Chapter 6 - The Unraveling of an Empire
"Wait! There's been a mistake!" Carter yelled, throwing his arms up defensively as two marshals pushed past him. "My uncle is a senior prosecutor! I’m an officer of the court!"
"You're Carter Bennett?" a stern female agent asked, stepping right into his path. She pulled a pair of steel handcuffs from her belt with a sickening click. "Turn around, Mr. Bennett. You are under arrest for aggravated assault, felony deprivation of emergency medical communication, and reckless endangerment resulting in catastrophic injury."
"Assault?!" Eleanor screamed, jumping to her feet and attempting to shove the agent away. "She’s his wife! He barely touched her! He has the legal right to discipline his household! You can't arrest my son!"
The agent didn't hesitate. She side-stepped Eleanor's flailing arms, grabbed the older woman’s arm, and snapped cuffs around Eleanor’s wrists in one smooth motion. "Eleanor Bennett, you are under arrest as an accessory to domestic violence and witness tampering. Keep your mouth shut before I add obstruction to your ticket."
"Uncle Richard, do something!" Carter sobbed as steel bit into his wrists. "Call the Governor!"
Richard wasn't looking at Carter. His face was gray. He was staring at the lead federal prosecutor who walked into the office carrying three oversized storage boxes labeled: BENNETT OFFSHORE TRUSTS & JUDICIAL BRIBES.
"Hello, Richard," the prosecutor said with a cold, polite smile. "For six years, you thought laundering bribe money through Carter’s boutique real estate firm was clever, didn't you? You thought hiding payoffs from defense attorneys in shell companies under Eleanor’s maiden name would keep you safe from the local bar."
Richard sank into his chair, his hands shaking violently. "Who... who gave you those banking records? Those accounts are in the Cayman Islands. They're encrypted."
"When the Four-Star Admiral commanding Naval Cyber Warfare orders a priority intelligence de-encryption on national security grounds regarding an attack on a Medal of Honor recipient's family, offshore firewalls last about four minutes," the prosecutor replied coldly. "Every bribe you took to drop domestic assault charges for your wealthy cronies? We have them. Every penny Carter embezzled from client escrow accounts to buy his sports cars and that Alexandria house? Documented."
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Carter looked at the boxes, his breath coming in shallow, terrified gasps. "No... no, Clara couldn't do this... Clara works at a walk-in clinic... her father drives a pickup truck..."
"Her father is Admiral Robert Vance," the prosecutor said, staring directly into Carter's horrified eyes. "Former Commander of the Pacific Fleet. Current senior defense advisor to the Cabinet. And Clara is his only living child. You beat the daughter of the most decorated living war hero in this country, broke her phone, and left her to die in her own blood. You didn't just ruin your life, Carter. You incinerated it."
