Chapter 7 - The Frame Job
Vanessa casually tossed a thick file onto the metal table in front of my trembling son.
She did not look like the pampered, sneering housewife from the birthday party anymore.
Her posture was rigid, her eyes were cold, and her silver badge gleamed under the harsh fluorescent lights.
Victor stuttered and asked her what kind of sick, twisted joke this was supposed to be.
Vanessa leaned across the table and told him to shut his mouth and listen carefully.
She revealed that she had been working undercover for a federal task force for the past three years.
Her sole assignment was to infiltrate our family and find evidence of corporate money laundering.
She had married Victor simply because he was the weakest, most gullible link to my construction empire.
Vanessa explained that her task force believed I was hiding millions of dollars in illegal mob kickbacks.
She needed Victor to forge my signature on the mob loan to prove I had ties to Volkov's syndicate.
When the corrupt lawyer panicked and threatened to expose the operation, Vanessa had him silenced permanently.
She set Victor up to take the fall for the murder so she could maintain her flawless undercover identity.
Victor wept loudly, finally realizing that every single aspect of his adult life had been a pathetic lie.
Vanessa pulled a legal document from her folder and slid a black pen across the metal table.
She offered Victor a full immunity plea deal if he agreed to testify against me in federal court.
She wanted him to lie under oath and swear I was the mastermind behind the mob loan and the murder.
Victor looked down at the pen, knowing this was his only chance to avoid a life sentence in prison.
He slowly reached his shaking hand forward and wrapped his fingers around the cold plastic pen.
I watched from behind the two-way mirror, waiting to see if my son would betray me one final time.
Before the pen could touch the paper, the heavy door of the interrogation room swung open again.
The precinct captain walked in and respectfully held the heavy door wide open.
May you like
He stepped aside to clear the path for the real authority in the building.
I walked into the interrogation room flanked by the District Attorney and the Governor of California.
