Part 3: The Broken High-Rise
Part 3: The Broken High-Rise
The kitchen was a war zone.
The quartz island counter was covered in coffee grounds and white ceramic shards from the mug I had heard shatter over the phone.
A dark red stain was blooming on the hallway carpet.
"Police! Show your hands!" Miller shouted, his weapon drawn as he moved toward the master bedroom.
I pushed past the secondary officer, my eyes searching the darkness of the living room.
Then I saw her.
Hazel was sitting behind the sofa, her knees pulled tightly to her chest, her gray pajamas torn at the shoulder.
A sharp cut was bleeding near her jawline, but her eyes were wide, cold, and remarkably steady.
She wasn't crying.
She was holding a small, silver kitchen knife she must have grabbed before the phone died.
"I didn't let him take it," she whispered, looking up at me.
"Take what, sweetheart?" I asked, kneeling beside her on the floor.
She pointed toward the balcony doors.
Nicholas was standing outside in the pouring rain, his hands covered in blood, staring at the police officers with the manic expression of a man who had finally lost control of his script.
"She tried to ruin me!" Nicholas screamed through the glass, his tailored shirt completely soaked. "She's been copying my corporate files! She's a thief!"
"Step away from the glass, Mr. Montgomery," Miller ordered.
Nicholas didn't move.
He looked at me, his own mother, and his teeth bared in a snarl.
"You brought them here," he hissed. "You're supposed to protect this family."
"You are not my family," I said, my voice echoing clearly through the ruined apartment.
"Everything you have belongs to me!" he roared, slamming his fists against the balcony glass.
"Not anymore," a new voice said from the doorway.
Mr. Rodriguez walked in, carrying a leather briefcase and a signed emergency injunction from a federal judge.
He looked at Nicholas, then at the police officers.
"Mr. Montgomery's firm was officially placed under corporate receivership twenty minutes ago," the lawyer announced. "His assets are frozen. His access to the family trust is revoked."
Nicholas froze.
The manic energy left his body all at once, his shoulders slumping as the reality of his financial execution finally hit him.
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The officers opened the balcony door, grabbed his arms, and forced his hands behind his back.
The handcuffs clicked shut in the quiet apartment.
