Chapter 6 - THE INDICTMENT
Three days later, my face wasn't on a mugshot; it was on the morning news.
“Federal authorities dismantle the multi-million-dollar NorthBridge elder-fraud syndicate following an anonymous tip and crucial digital evidence provided by an eighteen-year-old Columbus resident...”
The local news anchor’s voice droned on in the background of the quiet, sunlit campus apartment the FBI had temporarily set me up in. I sat at a brand-new wooden desk—bought with my own money, smelling of fresh varnish—with my new, unblemished laptop open in front of me.
My phone buzzed continuously. Reporters from national networks, local newspapers, and true-crime podcasts were flooding my social media accounts with interview requests. Exclusive: The Girl Who Outsmarted Her Family’s Federal Con.
I ignored them all. I didn't want fame. I wanted peace. I wanted to wake up in the morning and not wonder which sibling's old life I was expected to inhabit today.
There was a soft knock at the apartment door.
I opened it to find Detective Miller standing in the hallway holding a large cardboard box. He had a sheepish grin on his face.
“Thought you might want this,” he said, handing me the box.
I looked inside. It was my old birth certificate, my baby photo albums, and a few childhood keepsakes my mother had frantically packed into a cardboard box before the marshals hauled her away for questioning. Right on top was a greeting card with a crooked eighteen on the front.
May you like
I pulled out the card. Inside, my mother’s neat, curving handwriting read: To our wonderful daughter, Emily. May all your dreams come true this year.
I stared at the irony of it, then walked over to the recycling bin and dropped the card straight into the paper recycling. Some wishes aren't meant to come true; some curses have to be thrown away before you can finally grow up.
