CHAPTER 13 — The Sting Operation
I flew back to Colorado with the ledger secured in a locked briefcase. As soon as I walked through the door, I showed it to Amy. The pages were filled with undeniable proof of a massive criminal conspiracy. It was a death warrant for Richard Bradley.
But we couldn't just mail it to the police. Richard had eyes everywhere, and if he got wind that we had the ledger before he was in federal custody, he would send a hit squad to our house. We needed to trap him. We needed to catch him in the act of extortion, with federal agents waiting in the wings.
I contacted the FBI field office in Denver. I showed them the ledger and played them the voicemail Richard had left threatening my family. The feds were ecstatic. Richard Bradley had been a ghost on their radar for a decade. With my cooperation, they immediately set up a sting operation.
The plan was simple, but incredibly dangerous. I would agree to meet Richard to hand over the money—but instead of cash, I would bring a decoy bag. The meeting was set for an abandoned logging facility high up in the snow-covered mountains, an hour outside of town. Richard had chosen the location because it was isolated. No cell service. No witnesses.
But the FBI had satellite surveillance, and I would be wearing a hidden wire.
The night before the drop, I sat on the edge of the bed, strapping a Kevlar vest over my chest. My hands were shaking. Amy sat beside me, her hand resting gently on my back.
"I shouldn't let you come," I told her, looking at her reflection in the mirror.
"He threatened me, too," Amy said, her voice filled with an iron determination. "He threatened our son. The FBI said they need me in the surveillance van to identify him positively before they move in. I'm not hiding in a hotel room, Connor. We do this together."
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She wasn't the broken woman sitting on a plastic stool anymore. She was a warrior, a mother protecting her child. I kissed her forehead, drawing strength from her courage.
"Tomorrow," I whispered. "Tomorrow, it finally ends."
