Chapter 7 - The Reading of the Will
Garrett’s hand trembled so violently that the gun barrel wavered between my forehead and my chest. Sweat poured down his temples, soaking his crisp white collar.
"You have nothing!" Garrett yelled, his voice cracking into high-pitched panic. "I signed the merger! The shares are mine! The police have the accident report! You're legally dead!"
"Check your phone, Garrett," I said softly, stepping closer until the cold steel of the gun barrel was barely two inches from my forehead. I didn't blink. I didn't flinch. After facing a drowning grave in Savannah Creek, a piece of lead in a boardroom didn't frighten me in the least. "Go on. Look at your notifications."
With his left hand, Garrett frantically pulled out his phone.
The screen was inundated with flashing red alerts from Bloomberg, the Associated Press, and the Department of Justice:
BREAKING: VANCE MARITIME EXECUTIVES INDICTED ON CHARGES OF CONSPIRACY, ATTEMPTED MURDER, AND DEFENSE FRAUD.
LIVE STREAM: BALTIMORE SHIPYARD HEIRS REVEAL UNDERCOVER OPERATION EXPOSING FIFTEEN-YEAR CORPORATE CONSPIRACY.
"What... what is this?" Garrett stammered, his eyes widening in pure horror.
"While you were busy crying for the news cameras yesterday afternoon," Jonathan Mercer said calmly, adjusting his glasses, "Tobias transmitted the full digital ledger to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Every forged check, every offshore shell company, and every wire transfer from the Mitchell and Vance accounts over the past decade."
"And that's not all," I added, looking down at Penelope, who had collapsed onto her knees, sobbing against the carpet. "We also recovered the toxicology report from our personal residence. The digitalis compounds you mixed into my nightly warm milk, Garrett. The search warrant was executed on your estate three hours ago. They found the chemical vials hidden behind the baseboards in your dressing room."
"No... no, no, no," Penelope wailed, clawing at Garrett's trousers. "You promised me! You said she would die quietly and we’d have the money! You said we’d move to Monaco!"
"Shut up, you stupid bitch!" Garrett screamed, kicking Penelope away from him. She tumbled backward against the credenza, weeping hysterically, the emerald ring catching the harsh emergency light.
That single act of cowardly cruelty erased any lingering shred of pity I might have harbored for the man I once called my husband.
"Drop the weapon, Garrett," Tobias ordered, his voice dropping into a lethal, low growl. "You have three seconds before I disarm you myself. And believe me, after fifteen years of pretending to be helpless, I would love nothing more than an excuse to break both your arms."
Garrett looked from Tobias's muscular frame to my cold, unblinking eyes, then around the room at the board members who were already recording him with their phones.
May you like
His fingers went limp. The silver pistol clattered harmlessly onto the mahogany table.
Down below on the street, the distant sirens began to wail, growing louder and louder as dozens of federal and local law enforcement vehicles converged on Sterling Tower.
