Chapter 6 - THE TRIBUNAL OF JUSTICEBy midnight, the Plaza Hotel ballroom had cleared of guests, but it was replaced by officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the NYPD Financial Crimes Division.
The main lobby was cordoned off with yellow police tape.
Victoria Vance was already in handcuffs, being escorted out the revolving glass doors toward a waiting federal transport van, surrounded by a wall of flashing red and blue lights and shouting press reporters.
Ryan sat on a velvet bench near the grand staircase, double-handcuffed behind his back, guarded by two federal agents. His suit was disheveled, his eyes bloodshot, his entire world completely obliterated in less than three hours.
I walked down the marble staircase, accompanied by Marcus Thorne and Eleanor Vance.
When Ryan saw me, he looked up with hollow, dead eyes.
"Why?" Ryan whispered, his voice raspy and broken. "How long did you know?"
I pulled my phone out of my purse, navigated to the audio recording from Gate 14 at JFK Airport, and pressed play one last time.
The terminal noise filled the quiet lobby.
"She's going to lose everything..." Victoria's recorded voice spoke.
"Good," Ryan's recorded voice answered. "Stick to the plan. Once it's signed, she won't be able to touch it."
Ryan closed his eyes, tears of bitter defeat leaking down his pale cheeks.
"I recorded that three weeks ago at the airport, Ryan," I said quietly, looking down at him without a single drop of regret or pity. "While I was waiting to say goodbye to Maya. You thought you were playing a game against a weak, gullible woman who loved you too much to see the truth."
I leaned down slightly, looking him straight in the eyes.
"You forgot that I'm Charles Parker's daughter. And my father taught me how to handle parasites."
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The lead federal agent stepped forward, tapping Ryan on the shoulder. "Ryan Parker, you are under arrest for federal wire fraud, securities manipulation, grand larceny, and corporate embezzlement. You have the right to remain silent."
As the agents pulled Ryan to his feet and led him toward the exit, he turned his head back one last time, looking at the grand, towering foyer of the Plaza Hotel—a world he had tried to conquer through lies, and from which he was now being dragged out in chains.
