Chapter 7 - THE BRASS PENDULUM
The ticking of the grandfather clock seemed to amplify, echoing like a heartbeat in the terrifying silence of the foyer.
Grant’s hand was shaking slightly, but his eyes were completely dead. He had crossed the point of no return.
"Put the box on the table, Claire," Grant ordered, his voice a low, raspy threat. "And nobody leaves this room."
"Grant, put the gun down!" Judith cried out, finally grasping the reality of the monster she had raised. "You can't shoot her! The police—"
"The police will find an unstable, mentally ill woman who broke into our house and attacked us!" Grant snapped back, his mind frantically spinning a new web of lies. "It’s self-defense. Dr. Aris will back my state of mind. Now put the box down, Claire."
I held the small black lockbox tightly against my chest. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears, but I refused to break eye contact with the man who had hit my daughter over a piece of bacon.
"You're not going to shoot me, Grant," I said, projecting a calm I absolutely did not feel. "Because David Vance is sitting in a car outside. And he has a copy of Nathan's letter. If you pull that trigger, you don't get the company. You get lethal injection."
Grant’s eyes darted toward the front window.
In that split second of distraction, Melissa moved.
Fueled by a decade of deception and the murder of her husband, Melissa grabbed a heavy crystal vase from the console table and swung it with all her might. It shattered against the side of Grant’s head.
Grant roared in pain, stumbling sideways. The gun fired into the ceiling, raining plaster down on us.
I didn't hesitate. I reached back into the open grandfather clock, grabbed the heavy, solid brass pendulum, and snapped it off its hook. As Grant tried to raise the gun toward Melissa, I swung the brass pendulum like a baseball bat, striking his wrist.
The bone snapped with a sickening crack.
Grant screamed, dropping the gun to the marble floor.
I kicked the weapon under the heavy oak credenza and backed away, pulling Melissa and a sobbing Owen behind me.
Judith dropped to her knees beside Grant, who was writhing on the floor, clutching his shattered wrist. "My boy! Look what you've done to my boy!"
Suddenly, the front door burst open.
Red and blue lights flashed wildly across the marble foyer, reflecting off the shattered crystal. David Vance walked in, followed by four armed police officers and two detectives.
"Claire Sterling?" the lead detective asked, his weapon drawn and pointed at Grant.
"Yes," I breathed, my knees finally threatening to give out.
"We received a call from your attorney," the detective said, stepping over the broken glass to kick Grant onto his stomach, handcuffing his broken wrist while Grant howled in agony. "Along with a sworn affidavit and an electronic copy of a confession letter regarding the murder of Nathan Grant."
I looked down at Grant. The billionaire CEO, the untouchable titan, was currently weeping into his mother's oriental rug, his face covered in blood and plaster.
Judith tried to strike one of the officers pulling her away. "Do you know who we are? We own this city!"
"Not anymore, ma'am," the officer said, securing her in handcuffs. "You're under arrest for conspiracy to commit fraud and forgery."
As they dragged Grant to his feet, he locked eyes with me. There was no arrogance left. Only venom. "You're nothing without me, Claire. That company is mine."
I held up the black lockbox containing the hard drive.
May you like
"The company was built on my money and Nathan's genius," I said coldly. "You were just the parasite holding the pen. Enjoy prison, Grant."
I turned away from him and walked out the front door, into the cool Georgia night. David was standing by the car, holding the back door open. I slid into the backseat and wrapped my arms around Lily, who had slept through the entire collapse of the Grant empire.
