Chapter 9 - The Woman They Called Unstable

By sunrise my face was on every local news site. Some photographs showed me emerging from the laundry in a dust-covered black dress. Others caught Miles gripping my arm in the ballroom. The headlines made me sound drunk, jealous, and dangerous.

"She's hysterical," a television commentator said, using a word I hadn't heard applied to a man in my entire life.

I switched off the screen.

Kim said the district attorney's office was preparing warrants for financial records, but the arson scene was still being processed. "I can't stop a private company from holding a meeting," she warned. "I can stop them from destroying evidence."

"That's a start."

My attorney, Ruth Park, arrived with a portable scanner and bad news. Under our shareholder agreement, an emergency board panel could suspend voting rights if a member was ruled incapacitated. Voss had submitted a doctor's note from a physician I'd never met.

"This is forged," Ruth said, furious. "We can challenge it. But their meeting is at four."

"What about the employees' twelve percent?"

"Their proxy was supposedly signed by Evelyn Price."

"Evelyn disappeared years ago."

Ruth turned her laptop toward me. The proxy had been notarized three days earlier at an assisted-living facility in northern Pennsylvania.

"If she's there, we need to reach her," I said.

Delaney called from an unlisted number. Her voice sounded small without the ballroom's background music.

"My mother's alive. She doesn't have dementia. They keep her medicated so she can't explain what happened."

"Where?"

"Fox Run Care Center. Voss pays the bills. If I cross him, he stops."

"Then help me get her out."

"He'll know. He sees every visitor."

"Delaney, he was willing to burn someone alive last night. He doesn't protect people. He keeps them available to hurt."

A sob caught in her throat. "I know."

May you like

Billionaire’s Wife Kicked a Waitress in Front of 300 Elites—One Slap Exp...

The billionaire’s wife tried to kick a waitress in the face in front of 300 wealthy guests. But seconds later, she whispered three...

My Mother Grabbed My Wife by the Hair Over Cold Soup—But What My Father...

My mother grabbed my wife by the hair over a bowl of cold soup. And the most shameful part? For one terrible second, I almost defe...

My Parents Kicked My 6-Year-Old Daughter and Me Out on Christmas—Then I...

My mother kicked my six-year-old daughter out of Christmas dinner, never realizing I was the only reason she still had a house to...

I heard a door slam on her end. A man's voice demanded her phone.

Delaney whispered one last thing before the call died: "Look for the blue ledger. My mom hid the real vote in its spine."