Chapter 4 - The Devil's Bargain
Liam stared at the blue vials of the antidote as anger boiled intensely in his veins.
Cassandra held out a gold pen and the printed confession.
"If you sign this, you go to federal prison for twenty long years," she explained with a cruel smile.
"But your dear, sweet mother gets to live a long, healthy life."
Liam looked sadly through the glass window of the intensive care unit.
He could see Eleanor lying pale and helpless surrounded by loudly buzzing machines.
He reached for the gold pen, completely willing to sacrifice his freedom for his mother's life.
Just as the pen touched the paper, a vivid memory flashed in his mind.
He remembered the heavy silver serving tray Eleanor had been holding before she was violently pushed.
His mother never carried trays; she had always proudly insisted on making the guests' drinks by hand at the bar.
Liam suddenly realized she had been using the tray to hide a bulky yellow envelope underneath it.
He dropped the pen and looked Cassandra fiercely in the eyes.
"I need exactly five minutes to say goodbye to my mother before I sign my life away."
Cassandra rolled her eyes but stepped back into the sterile hallway.
Liam rushed into the hospital room and gently searched the pockets of Eleanor's damp apron, which the nurses had left on a plastic chair.
His fingers brushed against a soggy brass key hidden deep inside the fabric lining.
It was the key to a private storage unit under a fake name they had set up years ago.
Liam leaned down and kissed his mother's forehead, silently promising he would be right back.
He snuck out through the hospital's loading dock, skillfully avoiding Cassandra's security guards.
He hotwired an abandoned delivery truck and drove straight to the industrial warehouse district.
The storage unit was completely dark and filled with thick dust.
Liam used a flashlight he found in the truck to locate a small metal lockbox sitting on a wooden table.
He inserted the brass key, and the heavy lid popped open with a loud click.
Inside the box was the yellow envelope Eleanor had been desperately trying to smuggle out of the mansion.
Liam opened the envelope and pulled out a stack of ancient, yellowed legal documents.
He scanned the pages rapidly and gasped out loud as he read the printed names.
The documents proved that Cassandra's billionaire father had actually stolen his initial fortune from Eleanor's family fifty years ago.
Before Liam could celebrate this massive discovery, the lights in the storage unit flickered on.
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Cassandra was leaning against the doorway with a suppressed pistol pointed directly at his chest.
"Did you really think I did not track the GPS on your stolen truck?" she asked with a sinister grin.
