"It is finally over," he breathed, offering a hand to help me off the floor.
I pulled Chloe out from under the table, holding her tightly as we both cried tears of sheer relief.
The next morning, the news channels were dominated by the spectacular downfall of the Dudley family.
Lewis was arrested for embezzling millions from his law firm and charged with aggravated assault against my daughter.
When Victoria arrogantly tried to use the forged deed to post his bail, the federal trap sprang shut.
The IRS immediately froze all of her bank accounts, seized her mansion, and charged her with massive tax fraud.
She was hauled out of the courthouse in handcuffs, screaming obscenities at the reporters snapping photos of her ruin.
They had tried to destroy my daughter for real estate, and they had lost absolutely everything in return.
Over the next few weeks, our lives slowly returned to normal.
The federal government cleared the tax liens from the condo, returning the property safely to Chloe's name.
Chloe's bruises faded, and with the help of intense therapy, the light finally returned to her beautiful eyes.
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Robert and I even started having dinner together on weekends, slowly rebuilding the friendship we had lost so many years ago.
It was a perfectly happy ending for our family.
