Chapter 13 - The Trap Closes
Julian stood frozen on the loading dock, the morning fog swirling around his knees.
"Uncle Arthur," Julian stammered, his arrogance dissolving into pathetic desperation.
"She is a mentally unstable impostor."
"She broke into the nursery to abduct my son."
Arthur Vance did not even look at his nephew.
He waved a hand at two private security officers dressed in dark blue suits who emerged from the front of the town car.
"Julian, you are relieved of all corporate authority pending an immediate forensic audit by the board."
"Furthermore, I have already notified the Attorney General’s office regarding Dr. Sterling’s private facility in upstate New York."
From behind the mansion, Victoria Sterling sprinted into the courtyard, clutching a crocodile-skin overnight bag stuffed with jewelry and cash.
She saw the trust’s security officers and skidded to a halt on the wet gravel.
"Julian, what is happening?!" she screamed, her voice cracking with terror.
"Get the car! We need to leave now!"
Two state trooper cruisers roared up the main driveway, their blue and red lights flashing against the stone facade of the mansion.
They had not been summoned by Julian; they had been dispatched by the state prosecutor upon receiving Arthur Vance’s dossier.
Victoria dropped the bag, the diamonds and gold bullion spilling out across the dirt.
"I didn't do anything!" she shrieked, backing away toward the hedge line.
"It was Julian! He paid for the forged papers!"
"He ordered the sedative from my uncle!"
Julian turned on her with savage eyes.
"You poisoned my son, you treacherous snake!"
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Before Julian could reach her, the state troopers tackled him to the gravel, pinning his arms behind his back and snapping cold steel handcuffs around his wrists.
Inside the warm back seat of the town car, Clara wrapped Leo in a heated thermal blanket as an EMT placed a pediatric oxygen mask over the child’s small nose and mouth.
