Chapter 5 - The Gaslight Fades
The Franklin County Police Department looked different in the early light of dawn. The shadows had receded, and with them, Vanessa's illusions of control. When I walked through the double doors, the atmosphere was entirely changed. There was no more condescension from the desk sergeants. Word had spread about the federal agent whose father was in the ICU.
I walked straight to the Captain's office. Captain Reynolds was waiting, looking exhausted and rubbing his temples. He offered me a seat, but I preferred to stand. Gesturing to the file on his desk, he confirmed they had the neighbor's Ring footage and the medical reports. "Have you arrested her?" I demanded. Reynolds sighed, explaining that she had come in an hour ago with a high-priced lawyer from the city and was filing a counter-claim.
I laughed, a harsh, humorless sound. "A counter-claim? Based on what?" Reynolds explained that her lawyer was arguing she acted in self-defense during a psychotic episode my father was having, and they were filing a temporary restraining order against me, claiming I was using my federal position to intimidate local law enforcement. I leaned over his desk, planting my hands flat on the wood. "Captain, she committed wire fraud, attempted extortion, and assault with a deadly weapon."
"I know that, Maya," he said softly, dropping formalities. "But her lawyer is muddying the waters. He's threatening to sue the department if we arrest her without a psychiatric evaluation of your father first." Vanessa was doubling down. She was using the money she had left to build a legal wall, trying to drag this out, knowing my father's health was fragile. She wanted to break us through exhaustion.
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When I asked where she was, Reynolds pointed to Interview Room A. I stood up straight, adjusting my jacket. "Captain, you know I can't let a local jurisdiction handle a multi-state wire fraud case, right?" Reynolds looked confused until I pulled a flash drive from my pocket and tossed it onto his desk. I explained that Vanessa's creditors were across three different states, and she sent fraudulent emails crossing state lines to secure loans against my father's property. That made this a federal crime, and the assault was simply a means to commit federal wire and bank fraud.
Reynolds stared at the drive, slowly comprehending that I was pulling rank on the entire police department and changing the battlefield from a messy local domestic dispute to a federal felony indictment. "You're taking the case," he whispered. "I'm not taking it. The FBI is taking it. My field director signed off on it ten minutes ago," I replied, turning toward the door. As I walked down the hall toward Interview Room A, I felt a deep sense of clarity. Vanessa had tried to gaslight my father, the police, and my brother. But the lights were about to come on, brighter and harsher than she could ever survive. I pushed the heavy door open. Vanessa sat at the metal table, looking smug, her lawyer whispering in her ear. That smugness vanished the second I walked in.
