Chapter 7 - The Digital Raid
Before Ricardo could respond, I reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him back half a step. The men standing on our porch weren't standard federal investigators; their posture, the tailored concealment of their jackets, and the tactical precision of their approach screamed corporate enforcers wearing borrowed badges.
"Give me two minutes to secure my coat and grab my phone," I said, my voice eerily calm as I met Vance's cold gaze.
Vance nodded slowly, a thin, patronizing smile touching his lips. "Take your time, Mrs. Hale. But remember, any attempt to wipe data or contact outside legal counsel will be treated as obstruction of justice."
I closed the heavy front door, throwing the deadbolt into place with a sharp, echoing click.
Ricardo was breathing heavily, his hands shaking as he stared at me in sheer panic. "Sabrina, you can't go with them! Those aren't real federal agents—did you see the way they moved? That’s private security! Julian Vance or someone connected to my mother sent them!"
"I know," I whispered back urgently, walking swiftly toward the kitchen island where my encrypted backup phone and the original voice recorder rested. "They want the raw audio files and the digital ledger keys that prove Teresa embezzled from the family trust to fund her lifestyle. If they get those devices, all of our evidence vanishes."
"Then we run," Ricardo urged, grabbing my hand. "We go out the back, get Sofía from the guest room, and—"
"We can't run, Ricardo," I interrupted, pressing the digital recorder deep into the lining of my winter coat while slipping my secondary burner phone into my back pocket. "If we run, they slap us with fugitive status and freeze our assets permanently. We play their game—for now."
Before Ricardo could argue further, a heavy, deafening crash echoed from the front hallway.
Crash!
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The deadbolt splintered, and the heavy oak door flew wide open, slamming against the interior wall as Vance and his men breached our home without waiting another second.
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