Chapter 10 - Awake
Adrian’s face emptied.
“You…”
I could barely speak.
My throat was dry.
Every breath hurt.
But I wanted the words.
“You talk too much.”
Detective Bell almost smiled.
Vivian grabbed the bed rail.
“She trapped us.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
My voice was weak.
“You came in.”
Bell ordered everyone away from the bed.
Nurse Elena rushed in.
She checked my oxygen.
“You’re done talking.”
I squeezed her hand.
Then Adrian said:
“She planned this.”
Ortiz entered behind Bell.
“Planned what?”
He pointed at me.
“This whole setup.”
I closed my eyes again.
Exhaustion hit hard.
Ortiz answered for me.
“Mr. Mercer, your wife survived a fall. Everything after that is your responsibility.”
Adrian demanded a lawyer.
Vivian did too.
Claire already had one.
The room emptied.
For the first time in days, I was alone with Elena.
Not because I won.
Because I was tired of being still.
Elena sat beside me.
“You did enough.”
Then Marcus entered.
He looked terrible.
Holding a file.
“You look worse than me,” I whispered.
He laughed once.
“Impossible.”
He did not hug me.
He placed the file where I could see it.
CROWN MERIDIAN — COMPLETE.
“We got the bank records.”
“Claire?”
“Cooperating.”
“Contractor?”
“Police are interviewing him.”
“Policy?”
Marcus’s face changed.
“What?”
“The insurance broker.”
He opened another folder.
“You were right.”
The policy had been issued six months earlier.
Beneficiary: Adrian.
Special accidental-death rider.
Premiums paid through Crown Meridian.
Marcus said:
“There’s more.”
“There’s always more.”
He looked at me.
“The application lists your income at three times the real number.”
“Fraud.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“The medical consent signature is not yours.”
“Who signed?”
Marcus slid the photocopy closer.
Witness:
Vivian Mercer.
May you like
My mother-in-law had not just known about the policy.
She had helped create it.
