Chapter 10 - The Groom's Glass
The wedding venue had not cleared the head table.
Police sealed the ballroom and sent the groom's champagne flute to a lab.
The result came back before midnight.
A concentrated sedative had been mixed into the drink.
Not enough to kill Graham.
Enough to make him confused, compliant, and physically weak.
Sam stared at the report.
"They planned to have you sign something after the ceremony."
Ava folded her arms. "And if he couldn't remember signing it the next day, they'd already have a doctor calling him impaired."
Ruiz nodded. "It creates a story. Grieving widower. Emotional instability. Medication incident. New wife steps in. Child gets placed. Trust starts paying."
Graham felt sick.
Every piece fit too neatly.
Then his phone rang.
Nolan.
Ruiz motioned for Graham to answer and put it on speaker.
"Where are you?" Graham asked.
Silence.
Then Nolan whispered, "They were never supposed to touch Maisie."
"You stood in my house while they forged papers to take her."
"I know."
"Did you touch Julia's car?"
Nolan's breathing changed.
"Graham, listen to me. I went to the shop. I didn't cut anything. Victor sent someone else after I failed."
"Victor who?"
Nolan laughed once, bitterly.
"You really don't know."
A door slammed on his end.
He began speaking faster.
"Sloane's father. Victor Mercer. Hawthorne Ridge isn't the business. It's the machine. Rich families, vulnerable kids, court petitions, trust money. Julia found it."
Graham gripped the phone.
"Where is Sloane?"
"Trying to get the original ledgers before her father does."
"Where?"
Nolan started to answer.
A loud crash cut through the call.
Then a man's voice said, far from the phone:
May you like
"You should have stayed on the plane."
The line went dead.
