I Screamed For Paramedics After Finding My Little Girl Collapsed On The Pavement, Only To Hear My Mother-In-Law Utter Words That Proved This Was No Accident.

While Harold was confessing in the interrogation room, Marcus was frantically packing two leather duffel bags inside his luxury high-rise condominium in Uptown Dallas.

Stacks of hundred-dollar bills, Swiss bearer bonds, and three gold Rolex watches were shoved haphazardly into the luggage alongside two fraudulent European passports.

Julianna Mercer stood by the panoramic window, pacing nervously while chewing on her acrylic nails.

"The state bank accounts are frozen, Marcus!" Julianna shrieked, staring at her tablet screen.

"The Texas Department of Banking issued an emergency freeze order on all Apex Meridian accounts thirty minutes ago!"

"We have the six hundred thousand in cash from the offshore reserve fund, Julianna!" Marcus snapped, zipping the second duffel bag with furious haste.

"My private charter takes off from Addison Airport in forty-five minutes bound for Belize."

"Once we cross Mexican airspace, the Texas courts can't touch a single dollar we have stashed in Central America."

"What about your mother?" Julianna asked, her voice cracking with selfish panic.

"The news is reporting that Beatrice was booked on felony child abuse charges!"

"My mother should have been smarter and disposed of that damn inhaler in the trash instead of keeping it in her pocket!" Marcus snarled, his face twisted in sociopathic rage.

"She's seventy years old; she can hire her own lawyers."

"I am not going to rot in a federal penitentiary for the rest of my life because she couldn't handle a six-year-old girl."

Marcus grabbed both duffel bags and turned toward the private elevator foyer, his eyes wild with desperate adrenaline.

As the elevator doors slid open, they did not reveal an empty cabin ready to carry him to freedom.

Standing inside were four heavily armed United States Marshals and two special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, their assault rifles raised in tight tactical formation.

"Marcus Vance and Julianna Mercer, freeze!" barked Deputy US Marshal Jackson.

"Federal warrant for interstate flight to avoid prosecution, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit capital murder!"

Marcus dropped the duffel bags onto the hardwood floor, his hands flying into the air as the color drained from his face.

"Wait! I am an attorney! I demand to speak with my legal counsel!" Marcus screamed as he was slammed face-first against the wall.

"You can practice your closing arguments in federal holding, Mr.