Chapter 16 - THE LAST SIX HOURS
Labor progressed slowly.
Dr. Blake estimated several hours.
Police doubled hospital security.
No unverified staff.
No unexpected visitors.
No outside medications.
No food delivery.
Nothing entered Elena’s floor without inspection.
At 7:20 p.m., Graham Vale finally called.
Not Ruiz.
Elena.
She answered with Ruiz listening.
“Graham.”
His voice sounded tired.
“You found Helena.”
“Yes.”
“She always believed she was smarter than everyone.”
“She nearly was.”
Graham laughed quietly.
“You’re more like your father than I thought.”
Elena closed her eyes through another contraction.
“You killed him.”
Silence.
“You touched his car.”
Still silence.
“You followed him.”
Graham finally spoke.
“I was there.”
Elena’s throat tightened.
“Why?”
“To stop him.”
“From what?”
“Going to federal investigators.”
“So you cut his brakes.”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
“Charles arranged it.”
Elena looked at Ruiz.
He wrote quickly.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you let him drive.”
Graham’s voice became rough.
“I thought Charles had installed a tracker.”
Elena almost laughed at the weakness of the lie.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
Graham remained quiet for several seconds.
“I wanted David frightened.”
“Why?”
“So he would negotiate.”
“About the company.”
“Yes.”
“And Helena?”
“She wanted proof her model worked.”
Elena felt sick.
“My father was data to her.”
“We all became data to Helena.”
“Do not make yourself her victim.”
Graham went quiet.
Elena continued.
“You had choices.”
“So did David.”
“He chose not to give you his company.”
“I built half of it.”
“And that made murder acceptable?”
Graham’s voice broke.
“I never told Charles to kill him.”
“But you covered it up.”
“Yes.”
The admission hung in the air.
Ruiz kept recording.
Elena whispered.
“Why are you calling me?”
“Because Charles is going to the hospital.”
Ruiz stood immediately.
“Where?”
Elena asked.
“I don’t know.”
“What does he want?”
“The baby cannot be born before the guardianship documents are filed.”
“That’s over.”
“Charles doesn’t think so.”
“Where is he?”
“I told you.”
“You know more.”
Graham exhaled.
“He has a judge.”
Ruiz’s face changed.
“What judge?”
Elena asked.
“Judge Malcolm Reeve.”
Ruiz knew the name.
Probate court.
Senior judge.
Longtime Mercer family acquaintance.
Graham continued.
“Charles filed an emergency incapacity petition an hour ago.”
Elena stared at Ruiz.
“On what grounds?”
“Emotional instability after a domestic incident.”
Elena laughed in disbelief.
The staircase.
They were using Camille’s assault as evidence that Elena was unstable.
Graham continued.
“Charles has edited footage.”
“Edited how?”
“To make it appear you attacked Camille first.”
Ruiz swore.
Elena remained strangely calm.
“Where is the hearing?”
“Remote.”
“When?”
“Eight o’clock.”
Elena looked at the clock.
7:31.
Twenty-nine minutes.
“Graham.”
“Yes?”
“Why help me?”
He was quiet.
Then answered.
“Because Helena told me the baby matters more than I do.”
Elena almost pitied him.
Almost.
“She used you.”
“Yes.”
“You used Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“Adrian used Camille.”
“Yes.”
“And all of you expected me to pay the price.”
Graham said nothing.
Elena continued.
“You’re not helping me.”
“You’re trying to reduce your sentence.”
“Yes.”
At least that was truthful.
Ruiz took the phone.
“Where are you?”
Graham answered.
“Old Mercer rail terminal.”
Ruiz signaled officers.
“Stay there.”
“I will.”
“Hands visible when officers arrive.”
Graham laughed softly.
“I know how arrests work.”
The call ended.
At 7:56 p.m., Elena appeared remotely before Judge Malcolm Reeve.
From a hospital bed.
In labor.
Charles Whitmore appeared from an undisclosed office.
He wore a perfect suit.
Calm expression.
Professional voice.
He argued that Elena had suffered a psychiatric crisis.
That she had become paranoid.
That she had accused family members without evidence.
That she had been involved in a physical altercation.
Then Charles played the video.
Edited.
It began with Camille crying.
Then Elena lying on the stairs.
Then Elena lifting the phone with an icy expression.
The shove was missing.
The argument was missing.
Camille’s confession was missing.
Charles spoke.
“Mrs. Mercer’s family is deeply concerned that stress has compromised her ability to make decisions involving a multibillion-dollar trust.”
Judge Reeve looked uncomfortable.
Then Elena’s attorney spoke.
Robert had contacted one of the best trust litigators in the state.
She shared the original video.
Unedited.
Camille shouting.
Camille pushing Elena.
Elena falling.
Mrs. Harlow comforting Camille.
Elena calling Detective Ruiz.
Judge Reeve watched in silence.
Then Detective Ruiz submitted Helena’s surveillance room photographs.
The fake medical profiles.
The forged trust documents.
The planned staircase confrontation.
The evidence connected to David Mercer’s death.
Charles’s face changed.
Judge Reeve looked directly at him through the screen.
“Mr. Whitmore.”
“Yes, Your Honor?”
“Where are you currently located?”
Charles hesitated.
“Why?”
“Because I am denying your petition.”
Charles said nothing.
Judge Reeve continued.
“And I have just been informed there is an active warrant for your arrest.”
Charles disconnected.
Ruiz immediately tracked the digital connection.
For nine minutes, nothing.
Then a location appeared.
The hospital.
Elena stared at Ruiz.
May you like
“He’s here.”
The lights went out.
