Chapter 2 - The Fall Guy
The rain hammered against my roof as I stared at the dashboard clock.
It was nearly midnight, and the wedding reception had turned into a crime scene.
Fourteen million dollars in cartel debt was not something you could fight in a courtroom.
It was the kind of debt that ended with a burned-out car at the bottom of a lake.
I watched as a female officer placed handcuffs around my daughter’s wrists.
Emma did not resist.
She looked entirely broken, her expensive white dress dragging through the spilled champagne and ruined floral arrangements.
Blake, meanwhile, was speaking to a slick-looking lawyer who had just arrived on the scene.
Within minutes, the lawyer handed a document to the lead detective.
Blake smirked, straightened his tuxedo jacket, and walked out the front doors of the hotel a free man.
He did not even glance at his bride as he climbed into a waiting town car.
My knuckles turned white as I gripped the steering wheel.
I had intended to let Emma learn a hard lesson today, but this was a death sentence.
I put the car in park and stepped out into the freezing rain.
By the time I reached the lobby doors, the police were leading Emma toward a squad car.
"Dad!" she screamed, her voice cracking with pure terror when she saw me.
"Dad, please, I didn't know!" she sobbed, pulling against the officer's grip.
"I didn't sign anything about money, I swear!" she cried out.
I stood silently under the awning, letting her tears wash away the last of her cruel arrogance.
"You signed whatever Blake told you to sign, Emma," I said coldly.
"He told me it was a tax form for the honeymoon!" she pleaded.
The officer nudged her forward, and she stumbled into the back of the cruiser.
I watched the police car drive away, carrying my daughter to the precinct.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Marcus again.
"Get to the precinct and post her bail," I ordered.
"I can't," Marcus replied, his voice shaking.
"Why not?" I snapped.
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"Because the cartel already knows she took the debt, Mr. Mercer," Marcus whispered.
"They just paid her bail anonymously, and they are waiting for her at the precinct release doors."
