Chapter 6 - The Unraveling
The courtyard fell into a silence so profound that the rustle of the surrounding pine needles sounded like falling stones.
Cressida took an involuntary step forward, her voice rising an octave. "You're lying! Balthazar is at a high-level briefing with the Department of Defense! He's securing an eight-million-dollar contract!"
Vance Bradley stepped forward, opening the manila folder with practiced calm.
"Mrs. Aloud, the contract your husband attempted to secure was rescinded at dawn," Vance stated in a clear, carrying voice that reached the neighbors gathered by the gate. "The United States Army Criminal Investigation Division, in coordination with the FBI Financial Crimes Task Force, executed a seizure warrant on Aloud Global Logistics three hours ago. Your husband has been formally indicted on sixteen counts of wire fraud, government procurement bribery, and interstate money laundering."
"No..." Cressida whispered, shaking her head furiously. "No, Balthazar knows generals! He has connections!"
"His primary contact was a civilian logistics analyst who accepted forty thousand dollars in illegal kickbacks," Thorne said, his eyes drilling directly into hers. "That analyst was arrested at his home at six this morning. He surrendered your husband's personal ledger within forty-five minutes to avoid a maximum sentence."
Morwenna stumbled back against the front portico, reaching blindly for Alaric’s arm. "Alaric... do something. Tell them who we are!"
"Who are you, Morwenna?" Thorne asked, stepping directly into the center of the terrace. "A family that lives off bank loans and posturing? A family that forces my wife to buy six hundred dollars of meat for your vanity, fractures her skull, and then sends an invoice for cleaning blood off the patio?"
Alaric’s face shifted from crimson to an ash-gray pallor. "That was a domestic disagreement! An accident! Officer Gannon took the report! Vesper was intoxicated, she attacked my grandson, and she fell!"
The Sheriff's captain stepped up beside Thorne, his hands resting easily on his duty belt.
"Officer Gannon was stripped of his badge and gun ninety minutes ago, Mr. Vance," the Captain said coldly. "He is currently suspended pending a formal grand jury investigation into public corruption, witness intimidation, and falsifying a police report."
Cressida’s breathing turned ragged. She clutched her expensive purse against her ribs like a shield. "You can't prove anything! Draven was traumatized! It's our word against hers! Forty people saw her lose control!"
I took a single step toward my sister.
Though my jaw was wired tight, I pulled my phone from my coat pocket and tapped the screen once.
The high-definition audio from the patio security feed blasted from the exterior speaker synced to the Suburban’s PA system.
*“Nobody wants a useless parasite,”* Cressida’s recorded voice echoed across the cul-de-sac with crystal-clear fidelity.
Then came the sickening, wet thud of the brass-cornered bag shattering my facial bones.
The entire street heard my gasp of pain. They heard Alaric say: *“Get your garbage off my property, Vesper. You're embarrassing us.”*
They heard Morwenna’s voice, crisp and unbothered: *“She brought this on herself. Bartender, keep serving.”*
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The color abandoned Cressida’s face completely. The forty-five-hundred-dollar bag slipped from her fingers, landing heavily in the dirt beside her designer shoes.
***
