Chapter 18 - The Federal Knock
At 6:00 a.m. the following morning, the sun had not yet risen over the freezing Boston skyline.
Daniel was asleep on a thin, stained mattress on the floor of his studio apartment.
He was dreaming of the life he used to have, the beautiful suburban home, and the wife who had loved him unconditionally.
A deafening crash shattered his dream as the cheap wooden door of his apartment was kicked off its hinges.
"FBI! Federal Agents! Get on the ground!" a booming voice echoed through the tiny, squalid room.
Daniel shot awake, screaming in terror as four heavily armed federal agents stormed into his apartment.
Red laser sights danced across his chest as he threw himself onto the dirty linoleum floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Hands behind your back!" an agent yelled, pressing a heavy knee into Daniel’s spine.
The cold steel of federal handcuffs clicked tightly around his wrists, biting painfully into his skin.
"Daniel Whitmore, you are under arrest for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and corporate espionage," the lead agent announced.
They hauled him to his feet, marching him out of the building in nothing but his boxer shorts and a torn t-shirt.
His neighbors stood in their doorways, filming his humiliating arrest on their phones.
At that exact same moment, twenty miles away, Claire was standing at the check-in counter at Logan International Airport.
She had packed two suitcases with designer clothes and was trying to board a one-way flight to Dubai.
Two men in dark suits quietly approached her from behind, tapping her firmly on the shoulder.
"Claire Vance? We have a federal warrant for your arrest," the agent stated, pulling out a pair of handcuffs.
Claire tried to run, screaming hysterically as the agents tackled her to the polished airport floor.
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Her designer sunglasses flew across the terminal, shattering into pieces as the cuffs were locked onto her wrists.
The two people who had conspired to destroy my life were finally being swallowed by the absolute justice they deserved.
