Chapter 2 - THE FIRST LIE
Detective Lena Ruiz entered the mansion with twelve police officers and two investigators from the state attorney general’s office.
The string quartet stopped playing.
Guests backed away from the doors.
Eleanor Hawthorne remained beside the fireplace, holding her champagne glass as if nothing unusual had happened.
“What is the meaning of this?” she demanded.
Ruiz displayed a folded document.
“We have a warrant to search this property and seize the financial records of the Hawthorne Family Foundation.”
Eleanor’s fingers tightened around the glass.
“This is a private residence.”
“Not tonight.”
Two paramedics rushed toward Emma.
Ethan Hawthorne pushed through the crowd behind them.
He had been outside taking a business call when his wife fell.
The moment he saw her on the floor, all color drained from his face.
“Emma.”
He dropped beside her.
“What happened?”
Emma tried to answer, but a sharp cramp tore through her abdomen.
She gripped his hand.
“Vanessa pushed me.”
Ethan looked toward his sister.
Vanessa stood three steps above them with tears streaming down her cheeks.
“She came at me,” Vanessa said.
“She was screaming about her father.”
“That’s a lie,” Emma whispered.
Ethan looked between the two women.
His expression revealed the hesitation Emma had feared.
He did not immediately believe her.
The paramedics lifted Emma onto a stretcher.
Maria remained near the staircase.
Her face was gray with terror.
Detective Ruiz approached her.
“Did you witness the fall?”
Maria looked at Vanessa.
Vanessa’s gaze held a silent warning.
“I heard arguing,” Maria said.
“Then Mrs. Hawthorne fell.”
“Did anyone touch her?”
Maria’s lips parted.
“No.”
Emma closed her eyes.
The lie hurt almost as much as the fall.
Ethan climbed into the ambulance with her.
As the doors closed, he reached for her hand.
“Why was Detective Ruiz already on her way?”
Emma turned toward the window.
“Because I found evidence that your family framed my father.”
Ethan stared at her.
“My father died in disgrace because of the Hawthornes.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Is it?”
“He stole four million dollars from the foundation.”
“That is what your mother told everyone.”
“My father showed me the audit.”
“The audit was falsified.”
The ambulance accelerated toward St. Catherine’s Hospital.
Ethan slowly withdrew his hand.
Emma saw disbelief in his eyes.
Then her phone vibrated beside her.
A message from Detective Ruiz appeared on the screen.
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THE FLASH DRIVE WAS NOT FOUND.
Someone inside the mansion had taken it.
