Chapter 2 - The Billion-Dollar Ledger
Three hours later, the red light above the operating room finally flickered off. Dr. Thorne walked out, wiping a layer of sweat from his forehead, his green scrubs splattered with blood. Daniel rushed forward, his hands clenched into tight fists.
"Doctor? Tell me," Daniel pleaded.
Dr. Thorne let out a long, exhausted breath, but a faint, victorious smile broke through his fatigue. "It was a miracle. We stabilized the uterine bleeding just in time. The baby boy was delivered at exactly 5:42 p.m. He’s tiny—only four pounds, seven ounces—and his lungs are underdeveloped, so he’s currently in an incubator in the NICU. But he is alive, Officer Torres. He’s fighting. And Emily is out of surgery. She’s weak, but she’s conscious."
Relief washed over Daniel so intensely his knees nearly buckled. But the relief was short-lived. He knew Marcus’s threat wasn't a bluff. He walked into Emily’s recovery room, where she lay hooked up to multiple IV lines, her eyes fluttering open as she looked around the room in disoriented terror.
"My baby..." she rasped, her voice barely a whisper. "Marcus... he hit me... is my baby..."
"He’s alive, Emily," Daniel said softly, pulling a chair close to her bed and taking her cold hand. "He’s in the neonatal unit. He’s a fighter, just like his mom. But we don't have much time. Marcus called me. He’s already wiped the mall's security footage, and he’s threatening to shut down the hospital's power grid to finish the job. I need to know everything. What do you have on him that makes him this desperate?"
Tears rolled down Emily’s pale cheeks, mixing with the dried blood near her temple. She swallowed hard, trying to gather her strength. "It’s... it’s not just a paternity suit, Daniel. Three months ago, when we were still living together, I accidentally logged into his private home server looking for our tax documents. I found an encrypted digital ledger named 'Project Leviathan.'"
She paused, coughing weakly, before continuing. "Marcus isn't just a real estate mogul. He’s the primary financial laundryman for a global syndicate involving pharmaceutical companies, corrupted politicians, and offshore shell corporations. He’s been skimming billions of dollars from public infrastructure funds, inflating costs, and funneling the cash into private bank accounts in Switzerland and Panama. The ledger contains names, bank routing numbers, dates, and signed transaction receipts from three sitting state senators and the city's deputy police chief."
Daniel felt a chill run down his spine. The deputy police chief—his own boss’s boss. No wonder Marcus felt completely untouchable.
"Where is the ledger now?" Daniel asked, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"I copied it onto a encrypted physical flash drive disguised as a silver lipstick tube in my purse," Emily whispered, her eyes wide with panic. "But my purse... it was left on the mall floor when he attacked me."
Daniel’s blood ran cold. If Marcus’s men had recovered that purse, Emily’s leverage was completely gone, and their lives were worth less than nothing.
Right at that moment, the door to the recovery room swung open. Standing there was Captain Thomas Vance, Daniel’s commanding officer from the precinct. His expression was stony, his hands tucked into his tactical belt. Behind him stood two plainclothes detectives Daniel didn't recognize.
"Officer Torres," Captain Vance said, his voice unusually formal. "Step away from the victim. You are being relieved of duty immediately, effective now. Hand over your badge and your service weapon."
Daniel stood up slowly, positioning himself firmly between the captain and Emily’s bed. "On what grounds, Captain? I’m the primary responding officer on a felony aggravated assault and attempted murder case."
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"There is no case," Captain Vance replied coldly, stepping into the room. "The mall management just released a statement. It was a domestic dispute between two citizens, and the victim, Ms. Carter, initiated the physical altercation due to a hormonal, pregnancy-induced psychological episode. Mr. Kane was merely defending himself. Internal Affairs has also received an anonymous tip that you accepted a two-million-dollar bribe from Ms. Carter’s family to frame Mr. Kane. Turn over your weapon, Daniel. Don't make this difficult."
Daniel looked at the two detectives behind the captain. Their jackets were slightly open, their hands resting on their holsters. He realized instantly that the corruption went all the way to the top of his own precinct. Marcus Kane hadn't just bought the mall security; he had bought the police department.
