Chapter 12 - The Poisoned IV:
Richard called the estate.
No one answered.
Chloe tried Laura’s phone.
It rang until voicemail.
The officers assigned to the mansion reported that all communication had failed.
Rosa went pale.
“Jonathan knew we would leave Laura behind.”
They drove back at dangerous speed.
Police vehicles followed.
The estate gates stood open.
Two guards lay unconscious inside the security office.
The mansion was silent.
Mia ran upstairs.
Laura’s room was empty.
An intravenous bag hung beside the bed.
A clear line trailed across the floor.
Chloe found Laura inside the east-wing nursery.
She lay in the rocking chair beneath the painted stars.
Dr. Malcolm Ross stood beside her.
He held a syringe above the IV line.
Mia struck his arm with a fireplace poker.
The syringe flew across the room.
Ross turned toward her.
His calm medical expression vanished.
He grabbed Mia by the throat.
Chloe pulled him backward.
Richard entered and drove Ross against the wall.
Police officers restrained him.
Laura’s breathing was weak.
A paramedic examined the IV bag.
“It contains potassium chloride.”
“He was trying to stop her heart.”
Chloe looked at Ross.
“You kept her imprisoned for six years.”
Ross stared at Laura.
“She was never supposed to survive the boat.”
“Jonathan believed the clinic was cleaner.”
Rosa stepped into the nursery.
Ross’s face changed.
“You.”
Rosa walked toward him.
“You should have checked the basement cameras before entering the hospital.”
“You led Elias to me.”
“I needed him to believe I still had the original ledger.”
Ross laughed.
“You still think you understand the plan.”
“The missing foundation money was never the real prize.”
Richard grabbed his coat.
“What was?”
“Vance Holdings.”
“Jonathan used the foundation accounts to purchase shares through hundreds of false trusts.”
“By tomorrow, he will control the company legally.”
“Not after Rosa’s testimony,” Hale said from the doorway.
His injured arm rested in a sling.
Ross smiled.
“Rosa is a convicted thief.”
“She disappeared for six years.”
“Laura is a psychiatric patient.”
“Mia and Chloe are disgruntled employees.”
“Jonathan has spent years preparing to discredit every one of them.”
Rosa stepped close.
“He didn’t prepare for the stock certificates.”
Ross’s smile disappeared.
Richard looked at her.
“What certificates?”
Rosa explained that she had helped Richard’s father, Samuel Vance, establish the foundation.
Before Richard inherited Vance Holdings, Rosa invested her savings in a failing division of the company.
Samuel rewarded her with twelve percent of the original shares.
The agreement was private because Rosa feared her abusive husband would claim the money.
After his death, the shares were to pass equally to Mia and Chloe.
Jonathan discovered the agreement.
He forged a transfer claiming Rosa donated the shares to the foundation.
Those shares gave him enough power to influence the board.
“If the original certificates still exist,” Richard said, “Mia and Chloe control twelve percent.”
“They exist,” Rosa replied.
“Where?”
“With the notary who witnessed the agreement.”
“Arthur Bell.”
Richard knew the name.
Arthur had served as Samuel Vance’s private attorney.
He retired fifteen years earlier.
Rosa had not seen him since the fire.
Nora searched public records.
Arthur Bell lived at a retirement community in Vermont.
They called.
A nurse answered.
Arthur had disappeared that morning.
A black sedan had collected him.
The driver claimed to work for Richard.
Jonathan had reached him first.
Evelyn called Mia’s phone.
Her voice sounded exhausted.
“Jonathan knows you found Rosa.”
“Where is Arthur Bell?”
“Alive.”
“For now.”
“What do you want?”
“The memory card.”
Mia looked toward Rosa.
Evelyn continued.
“Meet me alone at the Vance winter house.”
“No police.”
“Bring the card.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
“But Jonathan plans to kill Arthur after the board accepts the forged shares.”
“And he plans to kill me too.”
“You helped him.”
“I helped him steal money.”
“I did not agree to murder Laura.”
“You imprisoned her.”
“I believed Ross would keep her sedated.”
“You visited every month.”
“To make sure she stayed alive.”
Evelyn’s voice cracked.
It was not remorse.
It was fear.
“Jonathan no longer needs me.”
“He has Elias’s accounts, Ross’s records, and the forged trusts.”
“He will blame everything on us.”
“Why tell me?”
“Because I know where he keeps the original stock certificates.”
The call ended.
Richard opposed the meeting.
Mia went anyway.
The winter house stood beside a frozen lake in Vermont.
She entered through the rear door.
Evelyn waited near the fireplace.
Her elegance had disappeared.
She wore no diamonds.
Dark circles marked her eyes.
Arthur Bell sat tied to a chair.
He was alive.
Evelyn held a folder against her chest.
“These prove the shares belong to you and Chloe.”
Mia reached for them.
Evelyn stepped back.
“First, you will promise me immunity.”
“I cannot promise that.”
“Then Arthur dies.”
A shadow moved behind Evelyn.
Jonathan stepped from the hallway.
He raised a gun toward her.
May you like
“You were always terrible at choosing allies.”
The shot echoed through the house.
