My Ex Mocked My Injured Daughter… Then He Turned White When He Saw My Chief Judge Badge

The tactical team breached the lower entrance.

I waited behind an armored vehicle while every instinct screamed at me to run inside. Gunshots did not follow. Instead, we heard metal crash somewhere above us.

Ortiz's radio burst with voices.

"Suspect moving to the west stairwell. Child located on level four."

Maya had rolled the chair into a stack of aluminum frames, creating enough noise for officers to find her. She still held the server key.

Richard ran toward the roof.

When officers cornered him beside an unfinished elevator shaft, he threatened to throw his phone into the opening. The device contained the final password needed to stop the midnight release.

"Back away," he shouted. "One more step and every secret goes public."

Ortiz spoke calmly. "Richard, your son has already given a statement. Celeste is cooperating. This is over."

"They are weak."

"They are afraid of you. There is a difference."

He looked across the construction floor and saw me below through the open concrete frame.

"You turned my children against me!"

"You taught them what power without love looks like."

For the first time, Richard looked old.

Then he hurled the phone toward the shaft.

An officer caught his wrist. The phone slipped, struck the edge, and landed on a maintenance platform one level below.

The server clock showed six minutes remaining.

A rescue technician descended on a safety line and recovered it. Maya gave Ortiz the key. Together, the cyber team entered the password and stopped the release with twenty-three seconds left.

Richard was handcuffed.

As officers led him past me, he whispered, "You think this clears you? Ask Voss why he took the money."

At the hospital, Maya was examined and released from immediate danger. I held her until she fell asleep.

At 3:00 a.m., Senator Voss requested an emergency meeting with prosecutors.

He admitted the payment existed.

But he claimed Richard had sent it after the appointment to create a future scandal.

Then he produced bank records showing he had returned the money the same day.

"I warned someone in Elena's circle," Voss said.

"Who?" Ortiz asked.