Chapter 6 - The Turn of the Tide
Corinne reached into the pocket of her silk robe and pulled out a small, encrypted titanium USB drive.
"You used my personal accounting software credentials to sign off on those Harbor Ridge certifications," Corinne said.
Everett’s face drained of whatever color was left in his battered skin.
"You thought you were framing Roman," Corinne continued, her voice gaining steady power. "And if that failed, you were framing me."
Roman stepped between Everett and his wife, his shadow falling completely over his cousin.
"Every keystroke made using her credentials generated a simultaneous mirror log on my private server," Roman stated.
"She built that system before we got married," Roman added, looking back at Corinne with pure pride. "She's better at this than you ever were."
Everett shook his head in frantic denial, thrashing against the heavy plastic restraints around his wrists.
"No, no, I paid off your IT director!" Everett shouted, his voice echoing frantically off the locked blast doors. "He wiped the servers!"
"He wiped the office servers," Corinne corrected smoothly. "Not the private cloud I host from my personal laptop."
Downstairs, the heavy muffled sounds of sirens began to mix with the estate's blaring alarm system.
Federal agents and local law enforcement were arriving, called not by Everett's conspirators, but by Corinne's automated trigger.
"You called the feds on your own house?" Everett yelled, looking at Roman like he had lost his mind.
Roman smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. "We didn't call them on my house, Everett. We called them on Pier Seventeen."
"The moment you triggered the security protocol, the complete unedited ledgers were sent to the Department of Justice," Corinne explained.
"Every bribe you paid, every offshore wire, and every signature from your corrupt board members is on the desk of the U.S. Attorney right now."
Everett collapsed back against the hearth, realizing the sheer scope of the trap he had walked into.
He hadn't been fighting Roman's guns; he had been dismantled by Corinne's spreadsheets.
The titanium shutters slowly lifted as Matteo disengaged the lockdown, letting in the flashing blue and red emergency lights.
Federal tactical officers poured into the room, their rifles lowered as Roman raised his hands casually.
"He's all yours, agents," Roman said calmly, nodding toward his cousin on the floor.
Two agents hauled Everett to his feet, reading him his rights while he stared at Corinne with venomous hatred.
As they dragged him toward the private elevator, Corinne held her husband’s hand, feeling the tremors finally leaving his fingers.
"We need to get you to a hospital," Roman murmured, scooping her into his arms before she could protest.
"Only if you promise me one thing, Roman," she whispered against his neck.
May you like
"Anything, Corinne," he vowed without hesitation.
"No more silk cages," she said.
