Chapter 4 - The Sting in the Interrogation Room
At 8:00 AM the following morning, Victor sat in Interrogation Room B at the 4th Precinct.
His high-priced defense attorney sat beside him, smiling smugly as they prepared to post the $50,000 bail set for simple assault charges. To them, this was still just a messy family dispute that could be buried with money and high-powered legal threats.
The door opened.
Instead of Detective Vance, I walked into the room. I was wearing clean gray scrubs provided by the hospital, a thick white bandage wrapped around my head, and a brace support on my right wrist.
Victor’s attorney stood up instantly. "What is this? My client is not permitted to have contact with the victim!"
"Sit down," Detective Vance commanded from the doorway, stepping in behind me and shutting the heavy steel door. "Miss Ward requested five minutes to deliver a statement. You can listen, or you can leave."
Victor leaned back in his steel chair, putting his hands behind his head, though his jaw muscles twitched involuntarily. "Lena, baby. I know you're upset. But running to the police with fabricated videos isn't going to get you what you want. Your mother is sick. She forced me into this."
I walked up to the metal table, placed both hands flat on the cold surface, and leaned down until my face was six inches from his.
"Dr. Mercer was arrested an hour ago at the airport, Victor," I said, my voice barely above a whisper, yet ringing with absolute authority. "He tried to board a flight to Zurich with two million dollars in a blind trust account. Do you know what he gave the feds in exchange for immunity from the death penalty?"
Victor’s smug posture collapsed. His arms dropped from behind his head.
"He gave them your father’s preserved tissue samples from seven years ago," I continued smoothly. "The ones he secretly kept in his private lab as blackmail material against you. They tested positive for potassium chloride, Victor. The exact poison used to simulate heart failure."
The lawyer beside Victor turned to look at his client, his face darkening instantly. "Victor... what is she talking about?"
"And Pinecrest?" I added, letting a slow, razor-thin smile spread across my face for the very first time. "The federal marshals raided the facility at dawn. They found the soundproof room in the basement you spent three hundred thousand dollars customizing for me."
Victor lunged across the table, his fingers clawing for my neck, screaming in primal rage. "You little bitch! I should have broken your neck years ago!"
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Detective Vance slammed Victor down onto the metal table, shoving his arm behind his back and snapping heavy steel handcuffs around his wrists before he could even touch the collar of my scrubs.
I didn't flinch. I didn't step back. I stood my ground and watched him thrash against the iron restraints.
