Chapter 13 - The Blackmailers
“Who is this?” I demanded, gripping the phone so hard my knuckles turned white.
“A friend of your mother’s,” the voice replied smoothly. “Judge Harrison. You remember him, don't you? He dined at your housewarming party last year. We hold the keys to your entire life, Christopher. Choose wisely.”
The line went dead with a sharp click.
I looked at Savannah. She had heard the entire exchange through the car's Bluetooth speaker. Her face was pale, but her eyes burned with fierce determination.
“It’s a bluff,” she said softly.
“How can you be sure? If Harrison has jurisdiction over local financial audits—”
“He doesn't have jurisdiction over federal cyber-crimes,” Savannah interrupted, opening a secondary encrypted folder on her laptop. “Look at the metadata of the video Margaret sent us. It wasn't just stored locally. It was automatically syncing to an encrypted blockchain ledger managed by a federal oversight committee outside of this state’s jurisdiction. Even if Judge Harrison deletes the local files, the ledger is immutable.”
The car slowed to a halt in front of the massive stone staircase of the federal courthouse. The towering oak doors stood closed against the rain, guarded by federal marshals.
May you like
“Are you ready?” I asked, turning to my wife.
Savannah took a deep breath, resting her hand on her stomach, and nodded. “Let’s go finish what your father started.”
