Chapter 10 - The False Victory
I sat in the secure conference room of the state bureau, sipping a cup of hot coffee.
The nightmare that had started on a freezing front porch was finally completely over.
Daniel and Vanessa were locked in federal holding cells, facing dozens of life sentences.
Emily had been transferred to a secure federal hospital wing, and doctors assured me she would make a full recovery.
I felt a profound, exhausting peace settle over my tired bones.
I realized I hadn't seen Marcus since he went down the hall to give his official statement to the detectives.
I pulled out my phone and dialed his number to thank him for saving my daughter's life.
The phone rang twice before I heard the faint, muffled sound of his ringtone echoing down the hallway.
I walked out of the conference room, following the electronic chime toward the lead investigator's private office.
The heavy wooden door was slightly ajar, and the lights inside were completely turned off.
I pushed the door open, ready to tell Marcus we could finally go home.
The lead investigator was standing behind his desk in the dark, bathed only in the pale light of his computer screen.
He was slowly flipping through the pages of the red ledger I had fought so hard to find.
He was not looking for evidence, he was reading it with a satisfied, greedy smile.
I looked down at his other hand and felt the blood freeze completely in my veins.
He was holding Marcus's cell phone, and the screen was smeared with fresh, bright red blood.
The investigator looked up at me, his smile dropping into a mask of pure malice.
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"Daniel was just a low-level supplier who got too sloppy, Clara," the investigator said softly, pulling his service weapon from his holster.
"But I want to thank you personally, because you just delivered the entire inventory catalog right to my desk."
