Chapter 6 - The Fall of the AccompliceWhile Ryan accepted his humbling fate, Maya Brooks believed she had successfully maneuvered her way out of trouble by turning state's evidence.
She spent her remaining savings on a luxurious new apartment in South Boston, convinced that with Ryan taking the fall, she could start fresh at a rival advertising firm.
On a bright Thursday morning, Maya walked down the marble steps of her new apartment building, wearing a bright red coat, holding an iced coffee, feeling victorious.
A black town car pulled up to the curb.
Two officers from the Boston Police Department stepped out, accompanied by an investigator from the State Financial Crimes Division.
"Maya Brooks?" the lead investigator asked, holding up a badge.
Maya stopped, her smile vanishing. "Yes? I’ve already spoken to the DA. I have an immunity agreement regarding the Whitman Marketing investigation."
The investigator pulled out a pair of steel handcuffs. "Your immunity agreement covered your testimony against Ryan Whitman’s corporate fraud, Miss Brooks. It does not cover the personal grand larceny and identity theft charges filed against you yesterday afternoon."
Maya’s iced coffee slipped from her hand, crashing onto the concrete sidewalk. "What?! What identity theft?!"
"Three months ago, you used Mrs. Claire Harrington’s personal identification details—stolen from her home office—to open two fraudulent credit lines in her name totaling eighty thousand dollars," the officer stated coldly.
Maya’s face went completely ghostly white. She had done that while staying at the Crane Way house when Ryan told her Claire was away visiting family. She had assumed Claire was too ignorant to ever check her credit reports.
"No... wait! Ryan told me to do it!" Maya screamed as the officers grabbed her wrists, snapping the steel cuffs securely around her hands. "It was Ryan's idea!"
"You can explain that to the judge, Miss Brooks," the officer said, guiding her firmly into the back seat of the police cruiser.
Passersby on the busy street pulled out their phones, recording the former art director being shoved into a police car in broad daylight. Within an hour, the video went viral across social media, completing the total, public downfall of the woman who had tried to steal my life.
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A week later, the courts finalized Maya’s case. Faced with overwhelming digital evidence provided by Eleanor Vance, Maya was sentenced to two years in state prison for identity theft and grand larceny, along with complete asset forfeiture.
Her glossy dream had ended in a gray prison cell.
