Chapter 6 - The Trap in the Parking Garage
“You thought you were buying my mother... but she bought your doom.”With Ashley in police custody and Noah secured under 24/7 armed guard, Detective Harris and Dr. Sarah Vance joined me in the security office.
"Your sister is cracking under interrogation," Harris said, slamming a file onto the table. "She confessed that Victoria Vance promised them $100,000 cash and a ticket out of the country if they finished the job tonight. Your mother, Linda, is currently hiding in a black SUV in the hospital’s subterranean parking garage level B2, waiting for Ashley to give the signal."
Dr. Vance stepped forward, her eyes burning with a fierce determination. "My father, Richard Vance, is currently on life support at his estate. He has no idea what his wife Victoria is doing. Victoria is trying to wipe out Emily and Noah so she can inherit the entire $400 million estate as the sole survivor."
"We can't just arrest Victoria," I said, my voice cold, calm, and terrifyingly clear. "She has lawyers who will drag this out for years while we live in fear. We need her on tape confessing to the entire plot."
"How do you propose we do that?" Detective Harris asked.
I looked at Dr. Vance, then back at the detective. "My mother thinks I'm still the gullible, obedient son who will do whatever she asks. I'm going down to that parking garage alone."
"It's too dangerous, Ethan," Dr. Vance warned. "Victoria's men are armed."
"I don't care," I said quietly. "They hurt my wife. They nearly killed my son. I’m going down there."
Ten minutes later, equipped with a concealed wire beneath my jacket, I walked down the echoing, concrete ramps of Parking Garage Level B2. The air was cold, smelling of damp asphalt and exhaust fumes.
In the dim yellow light, a black Cadillac Escalade sat idling in the far corner.
As I approached, the rear door opened. My mother, Linda, stepped out. She looked haggard, her makeup smeared, her hands trembling as she held a designer handbag.
"Ethan!" she gasped, stepping toward me with outstretched arms. "Oh, thank God you're okay! Ashley told me—"
"Don't touch me," I said, my voice dead. "Where is Victoria?"
The front passenger door opened, and Victoria Vance stepped out, flanked by two heavy-set men with guns tucked into their jackets.
"You're persistent, Ethan," Victoria sneered, holding a sleek silver handgun in her hand. "I’ll give you that. But your sister failed. And now, you're a liability."
"Why, Victoria?" I asked, taking a step closer, ensuring the microphone taped to my chest caught every frequency. "Why pay my mother to starve my seven-day-old baby? Why leave Emily to die of sepsis?"
Victoria laughed—a sharp, arrogant laugh that echoed through the concrete pillars.
"Because your wife is a bastard child who doesn't deserve a single dime of the Vance fortune!" Victoria hissed. "I spent thirty years building Richard’s empire with him! I wasn't about to let some orphan from a foster home inherit everything just because she has his blood! Your mother was cheap, Ethan. Fifty grand to let a girl bleed out and a baby fade away? It was a bargain."
My mother winced. "Victoria, you promised me Ashley and I would be safe—"
"Shut up, you pathetic parasite!" Victoria snapped, turning the gun toward my mother. "You betrayed your own son for pocket change. You're worthless."
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"Maybe she is," I said loudly, looking up at the security cameras overhead. "But you just confessed to attempted murder, conspiracy, and solicitation on a live police feed."
Victoria’s eyes widened in horror. "What?!"
