Chapter 10 - The Reckoning
Greg explained that while the spyware was running, he had been saving the most critical files directly to the flash drive.
He had purposely left the laptop open to act as a decoy.
We didn't waste a single second; we took the flash drive straight to the local FBI field office, bypassing the corrupt local police entirely.
We sat in a sterile interrogation room for six hours while federal agents verified the financial documents.
By sunrise, they had enough evidence to secure federal arrest warrants for wire fraud, identity theft, and extortion.
Later that afternoon, heavily armed federal agents raided Eleanor's house during their Sunday family dinner.
We watched from a parked car across the street as Rachel was dragged out in handcuffs, screaming and crying that it was a mistake.
Her corrupt lawyer was arrested at his country club an hour later.
Eleanor tried to run up to our car to beg Greg for help, but he simply rolled up the window and drove away forever.
Within a month, the federal authorities managed to freeze Rachel's accounts and return all our stolen money.
Mark used the arrest to immediately secure full custody of the boys, removing them from Rachel's toxic influence.
With the settlement money from the city for the corrupt police raid, Greg and I paid off our house completely.
We finally bought an even bigger, more beautiful TV for our living room, a massive 95-inch screen.
We sat on the couch, drinking wine and laughing, knowing the nightmare was finally over.
Everything was perfect, and our lives were completely back to normal.
Then, my phone buzzed with a text from an unknown, encrypted number.
I opened it and saw a photograph of our new living room window, taken from the dark street outside.
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Right in the center of the photo, resting on the screen of our brand-new TV, was a tiny, glowing red laser dot.
The text message beneath it simply read, "She didn't work alone."
