Chapter 22 - The Trap is Set
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For the next forty-eight hours, my legal team coordinated meticulously with the Chicago Police Department and federal prosecutors. Because Julian had used certified mail to cross state lines with an extortion demand, the case escalated immediately to wire fraud and federal extortion.
Evelyn drafted a highly specific email to Julian, adopting a tone of desperate compliance. She wrote that I wanted to avoid any further legal battles, that I conceded the existence of the note, and that I was willing to hand over a certified cashier's check for five million dollars if he brought the original document to my office in person to be destroyed.
Julian, blinded by greed and assuming he had finally broken me, accepted immediately.
The meeting was scheduled for Thursday afternoon in a private conference room on the ground floor of the foundation building. The room was rigged with high-definition hidden cameras and microphones.
"Are you sure you want to be in the room for this, Arthur?" Clara asked me as we stood in the surveillance hub in the basement, watching the monitors. "Evelyn can handle the transaction."
"No," I replied, adjusting my cuffs. "He came for me. I need to be the one sitting across the table when the walls close in. I need him to look at me and realize that the brother he used to bully is completely gone."
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Marcus handed me a small earpiece. "The plainclothes detectives are staged in the adjoining room. Once he produces the document and demands the money, say the code word 'Closure,' and they will breach."
I nodded, took a deep breath, and walked out toward the conference room. It was time to finish this.
