Chapter 5 - Cold Iron
Sitting in the cold interrogation room of the municipal precinct, Alice kept her head high despite the bitter chill of the steel table beneath her wrists.
Detective Miller tossed a clear evidence bag onto the table. The emerald ring caught the fluorescent glare.
“Grand larceny over fifty thousand dollars is a Class B felony, young lady,” Miller said, leaning forward. “You’re looking at five to ten years at Bedford Hills. But Mrs. Johnson is feeling generous. Sign this confession, agree to an immediate gag order, leave the state within twenty-four hours, and they drop the charges.”
“I didn't steal it,” Alice said, her voice steady despite the hammer in her chest. “Mrs. Johnson handed me a box with a tennis bracelet to take for repair. She slipped the ring in herself, and someone took the repair slip from my coat.”
Miller scoffed. “A billionaire’s wife framed a maid? Do you hear how crazy you sound?”
“Check the security feeds outside the front gates. Check the fingerprints on the inner lining of the jewelry box.”
“Feeds went down for routine maintenance an hour before you walked out,” a sleek voice came from the open doorway.
Julian Sterling stepped inside, holding a leather folder. He waved the detective out with an arrogant flick of his fingers. Miller nodded submissively and shut the door behind him.
Julian pulled out a chair, adjusting his creased slacks. “You’re smart, Alice. Wasted on domestic chores. But you made a fatal miscalculation. You thought Admila could protect you.”
“Why are you doing this?” Alice demanded. “I have nothing to do with your family’s games.”
“You have everything to do with them,” Julian whispered, leaning in. “Admila pulled the original incorporation files for Johnson Maritime yesterday. He requested the trust documents for the Sterling-Johnson merger. He hasn't looked at those papers in twenty years. And then he spent two hours running a background check on a woman named Evelyn Carter.”
Alice froze. “Leave my grandmother out of this.”
“Admila thinks you’re someone else’s blood,” Julian said coldly. “Victoria isn't stupid. If Admila rewrites his will to recognize an illegitimate branch, Annabelle loses half her inheritance. And I lose my financial backing for the Senate race. Sign the paper. Take the bus back to whatever slum you crawled out of. If you don't, your sweet grandmother’s nursing subsidy will mysteriously vanish tomorrow morning.”
The threat struck Alice like a physical blow. Her dignity was hers to risk, but Evelyn was bedridden, dependent on state medical stipends that Julian’s high-powered network could dismantle with a phone call.
Tears pricked Alice’s eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She reached for the pen.
May you like
Just as the metal nib touched the paper, the door flew open with such force it slammed against the concrete wall.
Admila Johnson stood in the frame, flanked by four men in federal law enforcement jackets and the city’s Chief of Police.
