Chapter 6 - The Maid's Confession
I stared at the lifeless body of my wife on the floor of my own foyer.
The mansion was completely sealed, which meant the person who poisoned the water was standing in this room just moments ago.
I turned my gun away from the floor and aimed it directly at Emily's chest.
"Put Noah down," I commanded, my voice shaking with a terrifying mix of grief and rage.
Emily did not panic, nor did she beg for her life.
She gently placed my sleeping son into the arms of a trusted guard and raised her hands in surrender.
"How does a twenty-three-year-old maid know the exact chemical composition of synthetic neurotoxins and cyanide?" I demanded.
My guards tightened their grip on their weapons, waiting for my order to fire.
"Because my name is not Emily Parker," she said, her voice steady and calm.
"I am Doctor Amelia Vance."
The name struck me like a physical blow to the stomach.
"Vance?" I repeated, my mind scrambling to connect the dots.
"Arthur Vance was the lead biochemist for the Sinaloa Cartel," I said, recognizing the name of the most notorious drug chemist in the hemisphere.
"Arthur was my father," Emily confessed, lowering her hands slightly.
"He invented the thermal-toxin that was used on your son tonight."
"And when he tried to leave the cartel three years ago, they murdered him and my entire family in front of me."
I kept my gun aimed firmly at her heart, refusing to be manipulated by a tragic story.
"Why are you hiding in my house?" I asked.
"Because the cartel syndicate that killed my family is the exact same syndicate that just tried to kill your son," Emily explained.
"They knew you were trying to break your shipping contracts with them, so they sent an assassin to cripple you."
She took a slow, deliberate step toward the barrel of my gun.
"I have been hiding here gathering evidence to destroy them, Michael."
"I saved your son because I am the only person on this planet who knows how my father's poisons work."
Before I could decide whether to shoot her or trust her, the mansion was plunged into absolute darkness.
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The main power grid had just been completely severed.
And a deafening explosion shattered the reinforced steel shutters of the eastern wing.
