Chapter 1 - The Trap Snaps Shut
The silence in the palliative care suite was absolute, heavy enough to suffocate. Marcus stared at the three figures looming at the foot of my bed, his mouth opening and closing like a fish pulled fresh from the water.
“Inspector Thorne?” Marcus finally choked out, the expensive cologne suddenly smelling sour as he began to sweat. “This is a misunderstanding. My aunt is not in her right mind. I was helping her secure her estate.”
Inspector Thorne stepped forward, his trench coat rustling. He didn't look angry; he looked bored, which was somehow much more terrifying. “Marcus Vance, you are under arrest for attempted fraud, elder exploitation, and coercion of a vulnerable adult.”
Arthur, my attorney, calmly retrieved the plastic clipboard from Marcus’s shaking hands. “The documents you brought were meticulously reviewed by my office the moment your careless notary emailed them to a paralegal for formatting, Marcus. You didn't even read the fine print of your own trap.”
I reached up and pulled the nasal cannula from my nose. The sudden influx of unhindered room air felt glorious. I sat up against the pillows, no longer slumping. “You wanted to liquidate my life’s work to buy that startup in Silicon Valley, didn't you, Marcus?”
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“Aunt Eleanor, please—” he stammered, backing away as Thorne pulled a pair of steel cuffs from his belt.
“Take him out through the side corridor,” I told Thorne, my voice losing the raspy weakness I had faked for two months. “I don't want him tracking mud through the halls of this hospital.” The sharp click of the handcuffs echoing in the sterile room was the sweetest symphony I had heard in years.
