Chapter 4 - The Sins of the Father
While the FBI tech team fitted Sarah with a microscopic recording device and a panic button disguised as a watch, she sat in a quiet room with Maya.
The teenager was shaking, the adrenaline of the night finally wearing off. "Sarah... what if they kill you? What if they figure it out?"
"They won't," Sarah said, her voice gentle but firm. "Arrogance is a disease, Maya. Arthur Sterling has never been beaten, which means he doesn't believe he can be beaten. That is his fatal flaw."
"My brother thought he could beat them," Maya whispered, tears spilling over her cheeks. "Toby was so brave. He looked right at Marcus and told him he was going to the police. Marcus just laughed. He said, 'The police work for me, kid.' I’ve had to live in that house, eating dinner with the man who murdered my little brother, pretending I didn't know."
Sarah pulled the girl into a fierce embrace. "You are the bravest person I know, Maya. You held onto the truth when the whole world was lying to you. Tonight, Toby gets justice. Ethan gets justice. And you get your life back."
Meanwhile, at the Oakhaven hospital, two heavily armed FBI agents stood guard outside Ethan’s ICU room. Greg Sterling stepped off the elevator, carrying a bouquet of flowers and a sickeningly fake smile.
"Excuse me," Greg said to the agents, flashing his ID. "I'm the boy's father. I'm here to see him."
The lead agent, a towering man with cold eyes, stepped in front of the door. "No one enters this room, Mr. Sterling. By order of the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
Greg’s smile faltered. "That's ridiculous. I have parental rights!"
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"Your parental rights were suspended twenty minutes ago by a federal judge," the agent stated flatly. "I suggest you turn around, sir. Before I decide you're obstructing justice."
Greg dropped the flowers, panic finally piercing his arrogant facade. The walls were closing in, and he didn't even know it yet.
