Chapter 5 - THE COURT MARTIAL OF THE CORRUPT
Daniel let out a sharp, forced laugh that was too loud, too desperate to hide the sudden, primitive panic beginning to rise inside his chest.
"You're making a massive mistake, Evelyn!" he shouted, his eyes wide with a sudden, raw terror as the lead police officer stepped between us.
"You are just a clerical worker! You don't have the authority to wear those medals, and you certainly don't have the authority to block my company's assets!"
"I am a colonel in the United States Army," I stated, my voice echoing clearly through the silent neighborhood.
"And your procurement audit is officially complete."
Vanessa Cole took a panicked step backward, her pink designer coat wrinkling as she looked at the federal marshals who were already carrying her family's financial files out of the house.
"This can't be happening!" she shrieked, her voice cracking into a high-pitched hysteria.
"Daniel, do something! She is trying to steal our home! She is trying to ruin everything we built!"
"You didn't build anything, Vanessa," I said, looking down at her with dead, unyielding eyes.
"Your parents' house, your scarlet dress, and the very champagne you toasted my husband with were paid for with my family's stolen active-deployment funds."
"And as of nine o'clock this morning, the lease on this entire property has been legally terminated by the federal government."
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"Security has already secured the physical evidence of your document forgery, Daniel," the lead marshal announced, stepping forward with the warrant.
"You are officially under arrest for federal bank fraud, grand larceny, and systematic embezzlement of defense department funds."
