Chapter 9 - The Fall Of Savannah Creek
The boardroom doors opened once more.
This time, it wasn't a family member returning from the grave. Six uniformed federal agents entered the room, led by a tall woman with silver-streaked hair wearing a dark trench coat and carrying an unsealed leather folder. Behind them stood four armed deputies from the United States Marshals Service.
""Garrett Vance?"" Agent Miller asked, her voice carrying the absolute weight of federal authority.
Garrett took a step back toward the panoramic windows, his face gray. ""I... I have rights. I want my attorney. Douglas Cole is my attorney!""
""Mr. Cole was arrested thirty minutes ago at his private practice,"" Agent Miller replied, stepping forward and displaying a badge alongside an eight-page warrant. ""As for you, Garrett Vance, you are under arrest for attempted capital murder, two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, federal maritime contract fraud, and the interstate trafficking of controlled substances—specifically the digitalis compounds found in your private safe this morning.""
Garrett spun around to face Penelope. ""You told me she was taking the milk! You said she was drinking all of it! You said she wouldn't have the strength to fight the water!""
""Shut up, Garrett!"" Penelope shrieked, backing away into the corner of the boardroom. ""Don't speak to me! Don't look at me!""
""And Penelope Hart,"" Agent Miller continued, gesturing to two female agents who immediately stepped toward my half-sister, ""you are under arrest as an accessory before the fact to attempted capital murder, corporate espionage, and federal wire fraud.""
""I’m pregnant!"" Penelope sobbed, clutching her stomach as the female agents placed her hands behind her back, the cold steel of the handcuffs clicking loudly in the quiet room. ""You can't arrest me! I need a doctor! Rosalind, tell them! Rosalind, I'm your sister! Blood is blood!""
I walked up to Penelope. I looked at the tears streaming down her cheeks, the frantic terror in her eyes, and remembered her standing on that riverbank beneath the umbrella, kissing my husband while the Blackwood River swallowed the car carrying her family.
""Blood didn't stop you from standing on the shore to watch me die, Penelope,"" I said softly, without a trace of anger, only the chilling finality of absolute truth. ""You are not my sister. You never were. You are just a thief who got caught in the dark.""
The marshals escorted Penelope out of the room, her wailing echoing down the corridor until the elevator doors closed.
Garrett didn't go as quietly. When the agents moved to cuff him, he lunged across the table, trying to grab the leather folder containing the offshore accounts. Tobias moved with terrifying speed. In a single, fluid motion, my brother caught Garrett by the lapel, spun him around, and drove him face-first into the mahogany table, pinning his arm behind his back with the effortless strength of a man who had trained his body in secret for fifteen years.
""Fifteen years ago, your father took my parents,"" Tobias whispered into Garrett’s ear, his voice deadly quiet. ""You thought our family was soft. You thought because I sat in that chair, we were defenseless. But we built these docks, Garrett. And we know how to bury our trash.""
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Tobias stepped back, allowing the federal agents to haul Garrett up, pull his arms behind his back, and secure the irons around his wrists.
Garrett looked at me one last time. The charming, loving husband was entirely gone; all that remained was a broken, pathetic criminal facing a lifetime behind federal concrete. He tried to speak, but the marshals pushed him through the doorway, escorting him away to the sirens wailing ten stories below.
