Chapter 9 - The Federal Raid
The ceiling tiles collapsed in a massive cloud of white dust and debris.
My father stumbled backward, dropping his weapon as heavy chunks of concrete crashed to the floor.
Through the blinding dust, four tactical flashlights cut through the darkness of the corridor.
Men in heavy tactical gear repelled down through the broken skylight, shouting orders.
The letters FBI were boldly printed in bright yellow across their armored vests.
The trustworthy hospital detective stepped through the dust and kicked my father’s gun away.
He looked at me, smiled grimly, and said he had received my text message just in time.
Two federal agents grabbed my father, slammed him against the orange metal doors, and heavily cuffed his wrists.
My father screamed furiously, demanding his lawyers and threatening to destroy everyone in the room.
The detective ignored him and gently took the black ledger from my shaking hands.
He flipped through the pages and whistled, stating that this book was going to empty out half of the city hall.
I stumbled out of the storage unit, coughing violently from the thick concrete dust.
As they dragged my father away in handcuffs, I saw Marcus pinned to the ground at the end of the hallway.
He looked up at me with terrified, desperate eyes and begged me to tell them he had helped me.
I looked directly at my brother and told the federal agents he was the second-in-command of the entire operation.
The agents hauled Marcus to his feet and read him his rights as they marched him out the door.
I walked out of the facility and took a deep breath of the cold, clean night air.
The nightmare that had haunted my family for over a decade was finally coming to a close.
The detective offered me a ride in his unmarked cruiser back to the city.
I sat in the passenger seat, watching the flashing red and blue lights fade into the distance behind us.
I told the detective I just wanted to go back to the hospital and see my son.
May you like
He nodded, put the car in drive, and promised me that nobody would ever hurt Eli again.
We arrived at the hospital just as the morning sun began to rise over the city skyline.
