Chapter 19
The aftermath was a blur of flashing lights and crackling police radios. I stood near the open doors of the warehouse, the cool autumn air finally clearing the stench of the building from my lungs. I watched impassively as two deputies hoisted Victor to his feet. His tailored shirt was torn, his face pale and slack. As they walked him past me toward the waiting squad car, he didn't even lift his head.
Laura was brought out next. She was weeping hysterically, begging the officers to let her speak to her daughter. The deputies ignored her, guiding her firmly into the back of a separate cruiser. The doors slammed shut, sealing their fates.
A tall, gray-haired man in a windbreaker approached me, holstering his weapon. It was Detective Miller, a man I had worked with on a dozen federal fraud cases.
"Daniel," Miller said, shaking his head as he surveyed the hidden office my team was already dismantling. "When dispatch patched your feed through to my office, I couldn't believe it. The Hale firm is going to be national news by morning."
"Make sure you get the laptops in the back," I told him, keeping my voice low. "There are dozens of forged deeds on there. He was draining retirement accounts."
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"We've got it all," Miller assured me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Federal prosecutors are already drafting the indictments. They're going away for a very long time, Daniel. Both of them."
I nodded, looking past him toward the flashing lights of the ambulance parked near the garage. The financial fraud was a victory for the state, but it wasn't what mattered to me. I excused myself from the detective and walked across the gravel, my eyes fixed on the open back doors of the emergency vehicle.
