Chapter 5 - THE TRAP CLOSESJasper’s confidence wavered for a split second, but he quickly hardened his stance, pulling the flash drive out of his coat and holding it up like a weapon.
“Don’t play games with me, Hailey!” Jasper shouted, his voice cracking with hysteria. “I have the Project Solis documents! I know about the bribes in South America! If I press one button on my phone, this entire file goes directly to the federal prosecutors! Your father’s company will be investigated, stock prices will plummet, and he’ll spend the rest of his life in federal prison! Give me my twenty million dollars and my son, or I burn your family to the ground!”
Hailey didn’t flinch. She didn’t even blink.
Instead, she slowly pulled a thin silver tablet from her coat, tapped the screen a few times, and turned it toward Jasper.
On the screen was a live video feed of an SEC enforcement division hearing room in Washington, D.C.
“Project Solis,” Hailey said calmly, “was a corporate sting operation conducted by Robertson Global in coordination with the Department of Justice seven years ago. We deliberately created those falsified regulatory files to catch a corrupt foreign minister who was attempting to extort international investors. The minister was convicted, the federal government commended my father, and the entire case file was sealed under federal security protocols.”
Jasper’s eyes went wide. “What... what?”
“In other words, Jasper,” Victoria Cross stepped forward, holding a sleek black binder, “the documents you stole from our archived servers are classified federal evidence. By downloading them, attempting to sell them, and using them to extort a corporate officer, you have committed three separate counts of aggravated federal extortion and corporate espionage.”
A cold dread, far worse than anything Jasper had felt before, washed over him. His hands began to shake violently.
“No... no! You’re lying!” Jasper screamed, dropping the flash drive onto the wet concrete floor. “This is a setup! You set me up!”
“You set yourself up, Jasper,” Hailey said, stepping right up to him. “You couldn't accept that you failed. You couldn't accept that you were an arrogant, mediocre man who abused his wife and abandoned his child. You had to push it. You had to try and steal your way back to the top.”
Heavy heavy footsteps echoed from the darkness behind Jasper.
He spun around in horror. Out of the shadows stepped six federal agents wearing FBI jackets, their badges glinting under the dim floodlights.
“Jasper Vance,” the lead agent announced, pulling out a set of steel handcuffs. “You are under arrest for federal extortion, theft of trade secrets, and illegal access of protected federal networks. Hands behind your back, now.”
“No! Please! Hailey, help me!” Jasper sobbed, dropping to his knees as the agents grabbed his arms and slammed him down against the cold, wet concrete. “Hailey! I’m the father of your son! You can’t do this to me! I’m sorry! I’ll take the bus! I’ll walk on my hands and knees! Please!”
May you like
Hailey looked down at her ex-husband as the handcuffs clicked tightly around his wrists.
“You gave me a handful of change to ride a bus when I couldn't even stand, Jasper,” Hailey whispered, her voice dropping to an icy, absolute chill. “Where you’re going... you won’t even need bus fare.”
