By 9 AM, I had eyes on their location.
The duffel bags had small GPS trackers sewn into the lining, each disguised as a thread knot under the zipper. They pinged regularly via satellite, feeding me updates every fifteen minutes. Last signal: a gas station in Reno, Nevada.
Ellie had always been impulsive, Mom gullible under pressure. I could already picture Ellie swiping through Airbnb listings while my mom nervously counted the fake stacks in some motel room, thinking they’d gotten away clean.
I didn’t call the police.
Not yet.
I wanted them to feel safe. I wanted them to settle into their “dream life,” at least for a moment. That’s what made this worth it.
Instead, I emailed a federal contact I’d worked with during a cybersecurity project two years ago. I asked for a quiet watchlist entry—nothing that would trigger arrests, just enough to trace vehicle movements, card usage, and hotel check-ins.
By the next day, they were in Arizona, renting a two-bedroom condo near Scottsdale under fake names. I watched a photo come in from a license plate camera—Mom in oversized sunglasses, Ellie in yoga pants and a designer hoodie, both grinning like lottery winners.
I waited.
Then, I made my move.
I booked the condo directly below them. I knew the building—upscale but lazy on security. Two fake IDs and a burner phone later, I was settled in.
I left them a gift.
Slipped it under their door late at night: a small envelope with a flash drive, no note.
Inside the drive? A single video file.
Footage from the basement safe, filmed via a hidden camera I’d installed three years ago after a break-in scare. Clear as day—Mom and Ellie dragging the bags out, giggling, loading them into the trunk.
And then a final screen: “Enjoy your dream life. It’s already over.”
The next morning, they were gone from the condo.
But this time, they ran blind.
Because I’d also cloned their burner phones’ IMEI numbers using a local cell tower. Every text, every call, every GPS ping—they weren’t just traceable.
They were mine.
Two weeks later, I got the call from U.S. Marshals.
They found them at a boutique resort in Tulum, Mexico—trying to bribe their way into buying land under a fake LLC name. The fake money had been flagged by a local bank employee when they tried to exchange some of it for pesos.
My mother cried during the arrest. Ellie cursed the guards in broken Spanish. They hadn’t even made it past the shallow end of the fantasy.
I flew down, not to bail them out—just to be there when they saw me.
At the jailhouse visitation window, they looked like shadows of themselves. My mom’s hair was tangled, her eyes bloodshot. Ellie was pale, twitching.
“You knew,” my mother whispered.
I nodded.
“You set us up.”
“No,” I said. “You set yourselves up. I just let the play run.”
Ellie banged on the glass. “You ruined us!”
“You stole from me,” I said flatly. “You betrayed me.”
“It was just money!”
I leaned in. “It was trust. And that’s worth more than twenty million.”
They were deported and returned to U.S. custody. No serious jail time—just enough legal damage to ruin any chance of starting over easily. Their credit? Dead. Their IDs? Flagged. Their reputations? Burned.
I didn’t press further. I didn’t sue. I didn’t need to.
I bought my Napa estate. Moved in alone.
Sometimes, I get emails from Mom. Apologies. Excuses. Regret.
I never respond.
Because in the end, they got their dream life—for 48 hours.
And I still have mine.
