Chapter 4 - The Audit on the FloorHector Santos backed away two fast steps, his hands shaking violently as he pointed a trembling finger at Lord Vance.
"YOU'RE LYING!" Hector roared, his voice cracking into raw, pathetic squeaks. "VALERIA IS MY DAUGHTER! I CONTROL HER PROPERTY! SHE HAS NO MONEY!"
"You don't control anything, Hector," I spoke cleanly into the quiet room. My voice was raspy, but it possessed an unyielding, velvet power that echoed off the white walls.
Lord Vance tapped Rachel Hayes's tablet screen once.
The high-definition display connected to the hospital room's wall monitor, projecting certified bank transfers, federal RICO indictments, and audio recordings directly onto the screen.
The red typography illuminated the dark room:
FEDERAL WIRE FRAUD INDICTMENTS: Documenting Hector Santos embezzling twelve million dollars from city development contracts.
ILLEGAL SHELL ACCOUNTS: Exposing forty-two offshore transfers to Grand Cayman registered under Hector Santos and his mistress, Brenda Miller.
AUDIO RECORDING (MOTEL PARKING LOT): Capturing Hector Santos promising Brenda that he would "permanently deal" with Valeria if she tried to expose their land fraud.
Teresa Santos stared at the wall monitor in total, speech-bound horror.
Her face went from pale white to a sickly, mottled shade of green as she heard her husband’s clear, cold voice describing how he planned to eliminate Valeria and use the trust money to buy a luxury villa in Miami for his young mistress.
"Hector...?" Teresa gasped, turning her trembling, weeping face toward her husband. "You... you said Brenda was just an accountant...! You said... you said you loved me!"
Hector didn't look at his wife. He thrashed his arms wildly toward Lord Vance, reaching for the tablet. "THAT'S A FORGERY! YOU FABRICATED THAT AUDIO!"
"The audio was recovered directly from Valeria's cloud server, Hector," Detective Cole announced coldly, pulling a set of heavy steel handcuffs from his belt.
CLICK. CLICK.
Before Hector’s security guards could move, Lord Vance's tactical operators pinned both guards against the hallway wall, while Detective Cole slammed Hector flat face-down onto the hospital floorboards, locking the steel cuffs tightly around his wrists behind his back.
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"ARGH!" Hector shrieked in pain, his face pressed flat against the dirty floor. "GET OFF ME! I HAVE FRIENDS IN THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE!"
"Your friends in the District Attorney's office were arrested thirty minutes ago by the FBI for accepting your bribery payments, Mr. Santos," Rachel Hayes noted flatly.
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