Chapter 5 - The Trap
Three days after the blowout at my parents' house, I walked into the Attorney General’s office to find two officers from the Internal Affairs Bureau waiting at my desk.
"Clara Vance?" the lead investigator asked sternly.
"Clara Lin," I corrected, my stomach sinking into a pit of lead. "What is this about?"
"We have a warrant to search your workplace accounts and personal devices," he stated, presenting an official document. "A formal complaint was filed yesterday morning by Vance Healthcare Legal Defense. They allege that you misused state databases to illegally harvest confidential medical and financial records of private citizens for personal extortion."
My breath caught in my throat. Grant hadn't just defended himself; he had launched a pre-emptive strike to discredit me and strip me of my badge.
"That's absurd!" Marcus Reed shouted, stepping out of his office, his face red with indignation. "Clara was working under my supervisory direction on an active preliminary review!"
"The formal review authorization wasn't logged in the central registry until late yesterday afternoon, Mr. Reed," the IA officer replied coolly. "As it stands, Miss Lin accessed private corporate files without an active case number three weeks ago. She has been suspended without pay pending a formal disciplinary hearing."
I watched in silent horror as they packed my laptop, my hard drives, and my personal notebooks into evidence bags. My colleagues watched from their cubicles, whispering behind their hands.
When I walked out of the building into the cold afternoon air, my phone buzzed. It was a text message from an unknown number.
‘Numbers can be very dangerous, Clara. Especially when you don't own them. Drop it.’
May you like
I stood on the courthouse steps, shaking with rage and fear. Grant thought he had destroyed my ability to fight back. He believed that by taking my job, stripping my authority, and cutting me off from my family, I would crumble.
He was wrong. He had just turned a professional duty into a fight for my life.
