Chapter 7 - What Serena Knew
Madeline screamed and dragged Serena behind the stone wall beside the boathouse.
Blood spread across Serena's shoulder, but she was conscious.
"Stay down," Madeline whispered.
Another shot hit the wood above them.
Madeline couldn't see the shooter.
She pressed her scarf against Serena's wound while sirens grew louder in the distance.
The shooting stopped before officers reached the property.
By noon Serena was in surgery, and police were searching the woods.
Ruiz sat with Madeline in a small hospital conference room.
"She said she drugged me," Madeline whispered.
"We know."
Madeline stared at her. "You know?"
"Serena contacted me three days ago. She wanted immunity before she'd talk. She claimed Preston had been giving her 'sleep drops' to put in your tea and milk for months. He told her you had panic attacks and refused medication."
"And she believed that?"
"At first. Then the doses increased. She started researching the symptoms."
Madeline felt sick.
All those mornings she'd woken foggy and ashamed because Preston told her she'd screamed at him the night before.
"Why didn't she tell me?"
"She was scared. And she was being paid."
That hurt too.
Ruiz slid the flash drive across the table.
"This was in her pocket."
On it were photographs of prescription labels, bank transfers from a company Preston controlled, and audio files Serena had secretly recorded.
In one recording Preston's voice was unmistakable.
"Once the court says she can't manage herself, I control the voting trust. After that, we don't need to keep doing this."
Serena asked, "And if the court doesn't?"
A long pause.
Then Preston said, "There's another way."
Madeline stopped breathing.
Ruiz opened the final file.
It was a photograph of a handwritten note.
A dosage.
A time.
And beneath it, four words in Preston's handwriting.
MAKE IT LOOK ACCIDENTAL.
Madeline covered her mouth.
Then her phone rang.
Daniel.
She answered immediately.
May you like
His voice came out broken.
"Maddie... Poppy's gone."
