Chapter 11 - The Federal Trap
Special Agent David Vance—no relation to Arthur's private security chief—drew his service weapon, pointing it directly at Eleanor as Marcus held her pinned against the floor. ""Federal agents! Do not move! Keep your hands flat on the ground!""
Eleanor thrashed wildly, her nursing cap falling off, exposing her immaculate blonde chignon, now disheveled and wild. ""Do you know who I am?"" she screamed, her face pressed against the cold linoleum. ""I am the wife of the United States Senator-elect! Daniel, call off your dogs! You are committing treason!""
""Shut up, Eleanor,"" Daniel said, stepping forward. His voice was completely devoid of emotion, hollowed out by days of betrayal. He knelt down, using a pair of sterile forceps from the tray to pick up the fallen syringe from beneath Clara’s bed. He placed it carefully into an evidence bag held out by the secondary federal agent.
""Attempted murder of a federal witness,"" Agent Vance declared, snapping heavy steel cuffs onto Eleanor’s wrists for the second time in twenty-four hours. ""And this time, Mrs. Sterling, there is no bail. We have concurrent jurisdiction under the Hobbs Act and federal interstate stalking laws.""
Dr. Lin rushed to Clara’s side, immediately checking the IV lines and running an emergency diagnostic sweep on the monitors. ""The port wasn't breached,"" she announced, exhaling a ragged breath of relief. ""The sedative is holding. Her vitals are stable.""
Eleanor was hauled to her feet. Her scrubs were torn, and her face was red, streaked with sweat and running mascara. She glared at Daniel with an intensity of hatred that could have melted steel. ""You ungrateful, pathetic bastard! I raised you! I built your life! Everything you have came from my family's fortune!""
""Nothing I have came from you,"" Daniel replied, staring directly into her wild eyes. ""You aren't a mother, Eleanor. You’re a parasite who thinks money can buy immunity from basic human decency. Tomorrow, the whole world is going to see the surveillance tapes from the pavilion. They’re going to hear you boast about poisoning Clara's tea. And they’re going to watch you walk into a federal penitentiary.""
Eleanor’s face drained of color. ""The tapes were destroyed. Julian wiped the servers.""
""Clara was smarter than you,"" Daniel said quietly. ""She knew what you were long before I was willing to admit it.""
As the federal agents dragged Eleanor backward down the hallway, her shrill, hysterical screams echoed through the ward, waking patients and drawing terrified looks from nurses and doctors alike.
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Daniel turned back to Clara. He took her pale, motionless hand in his, pressing his forehead against her cool knuckles. ""She's gone, Clara,"" he whispered. ""She can never touch you again.""
Across the room, the continuous beep of the heart monitor suddenly skipped. Then, the rhythmic tone accelerated sharply. Clara’s eyelids twitched, and the fingers beneath Daniel's palm curled with faint, deliberate pressure.
