Chapter 7 - Let Them Steal
The bus dropped me two blocks from the downtown police precinct. By the time I pushed through the heavy glass doors of the station, my feet were bleeding, and my lip had swollen to twice its normal size. The desk sergeant took one look at my bruised face and shivering frame and immediately radioed for a paramedic.
I braced my hands on the reception counter, looking the sergeant dead in the eye. I managed to force out one clear, unwavering sentence.
“My husband attacked me, and I have irrefutable proof.”
The room suddenly tilted violently. The adrenaline crash hit me like a freight train, and the world faded to black.
I woke up hours later in a stark white hospital bed. The steady beep of a heart monitor filled the room. A uniformed police officer was sitting in a chair by the door, scrolling through his phone. Sitting right beside my bed, tightly gripping my hand, was Elena Ruiz. She was a powerhouse litigator who owed her career to a scholarship my father had funded decades ago.
“You’re safe now,” Elena said softly, her eyes blazing with protective fury as she looked at my bruised face.
“No,” I whispered, my throat dry and scratchy. “Not yet.”
Elena leaned closer, her brow furrowing. “The police have seen the video, Lena. We have enough to arrest him right now.”
I looked at the wall clock. It was 7:00 a.m. Derek’s investors were arriving in an hour. Then, I looked at the sealed, encrypted evidence drive resting on the bedside table—the drive Elena had brought containing all my financial forensic work.
“Freeze the company operating accounts,” I instructed, my voice raspy but firm. “But do not arrest them yet.”
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Her eyes sharpened, analyzing my expression. “What exactly are you planning?”
I gently wiped a fresh drop of blood from my split lip. “I’m letting them steal one more thing.”
