Chapter 1 - The Hidden Bruises
The sleeve of his thick sweater fell back.
My eyes froze on the bruised skin underneath.
Every drop of blood in my body turned cold.
These were not defensive wounds from a supposed scuffle with my sister-in-law.
The dark purple marks were perfectly clustered around his veins.
Someone had been systematically injecting him with something.
I slowly turned my head to look at Priscilla.
She was still wiping away her fake tears across the room.
My brother David suddenly burst through the heavy double doors of the police station.
He rushed over to his wife and wrapped his arms around her in a desperate, comforting embrace.
"Thank God you are safe," David whispered loudly enough for the whole room to hear.
I gently laid my father back onto the plastic chair.
My father looked at me with hollow, terrified eyes.
"I didn't hit her, Maya," he whispered with a trembling voice.
"I know, Dad," I replied softly.
I stood up and walked directly toward my brother.
David flinched slightly when he saw the absolute murder in my eyes.
"Maya, you have to understand that Dad's mind is completely gone," David said nervously.
"He attacked Priscilla with a baseball bat out of nowhere."
I reached out and grabbed David by the collar of his expensive coat.
Officer Miller immediately yelled at me to step back, but he didn't dare draw his weapon on a federal agent.
"Who has been injecting him, David?" I demanded in a low, dangerous whisper.
David's eyes darted frantically toward his wife.
Priscilla suddenly stopped crying and offered me a chilling, triumphant smile.
She reached into her designer handbag and pulled out a thick stack of folded legal papers.
"It doesn't matter what you think, Maya," Priscilla sneered.
May you like
She tossed the heavy document directly onto the booking counter.
"We were granted emergency medical conservatorship over him this afternoon by a federal judge."
