Chapter 5
The harsh fluorescent lights of the hospital room hummed overhead, casting a sterile glow over the grim tableau. Arnold checked his wristwatch. It was just past nine in the evening, meaning they had less than thirty-six hours before the federal grand jury convened downtown.
“My contact at the district office texted me twenty minutes ago,” Arnold said, keeping his voice low so it wouldn't carry past the heavy wooden door into the hallway. “The prosecutor doesn't have the hard drive from Catherine’s car yet. The salvage crew pulled the vehicle out of the bay two hours ago, but the local police impound yard is locked down under city jurisdiction. The state troopers haven't handed the contents over to federal agents yet.”
Julian turned away from the door, his interest immediately piqued. He walked back toward the bed, his previous anger momentarily subdued by the scent of a possible escape route. “The local impound yard? That’s precinct territory. Chief Miller still owes me a favor from the zoning board hearing last year.”
“Chief Miller won’t help you if the FBI already has a federal magistrate signing a search warrant for the vehicle,” Thomas pointed out, crossing his arms over his grey suit jacket. “Federal jurisdiction supersedes local police custody the second the digital forensics unit gets wind of what was in that trunk.”
“That’s why we don't go through Miller,” Arnold said calmly, a faint, humorless smile touching the corners of his mouth. He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a small, encrypted burner phone, placing it gently on the edge of the rolling tray. “We hire an independent recovery specialist to break into the impound lot, secure the hard drive from the vehicle’s encrypted vault, and wipe the onboard telemetry data. Once the physical evidence is gone, the prosecution’s case relies entirely on circumstantial paper trails that we can tie up in civil court for the next five years.”
Catherine stared at the burner phone as if it were a venomous snake. The bandage on her forehead pulled tight as she frowned, processing the immense risk of Arnold’s proposal. Breaking into a police impound yard wasn't just corporate malfeasance anymore; it was a felony-level obstruction of justice. It crossed the line from white-collar crime into the violent underbelly of criminal conspiracy.
“And who is going to do the breaking and entering?” Catherine asked, her voice dropping to a harsh whisper. “We’re executives, Arnold, not cat burglars. If whoever you hire gets caught on the security cameras, we’ll all be looking at federal conspiracy charges with no chance of bail.”
“I have someone,” Arnold replied smoothly, standing up and buttoning his suit jacket. “Someone discrete. Someone who doesn't exist on paper.”
Julian looked at Arnold with a mixture of apprehension and reluctant admiration. “And how much is this ghost going to charge us to pull our chestnuts out of the fire?”
May you like
“More than you want to spend,” Arnold said, grabbing his empty briefcase from the floor. He walked toward the door, pausing with his hand on the handle to look back at the three of them. “I’ll send the wire instructions to your private accounts by midnight. Be ready. Tomorrow is when we find out if we hang together or hang separately.”
With a quiet click, Arnold pulled the door shut behind him, leaving the three associates alone in the dim quiet of the hospital room.
