Chapter 7 - Handcuffs and Meltdowns
“Richard Sterling, you are under arrest.”
Chief Harrison stepped forward, his expression deadpan as he unholstered a pair of heavy steel handcuffs. Before Richard could push himself up from the floor, two officers gripped his arms, yanking them roughly behind his back. The metal ratcheted shut with two loud, metallic clicks.
“You can’t arrest me!” Richard screamed, his face turning an alarming shade of mottled purple. “I need medical attention! I am having an acute medical crisis!”
“A physician from the county correctional facility will evaluate you at central booking,” Chief Harrison replied smoothly, reciting the Miranda warnings without missing a beat. “You are being charged with aggravated battery with a deadly instrument, attempted feticide, domestic assault resulting in catastrophic bodily injury, and felony medical identity theft.”
“Evelyn! Do something!” Richard shrieked as the officers dragged him toward the service elevators. His legs were giving out, dragging behind him on the polished floor. “Call our attorneys! Call Robert!”
Evelyn was hyperventilating, backing away toward the wall. “I don't have his number! Richard, my phone was connected to the family business account—it just shut off! My cards aren't working!”
“Wait!” Chloe cried out, running after the officers. “What about my recovery? I need my prescription pain medications! Daddy, you promised to pay for my follow-up appointments in Beverly Hills! Who is going to pay for my care?”
Chief Harrison paused, looking down at Chloe with undisguised contempt. “Miss Sterling, if I were you, I’d be more concerned about hiring a criminal defense attorney of your own. Submitting to an illegal medical procedure to facilitate unauthorized organ harvesting makes you an unindicted co-conspirator. Detectives will be visiting your apartment in the morning.”
Chloe shrieked, clutching her face, while Evelyn collapsed onto one of the waiting room chairs, sobbing hysterically as she realized the golden cage she had spent thirty years maintaining had vanished into thin air in less than two hours.
Security guards immediately moved in. “Ma’am, Miss, you need to leave the hospital premises immediately. Mr. Davis and Mr. Sterling have filed emergency restraining orders against both of you. If you are on hospital grounds in two minutes, you will be booked for criminal trespass.”
Mark watched in silence as the security personnel escorted the two wailing women toward the public exits. The toxic cloud that had suffocated Sarah’s entire life was finally being cleared away, stripped of its money, its influence, and its teeth.
Mark turned toward Grandfather Arthur. The old patriarch looked visibly aged, the grief weighing heavily upon his shoulders, but his gaze remained resolute.
May you like
“Mark,” Arthur said softly, resting a hand on the young man’s trembling shoulder. “Take me to see my great-grandchildren. Let us see the future that those monsters tried so desperately to destroy.”
***
