Chapter 17 - The Proxy
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Before I could execute the final strike against Sterling, a completely unexpected complication arose from a ghost I thought I had buried forever.
The morning mail arrived at the foundation, thoroughly screened and processed by our security team before being delivered to my office. Among the usual charity invoices and vendor contracts, there was a plain, unmarked envelope stamped with the seal of a maximum-security state penitentiary.
I stared at the letter, my blood turning to ice. The return address bore the name of the man who had caused my wife so much unimaginable pain. Michael.
I locked my office door, took a deep breath, and tore the envelope open. The handwriting was jagged and frantic, the desperate scribbles of a man rotting away in a concrete cell.
"Robert. I know what you did to me. I know you orchestrated everything. But I am not writing to beg for forgiveness. My lawyers told me about your new charity. They also told me about the man you are currently fighting. Arthur Sterling."
I narrowed my eyes, leaning closer to the paper.
"Sterling and I used to do business together years ago. Before you destroyed my life, he used my logistics company to move undeclared cash across state lines. He is dangerous, Robert. He has people inside the police department. He will not hesitate to hurt Ellen to get to you. I am telling you this because I want to make a deal. Get my sentence reduced, and I will give you the names of the corrupt officers on his payroll."
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I crushed the letter in my fist, my heart pounding with a mixture of disgust and dark realization. Michael was pathetic, trying to leverage my wife’s safety to buy his own freedom. But the information he provided was a crucial missing puzzle piece. Sterling had dirty cops protecting him. That was why he felt so invincible.
I walked over to the paper shredder and fed the letter into the grinding metal teeth, watching the words disappear forever. I would never make a deal with the devil who had hurt Ellen. I didn't need Michael’s help. I would find the corrupt cops myself and burn them right alongside Sterling.
