Chapter 17 - The Fall of Richard Carter
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Two dozen heavily armed state troopers and federal marshals swarmed the tarmac, forcing my father and mother down onto the wet pavement.
Heavy steel handcuffs clicked tightly around Richard's wrists. He didn't scream this time. He just lay there, staring blankly up at the dark sky as rain poured over his face.
Evelyn wailed hysterically as she was pulled up by her arms, her expensive fur coat soaked and ruined in the dirt.
"Madison! Tell them to stop!" she pleaded, tears running down her makeup-streaked face. "I'm your mother! You can't do this to me! I gave you life!"
I walked up to her, looking down into her panicked eyes.
"You gave me life, Evelyn," I said softly, my voice cold as winter ice. "But you tried to sell Ethan's. You will never touch him again."
Agent Marcus Vance was led past us in chains by two federal marshals, his head hanging low in utter disgrace.
Special Agent Sarah Reyes, the new lead investigator assigned to replace Vance, walked up to me and extended her hand.
"Lieutenant Commander Carter," Agent Reyes said warmly. "The federal court has finalized all documentation. The criminal charges against your parents carry mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole."
"And Ethan's trust?" I asked.
"Fully cleared and secured in a legal protection account overseen by an independent federal court master until he turns eighteen," Agent Reyes assured me. "Your emergency custody order has been converted into permanent, non-revocable legal guardianship."
I let out a long, shuddering breath that I felt like I had been holding for years.
The war was finally over. The corrupt empire my family built had collapsed under the weight of its own greed.
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I turned back toward the command vehicle, where Ethan was waiting inside, wrapped in a warm wool blanket.
When he saw me walking toward him, a huge, bright smile broke across his face—the first genuine smile I had seen on my little brother in years.
