Chapter 8 - The Ledger
The next day, Carver called me into the precinct's evidence lockup. He looked pale.
"You were right," Carver said, handing me a pair of latex gloves. "Mark isn't just a wife-beater. He’s a money launderer."
I looked at the open ledger on the stainless steel table. It was filled with handwritten codes, offshore account routing numbers, and massive cash deposits disguised as real estate investments.
"He’s washing money for the Petrov syndicate," Carver whispered, referencing the most ruthless organized crime family in the city. "He takes their dirty cash, buys distressed properties, renovates them, and sells them clean. Millions of dollars, Elena. This isn't just a domestic case anymore. This is a federal RICO investigation."
My blood ran cold. The Petrovs didn't leave loose ends. If they found out Mark’s arrest had led the police to their ledger, they wouldn't just kill Mark. They would kill Sarah to tie up the domestic case and make the search warrant disappear.
"Who knows about this?" I asked, my heart hammering.
May you like
"Just me, my partner, and the tech who cracked the safe," Carver said.
"Lock it down. Do not log this in the main system," I ordered. "If Mark’s lawyer finds out we have this, he’ll tip off the Petrovs. We need to hand this directly to the FBI. Sarah is in more danger now than she was when she lived with him."
