I reached for my lapel, removed the small black button microphone, and placed it directly in the center of Selina’s legal notepad, beside her carefully written budget.
Selina blinked at the metallic device. “What… what is that?”
“That,” I said smoothly, “is the recording device picking up every word of your extortion attempt, your confession to wire fraud, your admission of stealing $114,000, and your confession to withholding medical care from my wife.”
Godfrey went pale. “You… you wearing a wire?!”
“And as for the $1.5 million settlement?” I continued, leaning back and crossing my arms. “There is no chemical spill. There is no Canadian lawsuit. There is no transfer coming tomorrow morning.”
Selina gasped, clutching her chest. “What?!”
“I hired a corporate investigator the moment I saw Phoebe’s medical records three days ago,” I said, my voice slicing through the room like a razor. “The settlement document was a trap. And you both walked right into it.”
CRASH.
The front door suddenly flew open with a deafening bang.
“POLICE! STAY WHERE YOU ARE!”
Detective Miller and four uniformed officers poured into the foyer, guns drawn, badges flashing beneath the chandelier.
Godfrey panicked, knocking over his chair as he tried to bolt toward the back patio doors. Two officers tackled him onto the hardwood floor, pressing him down and pulling his arms behind his back.
“GET OFF ME! DAMIAN, TELL THEM TO GET OFF ME!” Godfrey screamed, his face reddening as the steel handcuffs snapped around his wrists.
Selina shrieked and backed into the china cabinet, rattling the crystal glasses inside. “You can’t arrest us! This is a family matter! He’s my son! He gave us that money!”
“Mrs. Selina Vance,” Detective Miller announced, pulling a warrant from his jacket, “you are under arrest for felony elder and dependent adult abuse, grand larceny by trick, wire fraud, and felony extortion.”
“NO! DAMIAN! TELL THEM IT’S A MISTAKE!” Selina wailed as an officer pulled her arms behind her and fastened handcuffs around her wrists. She stared at me with wild, terrified eyes, tears streaking through her heavy makeup. “I’M YOUR MOTHER! I RAISED YOU! YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO YOUR OWN BLOOD!”
