Chapter 8 - The Three-Block Raid
By 11:30 PM, the neon sign above Pendelton’s notary office flickered against the damp pavement as two unmarked police cruisers pulled up to the curb.
I sat in the passenger seat of Officer Vance’s squad car, watching through the windshield as the precinct officers stepped out, moving with quiet, professional authority. They didn’t bother knocking; they used a master key obtained under emergency judicial sign-off and slipped inside.
Through the lit front window, I could see an elderly man jumping up from behind a cluttered oak desk, frantically trying to shove a stack of paper shredder bags into a trash bin.
“Freeze! County police! Step away from the shredder!” an officer’s voice boomed through the glass.
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Pendelton threw his hands up, his face turning the color of curdled milk as the cuffs were locked around his wrists. Within minutes, the officers emerged carrying two bulging green garbage bags filled with partially shredded property deeds, blank notary stamps, and financial ledgers linking my sister’s bank accounts directly to Pendelton’s personal safe.
Officer Vance walked back to the cruiser, opened the door, and handed me a recovered, intact ledger. “It looks like your sister wasn't just targeting your house, Mrs. Reynolds. Pendelton was helping her liquidate several small business assets belonging to your late parents’ estate—assets you and your sister were supposed to split equally.”
