Chapter 16 - The IRS Audit—The Accountant—The Trap
A massive FBI surveillance helicopter breached the low-hanging rain clouds, blinding us with a million-candlepower spotlight.
“FEDERAL AGENTS! DROP YOUR WEAPONS!” a voice boomed over the helicopter's loudspeaker.
The perimeter of the airstrip erupted in blue and red flashing lights. The FBI hadn't needed to track Eleanor's car. They had been tracking the digital ping I coded into the wire transfer the second I hit ENTER.
My father panicked. He raised his 9mm, aiming frantically at the helicopter, then at the incoming armored vehicles.
“You ruined everything!” my father screamed, turning the gun toward me.
Before he could pull the trigger, a gunshot rang out from the shadows of the hangar.
My father gasped, dropping his weapon. He fell to his knees, clutching a bleeding wound in his shoulder.
I looked toward the hangar.
Detective Russo was standing there, holding a backup revolver he had hidden in his ankle holster. He had shot my father.
“I’m a cop!” Russo yelled toward the approaching federal agents, dropping his gun and raising his hands. “I’m a cop! I surrender!”
Russo knew his life was over, but he was hoping to leverage my father’s capture into a plea deal.
My mother didn't surrender. She grabbed the briefcase with the laptop, sprinting wildly toward the idling prop plane.
“Mom, stop!” I yelled over the deafening roar of the helicopter.
She didn't listen. She reached the stairs of the small aircraft, but two federal agents tackled her to the wet tarmac before she could climb inside. The briefcase hit the ground, the laptop shattering into pieces.
I stood in the center of the chaos, the rain washing the blood and frosting from my ruined wedding dress.
FBI agents swarmed the airstrip, slapping cuffs on my bleeding father, my screaming mother, and the corrupt detective.
Agent Vance walked up to me, shielding his eyes from the spotlight.
“You really like cutting it close, Mrs. Mercer,” Vance yelled over the rotors.
“I told you I was a whistleblower, Agent,” I replied, entirely numb. “The thirty million is in your federal accounts. Keep it.”
“We’ll take it from here,” Vance nodded respectfully. “You’re free to go.”
I turned and walked away from the airstrip, leaving the wreckage of my entire family behind.
I was free.
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
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