Chapter 7 - Setting the Trap
By noon, the clouds over the city had darkened into a thick, bruising purple.
A cold November rain began to pelt against the windshield of Arthur Vance’s black sedan.
We were parked two blocks away from my house, hidden beneath the canopy of an overgrown elm tree.
Sitting in the back seat were two men in dark suits: Detective Miller from the county sheriff’s financial crimes division and Assistant District Attorney Greg Hayes.
On the center console between us, a digital audio receiver was glowing with faint green levels.
Detective Miller was adjusting the frequency of a tiny wireless transmitter pinned beneath the collar of my flannel shirt.
“Test one, two,” Miller said into his headset.
“Audio is crystal clear, Nathan.”
“Keep your voice at a normal conversational volume.”
“The microphone will pick up everything within fifteen feet.”
Assistant District Attorney Hayes leaned forward, resting his forearms on the front headrests.
He held a thick manila folder containing the forensic audit and the forged power of attorney.
“Nathan, I want to be very clear about our legal objective today,” Hayes said with razor-sharp precision.
“We already have enough circumstantial evidence to bring Marcus Reed in for questioning regarding the forged notary seal.”
“However, Samantha’s defense attorneys could easily claim she was an unwitting victim of Reed’s fraudulent schemes.”
“They will argue that Reed tricked her into signing loan documents she didn't fully understand.”
“For us to hit her with Class A felony grand larceny, conspiracy, and wire fraud, we need her to explicitly acknowledge knowledge of the forgery and the diversion of funds.”
“She has to state, in her own words, that the money from the commercial land loan was hidden from Terrance and from you.”
I stared out the rain-streaked window at the quiet suburban neighborhood.
This was the street where Samantha and I had bought our first home five years ago.
I had planted the maple tree in the front yard.
I had painted the front porch railings by hand.
I had poured every ounce of my sweat, my income, and my trust into building a life with this woman.
And all the while, she had viewed me as nothing more than an obedient, gullible fool.
“She will say it,” I told Hayes, my voice chillingly calm.
“She thinks she is untouchable.”
“She thinks because my father was a blue-collar laborer who wore dirty boots, he was too stupid to figure out a real estate scheme.”
“And she thinks because I love her, I am too weak to stand up to her.”
“Her arrogance will be her undoing.”
Arthur Vance turned to look at me, his eyes full of quiet professional respect.
“Your father woke up briefly twenty minutes ago, Nathan,” Vance said softly.
I whipped my head toward him.
“Is he okay?”
“Dr. Reynolds called my office,” Vance replied, a faint smile touching his mouth.
“The breathing tube was removed.”
“He is breathing entirely on his own.”
“The first thing he asked the nurse was whether his boy had gotten the envelope.”
A surge of fierce, burning strength surged through my chest.
My dad was alive.
He was fighting in that hospital bed with every ounce of grit he had left.
The least I could do was finish the battle he had started.
“Give me the papers,” I said to Vance.
Vance handed me a replica copy of the emergency conservatorship petition Samantha had given me earlier, along with a hidden audio recorder for backup.
“Detective Miller and two marked units will be stationed at the end of the cul-de-sac,” Hayes said, checking his watch.
“The moment you get the admission on tape, use the phrase: ‘The price is too high, Samantha.’”
“That will be our signal to breach the front door.”
“Understood,” I said.
I checked my watch: 1:52 PM.
I opened the car door, stepped out into the freezing rain, and walked down the sidewalk toward my home.
As I approached the driveway, I noticed a sleek, silver Mercedes parked behind Samantha’s SUV.
It was Marcus Reed’s car.
They were both inside my house, waiting for me.
May you like
The predators were sitting in the parlor, confident that their prey was walking blindly into their jaws.
I wiped the rain from my face, pulled open the front door, and stepped inside.
