Chapter 10 - THE RECKONING
Z
The atmosphere in the church parking lot flipped instantly. State troopers poured out of their vehicles, weapons raised, ordering Sheriff Davies and his deputies to drop their sidearms. Davies slowly unclasped his gun belt, letting it hit the asphalt with a heavy thud, his eyes filled with disbelief and panic.
I stepped away from my truck as a state trooper unclasped the handcuffs from my wrists.
Agent Miller stepped out of her sedan, followed by Thomas, who was holding the green case tightly against his chest as if it were the most precious object in the world.
"How did you get the Attorney General involved so fast?" I asked, breathing a massive sigh of relief as I walked toward them.
"When I got through your back fence," Thomas said, a small smile finally breaking across his dirt-streaked face, "I remembered the emergency contact card my dad gave me years ago. It had Agent Miller's direct line on it. She was my dad's primary investigator before he vanished, but Marcus had convinced everyone I was dead and that the investigation was closed. When I called her from your kitchen with the documents from the case, she mobilized the state task force immediately."
Agent Miller walked over to us, taking the green waterproof case from Thomas's hands. She unlatched the heavy lid and carefully scanned the leather journal and the signed real estate titles.
"This is the smoking gun we've been looking for seven years," Agent Miller said softly, looking up at Thomas with deep respect. "Your father documented every illegal transaction, every bribe paid to local officials, and the exact corporate accounts Marcus used to hide his stolen assets. Sheriff Davies was listed on page twelve."
"What about Marcus?" I asked, looking toward the mountain road in the distance.
"State tactical units surrounded the Vance compound twenty minutes ago," Agent Miller replied firmly. "Marcus Vance was taken into custody while attempting to board a private helicopter on his estate lawn. He's being transferred to the federal holding facility in the capital as we speak."
Sheriff Davies was placed in the back of a state cruiser, his head hanging low as the local deputies were disarmed and stripped of their badges.
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Thomas looked at me, his eyes shiny with unshed tears. "You stood up to them, Rick. You didn't even know me, and you risked everything for a kid who lied about his name just to cut your grass."
"You weren't lying about the grass," I chuckled softly, resting a hand on his shoulder. "You really did do a great job on that yard."
