Chapter 4 - The Phantom Thief
The silence returned, but this time it was suffocating and thick with impending doom.
Daniel stared at the digital transfer logs, tracing the unique cryptographic signature that matched his wife's private banking credentials.
"I didn't steal any money!" Elena screamed, her voice breaking into a hysterical pitch.
She rushed to the table and stared at the complex financial codes, entirely unable to comprehend what she was looking at.
"I don't even know how to set up an offshore account, Daniel, you manage all of our finances!" she pleaded.
Daniel looked at her, his analytical mind processing her genuine panic and absolute lack of technological skill.
He knew she was a terrible liar, and right now, she was telling the absolute truth.
"If Marcus didn't take it, and Elena doesn't know how to take it, who authorized the transfer?" Sarah asked nervously.
Daniel closed the red folder, his jaw clenching as a dark realization slowly dawned on him.
"Marcus wasn't the mastermind of this embezzlement, he was just a desperate puppet," Daniel concluded.
Someone much more dangerous had used Marcus's affair with Elena to frame her for a massive corporate theft.
Before Daniel could formulate a plan, the harsh glare of flashing red and blue lights illuminated the living room windows.
Two heavily marked police cruisers had just parked silently on their front lawn, blocking the driveway completely.
Elena let out a terrified shriek, immediately assuming they were here to arrest her for the missing two million dollars.
"They found the money, I am going to federal prison for a crime I didn't commit!" she cried, grabbing Daniel's sleeve.
Daniel violently pulled his arm away from her grasp, walking cautiously toward the front window.
He peered through the blinds, analyzing the tactical positioning of the officers exiting the vehicles.
"They aren't here for the corporate embezzlement, Elena," Daniel said, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper.
"Financial crimes are handled by federal agents in suits, not local patrol officers in tactical gear."
Sarah backed away from the window, instinctively placing a protective hand over her pregnant belly.
"Then why are they drawing their weapons?" Sarah asked, her eyes wide with sudden terror.
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Daniel turned to his wife, his icy stare piercing right through her soul.
"They are here for the hit-and-run accident you caused on Route 9 last year, the one you swore to me was just a scraped guardrail."
