Chapter 4 - The Bait and Switch
Two days later, my attorney received a formal request from the Ferguson legal team. They wanted an off-the-record meeting to discuss a "mutually beneficial resolution."
They wanted to buy our silence.
The meeting was set at their lead attorney's high-rise office in downtown Charlotte. I walked in wearing my Class A uniform, every medal gleaming, my posture perfectly straight.
Patricia sat at the head of the conference table, sipping sparkling water. Nicholas was there too, out on a massive two-million-dollar bail, looking exhausted but arrogant. Their lawyer, a slick man in a thousand-dollar suit, pushed a thick folder across the mahogany table.
"Colonel Gardner," the lawyer began. "My clients are prepared to offer your daughter a clean divorce, a quiet annulment of the charges, and a lump sum payment of five million dollars. In exchange, Abigail signs a strict Non-Disclosure Agreement and retracts her statement to the police."
I didn't even look at the folder. I looked at Patricia.
"Five million dollars," I said slowly. "Is that what you think my daughter's life is worth? Or is that just what you can afford right now?"
Nicholas laughed, leaning back in his chair. "Take the money, Rachel. If you don't, we'll drag Abigail through a trial so ugly she'll wish she never met me. We'll destroy her reputation."
"You don't have a reputation left to protect, Nicholas," I replied calmly. I reached into my briefcase and pulled out a sleek black iPad. I slid it across the table.
Patricia frowned. "What is this?"
"That," I said, "is a detailed report compiled by federal forensic accountants. It outlines how Ferguson Enterprises has been systematically defrauding investors for the past six years by illegally inflating property valuations to secure massive bank loans. A textbook Ponzi scheme."
The air in the room vanished. The lawyer’s eyes went wide as he stared at the screen.
"But that's not even the best part," I continued, my voice turning to ice. "We also found the hush-money payments. You didn't just hurt my daughter, Nicholas. You've assaulted three other women over the last four years. And your mother used corporate funds to pay them off. That's wire fraud, witness tampering, and conspiracy."
Patricia’s face turned the color of ash. "You... you have no proof."
May you like
"The FBI thinks otherwise," I said, checking my watch. "In fact, they are raiding your corporate headquarters right now."
---
