Chapter 3 - The Police Visit
Detective Ramirez arrived at the hospital just as the sun began to rise.
He was a tall, weary-looking man with a notepad that seemed glued to his hand.
"Mrs. Pierce," he greeted, pulling up a chair.
"I need to ask you some follow-up questions about the incident."
"Call me Claire," I said. "Did you secure the footage?"
Ramirez sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"We sent a team to the penthouse an hour ago."
My stomach dropped. "And?"
"Your husband met us at the door," Ramirez said.
"He claimed there was a malfunction with the cloud server."
I sat up straight, ignoring the sharp sting on my belly.
"He deleted the local drive?"
"He says the system hasn't recorded anything since Tuesday," Ramirez replied carefully.
"He also gave us a very different version of events."
"Let me guess," I said, my voice dripping with venom.
"I burned myself because I'm a hysterical, hormonal pregnant woman?"
Ramirez looked uncomfortable but nodded.
"He said you had a mental breakdown. That his father tried to stop you."
A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
They really thought I was stupid.
Three years of playing the accommodating, sweet wife had made them blind.
"Detective," I said, reaching for my laptop on the side table.
"My husband is a mid-level sales manager."
"I am the Vice President of Marketing for a cloud-security firm."
Ramirez raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"
"Meaning I don't use the generic local hard drive that came with the cameras," I explained.
I logged into a heavily encrypted portal on my screen.
"I route all footage through my company's off-site servers."
I turned the screen toward him.
"Here is a 4K resolution, multi-angle video of the assault."
Ramirez leaned in, watching the screen as the video played.
I watched his face harden as the silent footage showed Grant pressing the cigarette into my stomach.
I saw Ramirez clench his jaw when Ryan grabbed my wrists.
"Well," Ramirez said quietly, closing his notepad.
"That changes things entirely."
"Does it give you enough for an arrest warrant?" I asked.
"It gives me enough for two," Ramirez replied, standing up.
"Assault with a deadly weapon for the father. Aiding and abetting for the husband."
"There's one more thing," I said, stopping him at the door.
"My lawyer is sending you a file on felony wire fraud."
May you like
Ramirez smiled grimly.
"I'll bring a bigger pair of handcuffs."
