Chapter 4 - The Empty Bank Accounts
The hospital room fell into a stunned, horrifying silence that felt entirely suffocating.
My own sister had actively participated in severely burning my nine-year-old daughter.
"Why would Chloe do this to us?" Daniel asked, burying his face in his hands as he wept.
I knew that Chloe had always struggled with money and deep jealousy, but this was an act of pure evil.
The police officers immediately stepped out into the hallway to upgrade their search warrants and call for backup.
As I gently stroked Emma's hair, Daniel's cell phone suddenly began to vibrate wildly in his pocket.
He answered the call, and all the remaining color instantly drained from his face.
"What do you mean the accounts are empty?" Daniel shouted hysterically into the receiver.
He listened for another agonizing moment before dropping the phone onto the linoleum floor.
"Richard just cleared out our entire life savings and Emma's college fund," Daniel said, hyperventilating in panic.
"He transferred over four hundred thousand dollars to an untraceable offshore account."
I stood up, feeling a sudden surge of protective, maternal rage override my crippling grief.
"They planned this perfectly to destroy us and leave us with absolutely nothing," I said fiercely.
The lead police officer rushed back into the hospital room with a very grim expression.
"We just tracked your sister's cell phone signal using the emergency cell towers," the officer announced.
"She is currently at a small private airfield on the desolate edge of the county."
"They are trying to leave the country," Daniel realized in a blind panic.
"You need to stay here with Emma while we apprehend them before they take off," the officer commanded us.
I nodded in agreement, but I had absolutely no intention of staying put while they escaped.
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As soon as the officers left, I grabbed my car keys from Daniel's coat pocket and ran.
When I walked out into the freezing hospital parking lot, I found a bloody envelope tucked firmly under my windshield wiper.
