Chapter 9 - What the Papers Hid
Inside the vault, Elena released a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. She slumped back into the leather chair, tears of relief pricking the corners of her eyes. Leo was sound asleep on the cot, completely oblivious to the war that had just concluded a few dozen yards away.
Ten minutes passed in agonizing silence.
Then, three heavy knocks resonated against the steel door.
*Thump. Thump. Thump.*
A pause.
*Thump. Thump.*
Elena sprang to her feet and hit the manual release lever. The heavy wall groaned and slid aside, revealing Marcus standing in the library, flanked by two state troopers and a middle-aged man in a sharp bespoke suit carrying a leather briefcase—Arthur Sterling, the lead attorney.
"Elena," Marcus said, stepping in and offering her a hand. "It's over. You can come out now."
Elena stepped out into the library, holding Leo securely. "Is she... did they take her?"
"Victoria is in federal custody," Sterling answered smoothly, adjusting his glasses. "Not just for assault and attempted parental abduction. The documents Mr. Vance presented revealed that she had been embezzling tens of millions from the family charitable trust to pay off her family's illicit debts overseas. Her hired accomplices have already flipped on her."
"And the locker?" Elena asked, looking at Marcus. "Did she plant evidence?"
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Marcus smiled faintly, a genuine, warm expression that Elena had never seen on his usually stoic face. "She tried. Jenkins caught her private assistant on camera planting a diamond necklace in your locker twenty minutes before this started. Her assistant broke down within thirty seconds of police questioning. You are completely exonerated, Elena."
Elena felt an immense weight lift from her shoulders. "Thank God."
