Chapter 24 - THE FINAL THREAD
Five years after the trial, a detective from the FBI called my office.
It was Agent Reynolds.
I hadn't spoken to him since the sentencing.
"Emma," he said, his voice serious.
"I have some news."
"Is it Ethan?" I asked, my defenses immediately going up.
"No. Ethan is securely in federal prison."
"It's about Marcus."
I leaned back in my chair.
Marcus had been serving his twenty-year sentence quietly.
"What about him?"
"He died last night," Reynolds said.
"Prison altercation."
I sat in silence for a long moment.
I didn't feel joy.
I didn't feel sorrow.
I just felt a strange sense of finality.
"Why are you calling to tell me this?" I asked.
"Because before he died, he gave up one last piece of information."
My heart skipped a beat.
"What information?"
"He told us where they hid the reserve funds."
"The money they stole from the first three victims."
"The money we could never locate."
I gasped.
"Where was it?"
"Cayman Islands," Reynolds said.
"Under a shell company registered to a deceased relative of Marcus's."
"We're seizing the accounts today."
"We're going to be able to fully restitute Sarah and the others."
Tears sprang to my eyes.
Sarah had lost almost a million dollars.
It had devastated her life.
"That's incredible news," I whispered.
"I thought you'd want to know," Reynolds said.
"You started the domino effect, Emma."
"Without you, none of this would have been uncovered."
I hung up the phone and looked out my office window.
The final thread tying us to that dark past had finally been cut.
Marcus was gone.
The money was found.
The victims were being made whole.
I picked up my phone and dialed Sarah's number.
She answered on the second ring.
"Hey, Emma!"
"Sarah," I said, unable to keep the smile out of my voice.
"Are you sitting down?"
"Yes, why?"
"The FBI just found the reserve accounts."
"You're getting your money back."
There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line.
Then, a loud, beautiful sob of pure joy.
We cried together on the phone for ten minutes.
It wasn't just about the money.
It was about justice.
It was about the universe finally balancing the scales.
When I ended the call, I walked out of my office.
May you like
I looked at my staff, working diligently at their desks, helping women take their power back.
I had never felt more alive.
