Chapter 7 - The Digital Ransom
I frantically untied my wrists, coughing violently as the thick black smoke completely filled my burning lungs.
I dove through the roaring flames, singeing my clothes as I desperately grabbed the silver laptop Arthur had foolishly left near the door.
I grabbed a heavy fire extinguisher from the wall and smashed it fiercely through the reinforced glass of the front window.
I tumbled out onto the wet, freezing pavement just as the entire roof of the salon collapsed in a massive, fiery explosion.
I lay on the cold ground for several minutes, gasping for clean air while the distant sound of fire sirens grew louder.
I forced myself to stand up, clutching the precious laptop tightly against my chest as I disappeared into the dark alleyways.
I found a cheap, twenty-four-hour internet cafe in a sketchy neighborhood and rented a secluded computer terminal in the back corner.
I booted up Arthur's laptop, using the forensic software on my encrypted flash drive to bypass his rudimentary security passwords.
I finally accessed his hidden offshore accounts, seeing the exact five million dollars he had stolen from my lending company.
I quickly initiated a complex, heavily encrypted wire transfer, sending the exact ransom amount directly to the cartel's designated routing number.
I typed a secure, anonymous message to the cartel boss, demanding that Victoria be safely released at a public subway station within the hour.
I also downloaded the massive cache of emails and documents Arthur had saved, detailing his extensive fraud and his fake relationship with Elena.
While scrolling through the documents, my blood ran completely cold as I opened a specific, highly encrypted email folder.
The folder contained dozens of recent messages between Arthur and the exact police detective who had issued my arrest warrant.
Arthur had been paying the corrupt detective a massive monthly salary to protect his illegal activities and bury his victims.
The detective was actively using the police force's GPS tracking system to hunt me down for Arthur.
I looked down at the silver laptop, realizing with sheer horror that the internal wireless card was broadcasting my exact location.
The heavy glass doors of the internet cafe suddenly shattered as three heavily armed tactical police officers stormed into the room.
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They aimed their laser-sighted assault rifles directly at my chest, screaming for me to put my hands in the air.
The corrupt detective walked slowly through the broken doors, smiling a chilling, victorious smile as he pulled out his handcuffs.
