Chapter 7 - The Evidence on the Table
|
Gloria finally found her voice, though it lacked its usual imperious edge. It wavered, sounding thin and incredibly small.
"This is utterly ridiculous, Daniel," she snapped, desperately trying to summon her matriarchal authority. "You come bursting into this house with strangers? She's turning you against your own family! She's been spinning lies while you were gone!"
Daniel slowly turned his head to look at the woman who had raised him. The woman who had demanded respect while systematically robbing him blind.
"No, Mom," Daniel said, his voice entirely made of ice. "You did that all by yourself."
Tessa couldn't handle the pressure. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed onto the edge of the leather couch, bursting into loud, hysterical tears.
"We didn't mean anything by it, Danny!" Tessa wailed, mascara running down her face. "It was just a misunderstanding! We were going to put it all back, I swear!"
Detective Harris cleared his throat, drawing all attention to the dining room table. He casually flipped open the heavy manila folder.
"That's highly unfortunate, ma'am," Harris stated in a dry, professional monotone. "Because the United States government doesn't view wire fraud as a simple misunderstanding."
Harris began sliding high-resolution photographs and printed documents across the polished wood table like a blackjack dealer laying out a winning hand.
First came the security footage screenshots. Gloria, clearly identifiable, standing at an ATM across town, using Daniel's deployment debit card to withdraw maximum limits at 2:00 AM.
Next were the bank transfer logs, highlighted in bright yellow, showing the exact routing numbers moving thousands of dollars from Daniel's charity accounts directly into Tessa's personal checking.
Then came the forged signature pages.
Finally, Harris dropped a massive stack of commercial loan documents bearing Marcus's name, but utilizing Daniel's military identification numbers and social security profile as the primary guarantor.
Marcus stared down at the table in absolute, unadulterated horror. His mouth opened and closed silently like a suffocating fish.
"How... how did you get all of those?" Marcus finally gasped, looking wildly between Daniel and the federal agents.
May you like
I wiped the last trace of blood from my chin, squared my shoulders, and finally smiled. It was a cold, ruthless smile.
"Forensic accountants are incredibly thorough, Marcus," I said clearly. "I told you I was working from home. I just didn't tell you exactly what I was working on."
