Chapter 4 - The Poisoned Well
The realization hit Ava harder than the physical blow that had cracked her skull against the marble nightstand the evening before. Julian’s crash had not been a tragic accident on a rain-slicked highway. It was murder. Her husband had been executed, and she had spent the last year living beneath the same roof as the woman who had likely ordered the hit.
""The police ruled it an accidental skid,"" Ava whispered, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the hospital bedrail. ""The local sheriff... he came to the house himself. He spoke to Eleanor for hours.""
""Sheriff Barnes is on Eleanor’s payroll,"" Christian answered coldly. ""Or rather, on the payroll of Eleanor’s creditors. Julian was on his way to the federal prosecutor’s office that night. He had the ledger. He had the proof of who was laundering money through the Mitchell Foundation.""
Maya turned the laptop toward Ava, displaying a scanned bank document. ""Here is the issue. The physical ledger disappeared from the crash site. Eleanor thought it was destroyed in the fire that consumed Julian’s car. But last night, after the deputies removed Eleanor from the manor, my team searched the house. We found bank statements proving Eleanor has been receiving extortion letters for the last thirty days.""
""Extortion?"" Ava asked, her voice trembling. ""From who?""
""From whoever took the ledger from the crash,"" Christian said. ""The blackmailer is demanding the remaining five million dollars sitting in Julian’s private escrow—an escrow that requires your signature and biometric approval. That’s why Eleanor kept you locked away instead of kicking you out. She needed you alive just long enough to sign that transfer.""
May you like
Before Ava could respond, the door to the room swung open with a bang. Two armed county deputies stepped inside, followed not by medical staff, but by Sheriff Barnes himself, his badge gleaming under the harsh fluorescent lights.
""Mr. Vance,"" Barnes drawled, his hand resting casually on his utility belt. ""Step away from the patient. We have an active warrant for Mrs. Ava Mitchell’s arrest.""
