Chapter 2 - THE SILVER BADGE BEHIND THE SMILE
Arthur's hands moved with practiced, mechanical precision as the heavy steel cuffs clicked sharply in the afternoon air. The sunlight glinted off the cold metal, exposing the federal insignia stamped discreetly onto the silver band he flashed before the stunned gathering of estate workers.
"Federal Marshal Arthur Vance," he announced, his voice dropping into a dangerous, gravelly register that brooked no argument. "Step away from the child immediately, Elena."
Elena stared at the handcuffs, her mind racing as the brutal realization settled over her chest like a slab of concrete. The man she had served coffee to every morning for the past six months, the grieving uncle who claimed to be a quiet corporate investor, was actually an undercover federal investigator working deep inside a high-profile corruption ring.
"Arthur, you can't be serious," Elena pleaded, her voice trembling as she kept her grip gentle on the infant, refusing to let the baby go to Victoria. "Look at my clothes! Look at the water still dripping from my hair! Why would I jump in to save him if I wanted him dead?"
"Save it for the interrogation room," Victoria snapped, stepping closer with a triumphant sneer that she carefully hid whenever Arthur glanced in her direction. "You thought you could get away with a quiet sabotage, didn't you? Everyone knows you've been complaining about your wages for weeks."
"I never said that," Elena fired back, her eyes narrowing as she glared at the woman in green. "You're lying, Victoria, and you know it. You were standing by the French doors the entire time doing nothing!"
"Enough!" Arthur shouted, stepping forward and grabbing Elena by the forearm with a grip like iron.
The physical contact sent a jolt of shock through Elena, not because of the pain, but because of the callous indifference in Arthur's eyes. He didn't look at her as an employee, nor as the person who had just risked her life to pull his blood and kin from a watery grave. He looked at her as a designated target, a prime suspect neatly gift-wrapped by Victoria's perjury.
"Step back, Elena, or I will charge you with resisting federal custody," Arthur warned coldly, reaching out to gently take the crying baby from her arms.
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The infant wailed as he was transferred to his uncle's chest, leaving a wet patch on Arthur's expensive shirt. Victoria immediately swarmed the child, cooing softly while shooting a venomous, sideways glance at the maid.
"Take her down to the holding cells in the basement," Arthur instructed two estate guards who had materialized from the shadows of the colonnade. "And search her quarters before the sun goes down. Find out what she's hiding."
