Chapter 5 - The System Fails
The heavy pounding of police boots echoed up the grand staircase.
Sarah looked at the rifle in her hands, realizing exactly how this scene would look to law enforcement.
She quickly tossed the weapon to David, who immediately threw it under the heavy oak dresser.
"Put your hands in the air!" a booming voice commanded as four armed officers stormed into the ruined nursery.
They saw Vance bleeding profusely on the floor and immediately drew their weapons on David.
"Get on the ground, now!" the lead officer screamed, pointing his pistol directly at my brother's head.
David complied instantly, dropping to his knees with his hands raised high in the air.
The grandmother immediately burst into theatrical tears, falling into the arms of the nearest officer.
"Thank God you are here, officer," she sobbed, burying her face in his uniform.
"My daughter-in-law went completely insane and shot this poor man, and her sister assaulted me!"
I tried to speak, to defend us, but the sedative in my veins made my tongue feel like lead.
"She injected me with something," I slurred, desperately clinging to the baby as an officer pried her from my arms.
"Don't take my baby!" Sarah screamed, lunging forward, but two officers violently restrained her.
The lead officer looked at the chaotic room, the blood on my face, and the wounded billionaire on the floor.
"Paramedics are on the way for the victim," the officer announced, ignoring Sarah's frantic pleas.
He looked at me with absolute disgust, then motioned to his partner.
"Cuff the husband and the sister, and call Child Protective Services to take custody of the infant."
My heart shattered as the officer handed my crying niece to a female paramedic who had just arrived.
"No, you don't understand, they are trying to steal her!" David yelled as cold steel handcuffs snapped around his wrists.
Vance, despite his shattered knee, managed a weak, victorious smile as the paramedics lifted him onto a stretcher.
"I will press full charges," Vance whispered to the police.
The officers dragged David and me out of the room, forcing us past the smirking faces of the grandmother and aunt.
Sarah was left weeping on the floor, her surgical wounds bleeding through her thin gown.
They shoved me into the back of a freezing squad car, the sedative finally pulling me into total unconsciousness.
When I finally woke up, I was handcuffed to a metal bench in a sterile police interrogation room.
A detective walked in, tossing a thick manila folder onto the metal table in front of me.
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"Your brother's wife just signed a full confession taking responsibility for everything," the detective said flatly.
"She gave Vance custody of the baby in exchange for your freedom."
