Chapter 5 - Jessica's True Colors
The chilly night air bit at Daniel's face as the deputies marched him and his mother past the front gates. The iron gates swung shut behind them with a heavy, final clang, the electronic keypad immediately resetting to a code neither of them knew.
Daniel stood on the curb of the dark suburban road, clutching his two duffel bags while Margaret sat on her suitcase, wailing into the night.
"Call Jessica!" Margaret demanded, her voice shrill and cracked. "Daniel, you gave that girl millions! She has that penthouse downtown! Call her right now and have her send an Uber!"
Daniel pulled his personal phone from his pocket. His corporate phone had already been remotely wiped by IT, but his personal line was still active. His fingers shaking, he dialed Jessica's private number.
It rang four times before the line clicked open.
"Jessica! Thank god," Daniel exhaled, his knees nearly giving out with relief. "Claire has gone completely insane. She locked me out of the house, she seized the company accounts, she—"
*"Daniel?"* Jessica's voice was sharp, icy, and totally stripped of the baby-doll sweetness she usually employed in his office. *"Why are you calling this number? The federal agents told me not to speak to you."*
"The federal agents? Jessica, what are you talking about? Listen to me, I'm outside the estate with my mother. We have nowhere to go. I need you to order us a car to your apartment—"
*"Are you out of your mind?!"* she snapped. *"The FBI was waiting at the boarding gate! They seized my passport, they froze the J-Star accounts, and they confiscated the Birkin bags you gave me! They know everything, Daniel! They showed me bank transfers going back fourteen months!"*
"Jessica, calm down, we can fight this," Daniel pleaded, desperation clawing at his throat. "I'll hire the best defense team in the state. We have the offshore reserve in the Cayman—"
*"There is no reserve!"* Jessica yelled through the phone. *"Your wife's legal firm filed an international injunction at noon today! The Cayman accounts were frozen before I even reached Queens! You're broke, Daniel! You're completely, totally broke! And your wife's lawyers offered me a deferred prosecution agreement if I hand over all your text messages and emails authorizing the transfers."*
Daniel felt the ground vanish beneath his feet. "You... you wouldn't. Jessica, I risked everything for you! I was going to leave Claire for you tonight! I handed her the divorce papers before dinner!"
*"Then you're dumber than I thought,"* Jessica sneered. *"Claire was the one with the real money. You were just a clown playing dress-up with her venture capital. Don't ever call this number again. My attorney is handling all further communication with the Department of Justice."*
The line went dead.
Daniel lowered the phone, staring blankly at the dark screen.
"What did she say?" Margaret asked, scrambling up from the curb, her eyes filled with desperate hope. "Is she sending a car? Is the penthouse ready?"
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"She's cooperating with the feds," Daniel whispered, the cold autumn wind whipping through his thin shirt. "She took a deal."
Margaret stared at him, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, before she collapsed back onto her luggage, screaming curses into the empty midnight sky.
