Chapter 5 - THE EMBEZZLEMENT BOMB“We move in on my mark,” Detective Vance radioed to the perimeter team. “Target is armed and high-risk.”
“No, wait!” I grabbed the detective’s arm, pointing at the window. “Look at what Victor is holding!”
Victor was holding a biometric scanner wired directly to a satellite laptop sitting on the dining table. Beside it was a thick stack of corporate ledger bonds—the original stock certificates of Carter Enterprises worth over $120 million.
“If you storm the building, they’ll press execute on that terminal,” I urged, my mind piecing together the corporate puzzle. “My mother set up a dead-man's switch on the Carter corporate accounts. If her heart rate spikes above 160 or drops to zero without entering the override code, every cent in the estate automatically transfers to an untraceable offshore trust in Panama!”
“How do you know that?!” Detective Vance asked, shocked.
“Because I helped her code the software three years ago!” I replied. “I was a senior software developer before Daniel forced me out of my job! If you attack now, they lose the money, they kill my mother, and they flee the country!”
“What do you suggest?” Vance demanded, his radio buzzing with anxious SWAT team members awaiting orders.
“Let me walk in there,” I said, my voice terrifyingly calm. “I’m the only one who can unlock the override code. Daniel needs me alive, and Victor thinks I’m a helpless victim.”
“Are you crazy, Madison? You’re freshly out of surgery!”
“I’m the only chance my mother has.”
Before Vance could stop me, I opened the SUV door and stepped out into the freezing rain. Slipping past the tree line, I walked straight toward the front porch of the cabin, the heavy iron door looming in front of me.
I kicked the door open with all the remaining strength in my body.
The heavy oak door slammed against the wall with a deafening crash.
Daniel spun around, his eyes wild with rage, raising a pistol directly at my chest. Victor didn't even flinch; he simply took another sip of his scotch and smiled smoothly.
“Well, well,” Victor purred, his voice like grinding stones. “The dutiful daughter arrives. Look at you, Madison. Fresh stitches, bleeding through your shirt, and still playing the hero.”
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“Let her go, Victor!” I choked out, holding my side as fresh pain flared through my abdomen. “You have the money! You have the estate! Leave my mother out of this!”
“You poor, foolish girl,” Daniel sneered, stepping closer and pressing the barrel of the gun against my forehead. “You think this was about Arthur’s estate? Arthur Carter was bankrupt! His entire empire was built on stolen government defense funds that your mother helped him launder!”
