Chapter 4 - The Arrest They Prepared
Detective Pierce entered the basement with four officers.
His weapon remained aimed at Emma.
Ryan stood beside the workbench.
The gun he had been holding was gone.
Emma saw it beneath a folded canvas.
He had hidden it before Pierce descended.
“Hands where I can see them,” Pierce ordered.
Emma held up Victor’s recorder.
“You need to listen to this.”
Pierce looked at Ryan.
Not Emma.
Ryan shook his head slightly.
Pierce stepped forward.
“Put it down.”
Marcus moved beside Emma.
“She has evidence of financial fraud and possible involvement in Victor Bennett’s death.”
Pierce smiled.
“You must be Marcus Hale.”
Marcus’s expression changed.
“You know me.”
“I know Owen Hayes hired you.”
“He has no authority here.”
“The property is held by a trust.”
“Ryan Carter is acting trustee.”
“Only if Emma is incapacitated.”
Pierce looked at her.
“That process began tonight.”
Emma laughed bitterly.
“You mean the forged psychiatric report?”
Pierce removed handcuffs.
“I mean you entered your sister’s apartment, threatened her, abducted your son, drove recklessly, and broke into company property.”
Lily came down the remaining stairs.
“She didn’t threaten me.”
Pierce looked at her.
Ryan’s voice sharpened.
“Go upstairs.”
Lily stared at him.
“No.”
Ryan moved closer.
She stepped away.
Pierce sighed.
“Ms. Bennett, you gave a statement two weeks ago describing Emma’s violent behavior.”
Emma looked at her sister.
Lily’s face collapsed.
“I didn’t know what it was for.”
“What did you sign?” Emma asked.
“Ryan said it was for the board.”
“What did it say?”
“I didn’t read all of it.”
Emma almost laughed.
“Of course you didn’t.”
Lily flinched.
Pierce reached for the recorder.
Emma pulled it back.
“This belongs to my father.”
“It is evidence.”
“Then seal it in front of everyone.”
Pierce’s jaw tightened.
“You do not give instructions.”
Marcus took out his phone.
“This is streaming to Owen Hayes.”
Pierce looked at him.
Marcus smiled faintly.
“Anything that disappears tonight will still exist tomorrow.”
For the first time, Pierce hesitated.
Ryan stepped closer.
“Detective, Emma needs help.”
“She is clearly unstable.”
Emma looked at him.
“You slept with my sister to provoke a breakdown.”
“That is paranoid.”
“You prepared custody papers before I found you.”
“Because your behavior has frightened me for months.”
“What behavior?”
“Your mood swings.”
“My grief after Dad died?”
“Your obsession with the company.”
“The company he left me?”
“Your jealousy toward Lily.”
Emma stared at him.
“You were sleeping with her.”
Ryan turned toward Pierce.
“See?”
“She cannot control herself.”
Emma almost shouted.
Then she understood.
Every angry sentence became evidence.
Every tear became instability.
Every protest became paranoia.
Ryan wanted her emotional.
She lowered her voice.
“I am willing to answer questions with my attorney present.”
Pierce’s expression showed disappointment.
He had expected a scene.
“Where is Noah?”
“He is safe.”
“Where?”
“I will tell a judge.”
Pierce reached for her wrist.
“You can tell one after booking.”
Lily stepped between them.
“She did not kidnap him.”
“Move,” Pierce ordered.
“No.”
Ryan grabbed Lily’s arm.
She slapped him.
The sound cracked through the basement.
Everyone froze.
Lily stared at her own hand.
Ryan’s face slowly turned back toward her.
“You just made a mistake.”
Lily shook.
“No.”
“My mistake was believing you.”
Ryan leaned close.
“Without me, you lose everything.”
“I already lost my sister.”
Emma looked away.
The words hurt because they were true.
Pierce handcuffed Emma.
Marcus was detained for obstruction.
The recorder was sealed inside an evidence bag under the view of Marcus’s camera.
The brass key remained hidden inside Emma’s sleeve.
As Pierce led her upstairs, Emma saw Diane standing in the living room.
Her mother wore a raincoat over her pajamas.
Her face was wet with tears.
Emma stopped.
“You called them.”
Diane shook her head.
“Ryan said you had taken Noah and were planning to disappear.”
“You knew about the custody papers.”
“No.”
“You knew about Dad’s letter.”
Diane looked toward Ryan.
He had followed them upstairs.
Emma understood.
Her mother was still afraid of him.
Or still protecting him.
Pierce led Emma outside.
Reporters were already gathering near the road.
Ryan had arranged that too.
Cameras captured Emma in handcuffs.
Headlines would call her a grieving heiress in crisis.
Ryan would appear as the concerned husband.
Lily ran onto the porch.
“Emma!”
An officer blocked her.
Lily held up her phone.
“I have the apartment camera.”
Ryan turned sharply.
“What camera?”
Lily looked at him.
“The one you didn’t know I installed.”
Ryan’s face changed.
Lily had been robbed six months earlier.
She placed a camera inside a bookshelf afterward.
It would show Ryan entering.
Show him removing his shirt.
Show the affair.
Possibly show what they discussed before Emma arrived.
Pierce walked toward Lily.
“Give me the phone.”
She stepped backward.
“No.”
“It may be evidence.”
“I’m sending it to Owen.”
Ryan lunged.
Marcus blocked him.
The officers grabbed Marcus again.
Lily pressed the screen.
“Sent.”
Ryan stared at her with open hatred.
The performance was over.
Pierce pushed Emma into the police car.
Before closing the door, he leaned down.
“Your father made everything difficult too.”
Emma looked at him.
“Did you kill him?”
Pierce smiled.
“No.”
“But I helped the man who did.”
He slammed the door.
At the station, Emma was placed in an interview room.
No lawyer was allowed inside for nearly an hour.
Pierce sat across from her.
He placed a photograph on the table.
Victor’s damaged car.
The driver’s side had been crushed.
“Your fingerprints were found on the brake line,” he said.
Emma stared at him.
“I never touched the car.”
“You argued with Victor the morning he died.”
“About Ryan.”
“You threatened to take control of the company.”
“My father already planned to give it to me.”
Pierce placed another page down.
A life insurance policy.
Emma was the beneficiary.
“You received six million dollars after his death.”
“Most of it went into Bennett Homes.”
“That does not make you innocent.”
Emma leaned forward.
“You have been holding this for three years?”
“We reopened the case after receiving new evidence.”
“From Ryan.”
Pierce smiled.
“From an anonymous source.”
The door opened.
Owen Hayes entered.
He was taller than Emma remembered.
His dark hair was threaded with gray near the temples.
He placed his briefcase on the table.
“This interview is over.”
Pierce leaned back.
“Your client is being held on probable cause.”
“No.”
“My client is being released.”
Owen opened a folder.
“The lake house basement camera recorded Ryan Carter holding an unregistered weapon.”
“It also recorded him discussing the forged psychiatric petition.”
Pierce’s smile disappeared.
Owen continued.
“Lily Bennett’s apartment footage confirms that Ryan deliberately staged the affair discovery.”
“And Marcus Hale’s live recording captured your admission that the murder evidence existed before tonight.”
Pierce stood.
“I admitted nothing.”
“You told Emma her father made things difficult.”
“That is not a confession.”
“No.”
“But the federal agents outside are interested in why a local detective coordinated an arrest involving a multimillion-dollar corporate trust.”
Pierce looked toward the mirrored window.
Owen leaned closer.
“Release her.”
Pierce left the room without answering.
Emma looked at Owen.
“Where is Noah?”
“With Martha.”
“He is safe.”
Emma closed her eyes.
Owen sat across from her.
“Your father’s recorder was switched before it reached evidence storage.”
She opened her eyes.
“What?”
“The bag now contains an empty device.”
“Marcus filmed them sealing it.”
“Pierce replaced it in the hallway.”
“Then the recording is gone.”
Owen shook his head.
“Victor expected that.”
He placed the brass key on the table.
Emma stared.
“I had it in my sleeve.”
“You dropped it in the police car.”
“What does it open?”
“A safe-deposit box.”
“Where?”
Owen’s face became serious.
“Inside the bank Ryan is trying to purchase with money stolen from your company.”
Emma’s hands tightened.
“What is inside?”
May you like
“The original red ledger.”
“And a letter explaining why Victor believed Ryan would eventually try to kill you.”
