Chapter 6 - The Arrest That Was Actually a Trap
The handcuffs clicked around my wrists.
I couldn't breathe.
Everything seemed unreal.
The officers took me outside.
Reporters were already waiting.
Cameras flashed.
Someone had leaked my arrest before I had even been processed.
Then I saw the headline on a reporter's phone.
LOCAL MOTHER ARRESTED IN $40 MILLION FINANCIAL FRAUD CASE.
My face was everywhere.
I understood immediately.
Ellis wanted me publicly destroyed.
If I was arrested, nobody would believe my accusations against him.
Daniel tried to speak.
“She didn't do it.”
The officer pushed him back.
I looked at Evelyn.
She was standing beside the warehouse.
Her expression was calm.
Too calm.
Then she winked.
I realized this wasn't a real arrest.
It was a trap.
Evelyn had arranged it.
She had contacted federal investigators before we came to Atlanta.
The officers weren't local police.
They were investigators working undercover.
The handcuffs were part of the plan.
They needed Ellis to believe I had been arrested.
Because we needed him to act.
I was taken to a secure facility.
There, an investigator named Rachel Monroe explained everything.
“We've been investigating Ellis Chappell for two years.”
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
“Because we couldn't risk him discovering the investigation.”
“What about my son?”
“We believe he's still alive.”
I closed my eyes.
“Then we need to get him.”
Rachel nodded.
“We will.”
She showed me surveillance footage.
Ellis was at a private terminal.
Noah was beside him.
My son looked terrified.
But he wasn't crying.
Rachel zoomed in.
Noah was holding a small watch.
“What is that?”
“A tracker.”
I stared at it.
Noah had hidden a tracker on himself.
“He wants us to find him,” I whispered.
Rachel smiled.
“Your son is smarter than most adults I've worked with.”
The tracker led us to a private estate outside Atlanta.
Ellis had planned to leave from there.
We waited until midnight.
Then the operation began.
Agents surrounded the property.
I stayed inside the vehicle.
I wanted to run to Noah.
But I couldn't risk him.
Then we heard shouting.
A door opened.
Noah came running outside.
“Mom!”
I jumped out.
He sprinted into my arms.
I held him so tightly I could barely breathe.
“I knew you'd come.”
“I told you I would.”
“I was scared.”
“I know.”
He buried his face against my shoulder.
Then he whispered:
“Dad knows about the card.”
I looked at him.
“How?”
“He made me give him the PIN.”
“Did you?”
Noah smiled through his tears.
“No.”
I hugged him again.
Then Ellis appeared at the doorway.
He wasn't running.
He wasn't afraid.
He was smiling.
“You really thought this was over?”
Rachel stepped forward.
“You're under arrest.”
Ellis laughed.
“You have no idea what you've arrested.”
Then he looked at me.
“You still don't understand, Sabrina.”
“Understand what?”
He smiled.
“The six million dollars isn't the real secret.”
Everyone became silent.
Ellis continued.
“Ask Noah who his grandfather really was.”
My son froze.
Evelyn's face went pale.
I looked at her.
“What does he mean?”
May you like
She whispered:
“It's time you knew.”
