Chapter 5: The Digital Bullet
Chapter 5: The Digital Bullet
The video played in high-definition, unblinking black and white. There was no audio, but the visuals were damning enough. It showed Mariana holding Nico, cornered against the chrome railing. It showed Rodrigo’s calm, terrifying demeanor. And then, it captured the exact moment her mother lunged forward, striking Mariana's arms with a heavy metal flashlight, forcing them over the edge.
"My God," Julian breathed, staring at the screen. "That’s... that's first-degree attempted murder. With this, we can go to the FBI. We can blow their whole empire to pieces."
"No," Mariana said softly. "The FBI is too slow. Rodrigo has senators in his pocket and federal judges on his payroll. If we hand this over now, it gets tied up in litigation. Evidence goes missing. Witnesses disappear. The Salcedos are untouchable in a courtroom."
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"So what do we do?" Julian asked, turning to her.
"We destroy them in the court of public opinion, and we dismantle their finances from the inside. They killed me to protect a secret. I want to know what that secret is." Mariana began pulling up the yacht's secondary data logs. "Rodrigo didn't throw me off that boat because I was a difficult daughter. He did it because of what I found in the Q3 financial audits. He’s laundering money for the Sinaloa cartel."
