All Chapters of Fake Photos Won't Cover Up Your Crime: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

The mediation room went dead silent.I slammed my phone down on the table with the volume turned all the way up. The surveillance footage was crystal clear, the timestamp in the upper right corner showing the exact afternoon the hurricane hit. The ground beneath the royal palm was completely bare. There was no caution tape, and not a single traffic cone.Then, on screen, a massive dead frond plummeted from over 40 feet up and slammed straight into Mom's back. She didn't even get a scream out. Her whole body crumpled facedown into the floodwater, and blood spread through the puddle in seconds."Take a good look. You never put up any caution tape before the storm." I stared James Kendrick dead in the eyes."You tried to pass off photos from April. Did you really think everyone in this complex was stupid?"The smirk on Mr. Kendrick's face froze. He shot to his feet, snatched my phone, and killed the screen."What the hell are you doing!"He wasn't rattled at all. Instead, he went

Chapter 2

I didn't pick up the pen. I turned and walked out of the mediation room.I had to keep Mom alive first.I was halfway to the hospital on my scooter when my phone started blowing up with notifications from the group chat. I opened the Maplewood Estates residents' chat.Mr. Kendrick had used the management company's official account to post three pinned announcements back to back."Alert: Storefront camera outside the main gate is illegally surveilling the entire complex, collecting private data on residents, and attempting to extort management fees!"Below it was a photo of me from behind, holding my phone in the mediation room. The smear campaign had started.The hospital corridor reeked of disinfectant. I handed over every cent I had, 30,000 dollars scraped together from everyone I could borrow from plus another 20,000 from a credit card cash advance, and paid it all at the billing window.Receipt in hand, I walked to the glass window outside the ICU. Mom was hooked up to tubes

Chapter 3

"Exactly!" The head of security took an involuntary step back, gripping his baton tighter.Just then, a woman from the community mediation office came huffing over. Doris Kemper had a mediation form in her hand and grabbed my arm the second she reached me, already trying to smooth things over."Oh, sweetheart, you've got everyone riled up. Just apologize to the management company and take down that camera. Meet each other halfway, all right?"Your mother's still in the hospital. Do you really want to make this bigger than it needs to be? You still have to run a business here."Every word out of her mouth was designed to guilt-trip me, as if they were the ones who'd had their spine shattered, as if they were the ones whose property got vandalized.Mr. Kendrick seized the moment and stepped forward with an ultimatum. "You hear that? Even the mediator thinks you're in the wrong."He pulled a notice stamped with an official seal from his pocket and slapped it onto the paint-covered s

Chapter 4

Mr. Kendrick had finally shown his true colors. He was using the accident as leverage, swooping in while I was desperate to swallow up the shop my family had spent five years building.I looked at the insultingly low figure on the agreement and slipped my hand into my pocket, fingers closing around the cold metal of a flash drive."You don't just want to dodge liability. You want my shop too?"Mr. Kendrick glanced at the Rolex on his wrist and let out a cold laugh. "The homeowners' meeting is in two hours. Take your time and think it over. After tonight, you won't get a single cent."He turned and walked out without looking back.At 7:30 pm, the complex courtyard was lit up brightly. Hundreds of residents had been riled up by the HOA board and gathered together with banners, furious and ready for blood. They were waiting for my "final judgment."The courtyard was a wall of noise. Mr. Kendrick stood on a makeshift stage with a microphone, his voice carrying to every corner of the

Chapter 5

"Hi, I'm a resident at Maplewood Estates." I spoke into the speakerphone.My voice wasn't loud, but in the silence of the courtyard, every word carried."I submitted a tip yesterday about irregularities in the property management funds, and I followed up overnight with torn-out pages from their internal ledger and records of suspicious transactions. Can you give me an update?"The officer on the other end sounded serious. "We've received the supplemental evidence. The leads are solid, and the financial discrepancies are significant. We're coordinating with the local precinct right now to send officers over. Please secure the scene."The sound of police sirens already seemed to be rising a few streets away.Sweat broke out across Mr. Kendrick's forehead. He was still trying to hold it together, and he lunged at the table to grab the receipt."You're bluffing!" He jabbed his finger at me, but his hand was shaking."When the police get here, they'll be arresting you for being a pee

Chapter 6

Mr. Kendrick jabbed his finger at the contract's terms. "The company's already bankrupt. If you want money, go talk to their liquidation team. We take no responsibility."The management company's lawyer jumped right in behind him, adjusting his glasses with that shameless grin. "Until a court hands down a ruling, management has zero obligation to front any costs." He pushed a legal notice across the table to me. "Feel free to pursue this through the courts. Even if it takes three to five years, we're happy to wait it out."They were going to use the legal system to run out the clock until Mom was dead. I didn't argue with them. I took the copy of that subcontract and walked out of the precinct with a dry laugh.I pulled out my phone, opened a corporate registry search, and typed in "Greenfield Landscaping." The ownership structure chart told me everything I needed to know.The registered owner of this supposedly bankrupt company was a man named Dominic Vaughn. And Dominic was Mr.

Chapter 7

The residents picked up the flyers, took one look at the ownership chart and the connection between names, and erupted."So, you've been funneling our fees into your brother-in-law's shell company?""No wonder the trees haven't been trimmed in three years! No wonder somebody got hurt!""Give us our money back! Every cent of it!"Right then, one of the cleaning ladies who'd been hanging back behind the crowd suddenly stepped forward. "I'll back that up!"Her eyes were red, and she pointed straight at Mr. Kendrick. "They haven't hired a single professional tree trimmer in three years! He had us cleaning staff out there whacking at the branches with poles, and all we got was an extra 50 dollars a month for it!"An insider turning on him was all it took. The crowd's anger ignited for real, and the furious shouting crashed over the management office like a tidal wave.Greg saw which way the wind was blowing and started backing away in a panic. "I didn't know about any of this! That c

Chapter 8

The residents exploded. This wasn't about untrimmed trees anymore. This was someone reaching directly into their wallets.Dozens of them surged forward with fury in their eyes, pinning Mr. Kendrick and the HOA board members into a corner."Give us our money back! Every last cent!"Clothes were getting torn. The scene was spiraling out of control.Greg couldn't take the pressure. He looked at the faces around him, every single one of them ready to tear him apart, and cracked on the spot, turning on Mr. Kendrick right there."This has nothing to do with me! Kendrick's the one who said he could handle the forged signatures!" He was crouched down with his arms over his head, screaming at Mr. Kendrick."He took the bulk of the money and blew it on the stock market trying to cover his losses! I only got 300,000, and I've got the transfer records to prove it!"Mr. Kendrick, with nothing left to lose, screamed right back through a face full of extinguisher powder. "That's garbage! Where

Chapter 9

I stepped back, pulling away from his filthy hands.The detectives didn't waste any words. The handcuffs came out and snapped around his wrists."You're being charged with embezzlement, forgery, and criminal negligence." The detective's voice was flat and final."Save whatever you have to say for the courtroom."At the same time, on the other side of the complex, a squad car from the local precinct had pulled up in the courtyard and loaded Greg and the rest of the HOA board's inner circle into the back.The watching residents broke into applause. The sirens faded out, and the rot had been ripped out at the root.An inspection team from the housing authority arrived on-site as well, posting official notices at the complex entrance and inside every elevator."The property management company's operating license has been formally revoked. All misappropriated funds are to be returned. The matter has been referred for criminal prosecution."I stood in the bank lobby and watched Mr. K

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