Chapter 9 - The Handcuffs in Front of the Neighborhood
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The flatbed tow truck pulled away, carrying the luxury vehicles down Whispering Pines Lane.
Russell grabbed his trash bag, preparing to scurry down the sidewalk with Veronica, but before he could take three strides, an unmarked dark sedan screeched to a halt, blocking the driveway.
Senior Special Agent David Thorne of the State Bureau of Investigation stepped out of the vehicle, holding an active arrest warrant.
“Russell Dane?” Agent Thorne announced, displaying his gold shield.
Russell dropped his trash bag into the drainage gutter. “What else could you possibly want?! She already took the house! She took the cars!”
“This isn't about the real estate, Mr. Dane,” Agent Thorne stated with absolute authority. “This is about the $38,000 in diverted Department of Veterans Affairs funds, thirty-six counts of identity theft, and two counts of Felony Depraved-Heart Endangerment of a Vulnerable Adult and a Minor.”
Agent Thorne unclipped a pair of heavy carbon-steel handcuffs from his belt.
“Turn around and put your hands behind your back.”
Click. Snap.
The steel ratchets locked tightly around Russell’s wrists.
Russell screamed in blind, pathetic fury, thrashing against the hood of the SBI cruiser as dozens of neighbors raised their smartphones, recording his arrest from every angle.
Veronica attempted to sneak behind a row of boxwood hedges, but a female deputy stepped into her path, clicking handcuffs around her wrists as well.
“Veronica Hayes, you are being charged as an active co-conspirator in interstate wire fraud and conversion of federal benefits.”
Veronica wailed hysterically, her designer robe dragging through the wet mulch as both suspects were pushed into the back of the cruisers.
The sirens wailed, echoing down the tranquil suburban street, fading into the distance toward the Mecklenburg County Detention Center.
I stood on the porch of the home my labor had built.
The air was crisp and clean.
May you like
The five years of darkness were over.
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