Chapter 20 - Natalie Is Handcuffed And Led Away In Disgrace
Back at the county holding facility, Natalie was stripped of her designer jewelry and formal wedding attire. Dressed in a coarse orange inmate jumpsuit, she was escorted by two guards down the sterile corridor toward holding.
Her face was bare of makeup, and her hair hung in messy tangles around her pale, defeated face. She had traded her luxurious high-society life for a cold, narrow prison cell because of her unyielding greed.
As she passed the intake desk, a junior corrections officer handed her a small plastic property bag containing her personal items. Among them was a burner phone that federal agents had somehow overlooked during the initial raid.
Natalie clutched the plastic bag tightly against her chest, her eyes darting nervously around the security checkpoint. She knew a burner phone wouldn't save her from federal prison, but it held one final, unread encrypted message.
May you like
She smuggled the tiny device into her cell during the evening lockup, hiding it beneath her thin wool mattress. Once the cellblock lights dimmed to a soft amber glow, she pulled the phone out from under the blankets.
She tapped the screen, entering her private passcode to open the final message waiting in her inbox.
