Chapter 40 - The Reckoning
While I was preparing for the senate testimony, the wheels of justice finally caught up to the last remaining shadows of my past.
James walked into my office late on a Tuesday evening, holding a copy of a federal indictment record.
"I thought you should see this before it hits the local news cycle tomorrow," James said gently, placing the document on my desk.
I looked at the name on the docket. Mark Davis.
"His previous wire fraud sentence was suspended on a probationary plea deal," James explained. "But he just got caught attempting to run a predatory real estate scam on a group of elderly investors. The federal prosecutor is revoking his probation. He's going back to federal prison, Emma. And this time, it’s a mandatory minimum of ten years."
I stared at the paper. For so long, Mark had been a looming specter, a monster who believed he was smarter than the system. He had destroyed our family, betrayed my trust, and tried to leave me in ruins.
Now, he was just a federal inmate number. A pathetic, broken man who would spend the next decade in a concrete cell, entirely forgotten by the world he tried to manipulate.
"Do you want me to monitor the sentencing?" James asked, watching my reaction carefully.
May you like
"No," I said, sliding the document into the trash can. "He doesn't exist to me anymore, James. He hasn't existed in a very long time. Let the feds have him. I have a senate hearing to prepare for."
I walked over to James, wrapping my arms around his neck, breathing in the comforting scent of his cologne. The past was permanently sealed.
