Chapter 19 - Shadows in the Horizon
Z
The celebration on the terrace continued late into the evening, but as the guests began to filter out around midnight, Marcus walked discreetly toward Robert and me near the corner of the indoor lounge.
His expression was dark, contrasting sharply with the festive mood of the room.
Robert’s instincts immediately flared. He stepped away from a conversation with Mateo Rossi and walked over to Marcus. "What is it, Marcus?"
Marcus pulled out a encrypted satellite tablet, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Boss, we just got a security notification from the Miami-Dade County Judicial Records database."
I frowned, stepping up beside Robert. "Judicial records? Regarding who? Victoria and Lewis are already sentenced."
"It’s not Victoria or Lewis," Marcus said, tapping the tablet screen. "It’s about Evelyn Ward."
Robert’s eyes narrowed instantly. "Evelyn is sitting in federal custody awaiting her trial date next month."
"She was," Marcus corrected gravely. "An hour ago, a secret emergency writ of habeas corpus was signed by an out-of-district appellate judge from Washington, D.C. Evelyn Ward was quietly transferred from the federal detention center to a private medical facility under high-level federal witness protection."
I gasped, my blood instantly running cold. "Witness protection?! Why would they put Evelyn in witness protection?!"
"Because Evelyn didn't just work for Julian Vance and Eleanor Belmont," Marcus revealed, zooming in on a redacted intelligence memo on his tablet. "Fifteen years ago, before she ever became your corporate divorce lawyer, Robert... Evelyn was the primary legal architect for an international cartel operating out of South America and Europe."
Robert stood frozen, his eyes scanning the intelligence document. "She turned state's evidence on her foreign backers..."
"Yes," Marcus confirmed. "She cut a massive deal with the Department of Justice. In exchange for surrendering her entire international client network, her personal charges regarding Chloe’s case were reduced to probation under federal immunity."
A wave of pure, sickening shock washed over me. "Immunity?! She gave those monsters the key to my daughter's room! She traded my daughter's safety for thirty million dollars, and now she gets to walk free under federal protection?!"
"Where is she now, Marcus?" Robert asked, his voice dropping into that terrifying, icy tone that signaled an impending storm.
"She’s being moved to a secure federal airfield in Fort Lauderdale at 4:00 AM to be flown out to an undisclosed location," Marcus answered. "She’s guarded by four federal marshals."
Robert stood still for a long moment, looking across the quiet room where Chloe was happily talking with Mateo Rossi, completely unaware that the woman who betrayed her was about to escape justice.
Robert slowly buttoned his dark suit jacket. He looked at me, his eyes burning with an ancient, dark fury that would never be extinguished as long as his daughter walked this earth.
"Robert," I whispered, grabbing his arm, terrified of what he was thinking. "You can't attack federal marshals! You'll ruin everything we fought for!"
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"I am not going to attack federal marshals, Sarah," Robert said, reaching into his inner jacket pocket and pulling out a small, old leather notebook filled with handwritten phone numbers. "Evelyn thinks federal immunity protects her from the law."
He looked at me with a cold, terrifying smile. "She forgot that her foreign clients don't care about federal immunity."
