6. The Easter of Life
Three months later.
The sterile, antiseptic scent of the hospital had been replaced by the warm, earthy smell of spring rain and blooming roses.
I was standing in the physical therapy wing of the rehabilitation center, the bright, afternoon sun streaming through the large windows, chasing away the bone-chilling cold of that horrific Thanksgiving day.
The trial had been swift, brutal, and incredibly public.
The high-definition video confession, combined with the irrefutable forensic evidence from the hospital and the mountain of incriminating financial data retrieved from Richard’s servers, had left their high-priced defense attorneys with absolutely nothing to work with.
Marcus and Sylvia Hale were both found guilty of conspiracy and attempted murder. The judge, disgusted by the sheer, calculating cruelty of their actions against a family member, handed down maximum, consecutive sentences. Life in a federal penitentiary, without the possibility of parole.
Arthur Vance’s sprawling criminal empire, which I had been hunting for years, collapsed like a house of cards. The financial files provided the irrefutable evidence the FBI needed to indict his entire organization. The Vance Investment Group was seized, its assets frozen, and Arthur himself was currently facing a litany of charges that would ensure he spent the rest of his natural life behind bars.
Chief O’Malley was stripped of his position, his pension, and his freedom, indicted on federal corruption charges.
They had all thought they were untouchable. They thought their wealth and their wrought-iron gates made them gods. They didn’t know that a father protecting his daughter is more powerful, more relentless, and infinitely more dangerous than any army in the world.
