Chapter 7 - THE STATE POLICE ARRIVE
Within fifteen minutes, the quiet Asheville neighborhood was flooded with the flashing red and blue lights of state police cruisers. The local precinct, which Marcus had clearly assumed was in his pocket, had been completely bypassed the moment I patched the state homicide division into the call.
Four armed troopers swarmed through my mother’s front door, their boots tracking in the midnight dew, their faces grim and professional.
Marcus was still handcuffed on the living room floor, his expensive black button-down stained with dust and spilled cocoa from where he had knocked over Leo’s cup during his panicked sprint.
"Lieutenant Vance?" one of the state troopers asked, looking down at Marcus before turning his sharp gaze toward me. "Ma'am, you placed the emergency call regarding a suspicious death and digital evidence tampering?"
"I did," I said, stepping forward with Leo still holding my hand. I handed the burner phone over in a plastic evidence bag I had grabbed from the kitchen. "That phone was sewn into the lining of my sister’s burial dress by the man on the floor. It contains text confirmation of her murder, orchestrated to look like a staircase fall."
The lead investigator, a tall, silver-haired detective named Miller, took the bag and examined it carefully. He then turned his attention to the open casket, where Rachel lay in that terrible navy dress.
Detective Miller walked over, gently closing the casket lid—not because we were hiding her, but because her work was finally done.
"Mr. Marcus Vance," Detective Miller said, pulling out a pair of heavy steel handcuffs and walking over to haul Marcus up from the floor. "You are under arrest for the premeditated murder of Rachel Vance, tampering with evidence, and obstruction of justice."
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As Marcus was dragged out the front door into the flashing lights of the cruiser, he didn't look at my mother, and he didn't look at me. His eyes locked onto Leo for one brief second—a look of pure, unadulterated venom.
Leo didn't look away. He stood tall, his little shoulders squared, watching the man who had tried to silence his mother get driven away into the dark.
