Chapter 7 - The Arrest
The cold steel handcuffs bit deeply into my wrists as I was escorted out of my own home.
Grant stood safely on the porch with his arm wrapped protectively around a crying Vanessa.
Darlene watched me leave with a wide, triumphant smirk plastered across her aging face.
The police forcefully placed me in the back of a cruiser and drove me to the downtown precinct.
I was thrown into a gray interrogation room that smelled strongly of stale coffee and harsh bleach.
An hour later, a tired-looking detective walked in and threw a thick file onto the metal table.
"Dr. Evans' car was run off the road into a steep ravine an hour ago," he stated bluntly.
"He is currently in a deep coma at Chicago General Hospital."
I stared at the tired detective in absolute, unblinking horror.
"I was at home preparing for a dinner party when that happened," I said firmly.
"We have traffic camera footage of your black SUV leaving the scene of the crash."
"I have the only keys to that SUV, and they were zipped in my purse all day."
"Not according to your husband," the detective countered smoothly.
"Grant Mercer gave us a sworn statement that you left the house enraged just before the crash occurred."
They were meticulously framing me for murder to get me entirely out of the picture forever.
With me locked in a prison cell, Grant would get full custody, the house, and the company.
The heavy metal door clicked open, and Daniel walked quickly into the room.
"I am her attorney," Daniel snapped aggressively at the detective.
"I need a moment alone with my client immediately."
The detective scoffed loudly but left the room, closing the door heavily behind him.
Daniel quickly opened his leather briefcase and pulled out a secure tablet.
"I paid off a security guard at the hospital ten minutes ago," he whispered urgently.
"Dr. Evans isn't in a coma."
"What are you talking about?"
"He suffered minor injuries and is fully conscious right now."
"Then why are the police telling me he is dying?"
"Because Evans actively told the responding officers that you purposely tried to kill him."
Daniel swiped the screen of his tablet and played a hidden audio recording.
It was Dr. Evans speaking weakly to a detective from his hospital bed.
"Evelyn Mercer intentionally ran me off the road because I exposed her mental illness," Dr. Evans' voice croaked on the tape.
I slammed my tightly handcuffed fists onto the cold metal table.
"We have to prove he is lying to them, Daniel."
"I already have a plan to get you out of here," Daniel said calmly.
He pulled a small, silver key from his pocket and slid it across the table to me.
"This key belongs to a secure safe deposit box at First National Bank."
"What exactly is inside it?"
"The original, un-forged trust documents proving Grant stole the shares."
"How in the world did you get them?"
Daniel looked around the room nervously before leaning in very close.
"Because I was the one who helped Grant aggressively steal them in the first place."
I froze entirely, feeling the air completely leave my lungs.
"You betrayed me?" I choked out, tears stinging my eyes.
"I had absolutely no choice, Evelyn," he pleaded quietly.
"Grant has definitive proof of something terrible I did ten years ago, and he has been violently blackmailing me."
I stared at my father's most trusted friend with pure, unadulterated disgust.
"But I am switching sides right now," Daniel insisted desperately.
"If you take the fall for this attempted murder, Grant will completely destroy us both."
He stood up straight and nervously adjusted his expensive silk tie.
"I will post your exorbitant bail in exactly ten minutes."
"Go straight to the bank, get the documents, and leak them to the global press."
Daniel turned and walked toward the heavy door to leave.
"Daniel," I called out sharply, stopping him in his tracks.
He paused slightly and looked back at me over his shoulder.
"Who was actually driving my SUV tonight?"
Daniel hesitated for a fraction of a second too long.
May you like
"It was Vanessa," he finally answered quietly.
"She was trying to permanently silence her own father before he could confess everything to the police."
