Chapter 2 - Unraveling the WebThe color vanished from Eleanor’s face faster than a burning match dropped in ice water.
"What... what are you talking about?" she stammered, her voice losing its icy confidence.
"I had my team track every single transaction and delivery made to this house over the last forty-eight hours," I said, stepping closer to her until my shadow completely engulfed her slender frame. "Your personal assistant, Greg, was spotted on our neighborhood surveillance cameras placing that exact coat in the foyer closet twenty minutes before my plane landed. You planted it there to use as a bargaining chip in case I found out about Leo."
"That's a lie! A complete fabrication!" Audrey shrieked, backing toward the hallway. "Officer, he's using his military clearance to forge evidence!"
"Quiet, ma'am!" Officer Ramirez barked. He looked at the secondary deputy. "Cuff them both. We'll sort out the chain of custody at the station. Get the paramedics in here for the baby immediately."
Two EMTs rushed past the threshold with a stretcher and a pediatric medical kit. Sophia collapsed onto her knees beside them as they quickly placed a cooling compress on Leo’s head and began monitoring his vitals.
"His pulse is dangerously high, Captain," the head EMT said, looking up at me with urgency. "We need to transport him to the regional pediatric ICU right now. He’s showing early signs of febrile seizures."
"Go," I told Sophia, pulling her up and guiding her toward the stretcher. "I’ll be right behind you."
"Marcus, please!" Eleanor cried out as the metal handcuffs clicked tightly around her wrists. "You can't let them take me to jail! Think of the family name! Think of your father's legacy!"
"My father’s legacy died the day you forged his will," I said coldly, leaning in close so only she could hear. "Did you really think I didn't check the trust documents in Geneva during my deployment? I know what you did to Dad’s insurance payout, Eleanor. And I know about the offshore account in the Cayman Islands."
Eleanor froze. Her eyes filled with a terror I had never seen in her before.
Audrey began to sob hysterically as the deputies dragged her toward the police cruiser outside. "Marcus, help me! It was Mom's idea! She forced me to take Sophia's phone! She said we needed to isolate her so she’d sign the custody transfer papers!"
My heart stopped. I turned back toward my sister. "Custody transfer papers?"
Audrey nodded frantically, panic stripping away her arrogant facade. "Yes! Mom drafted papers to declare Sophia an unfit mother while you were overseas! She was going to sell the house and take Leo!"
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I stared at Audrey, the blood running cold in my veins. Before I could process the depth of their depravity, the head deputy’s radio crackled to life with an urgent, frantic broadcast.
Chapter 2 Cliffhanger Hook: "Dispatch to Unit 4, we have an emergency at the intersection of 5th and Main. The ambulance carrying the pediatric patient has just been broadsided by an unregistered heavy SUV. Medical personnel requested immediately!"
