Chapter 6 - The Tiger’s Last Stand
The judge denied bail instantly, ordering Eleanor held in maximum-security remand until trial. But even behind concrete walls and iron bars, a wounded predator is at its most dangerous.
Two weeks after the bail hearing, I was sitting in my newly reclaimed office at Vale International, reviewing the company’s restored accounts, when my private phone rang. It was an unlisted number from the state correctional facility.
I accepted the call.
“You think you’ve won, don't you, Daniel?” Eleanor’s voice sounded thinner now, raspy from weeks of jailhouse air, but still dripping with arrogance.
“The trial starts in three months, Mother,” I said coldly. “Save your breath for the jury.”
“I don't need a jury,” she chuckled softly—a dry, terrifying sound. “You always were too sentimental, just like your father. You think because you have money and police protection that you’re safe? Ask yourself this, Daniel... why did Claire escape last month?”
My hands froze over the financial reports. “What are you talking about?”
“A girl locked in a cellar for two years doesn't suddenly break a steel chain with her bare hands,” Eleanor sneered. “I let her leave. I needed her to find you so you would bring her out into the open, where all the legal claims could be settled once and for all.”
A cold sweat broke out across my back. “Where is the point of this, Eleanor?”
May you like
“The point, my dear boy, is that Marcus wasn't my only loyal servant. And while you’re sitting in that high tower playing CEO, your sweet little wife is taking your daughter for a walk in Riverside Park.”
I dropped the phone, shattering the glass screen against the corner of my mahogany desk, and sprinted for the door.
