Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Lina summons public marshalls to arrest Marcus for attempted kidnapping, while Sterling finalizes the charges against Helena and murder plus extortion charges against Marcus. But Marcus won't face charges.. while fleeing from marshalls, he runs in front of a truck and is struck and killed. The motion is finally granted and Elara s release is effective immediately.. but will Lina and Sterling make it in time?
The morning light was thin and gray as Lina stood outside the gate of Helena’s estate, her phone pressed to her ear. The public marshall dispatcher’s voice was clipped, efficient, recording her report. She gave Marcus’s description, the vehicle he’d taken, the direction he’d fled with Leo. Her hand trembled as she ended the call, but her voice did not.
“Attempted kidnapping,” she repeated to herself, the words a talisman. She had proof—the security footage from Sterling’s legal team, showing Marcus dragging Leo toward a waiting car, the boy’s small face twisted in terror. Lina had watched it a dozen times, each viewing sharpening her resolve. Now the marshalls were en route, and she stood alone on the curb, the wind biting through her jacket.
Sterling met her twenty minutes later at the council building, his face drawn but his eyes bright with purpose. He held a thick folder, the culmination of weeks of clandestine work—affidavits, financial records, the testimony of a former associate of Marcus who had finally broken under pressure. The charges were comprehensive: Helena for conspiracy and evidence tampering, Marcus for murder and extortion. Sterling had filed them through a legal representative, bypassing the prison bureaucracy that had once held him. He was free now, his contempt citation vacated, and he moved with the urgency of a man who had spent too long waiting.
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