Chapter 3 - The Search Warrant
Vanessa stared at the officers inside her bedroom.
“This is my home.”
Detective Brooks stepped forward.
“It is currently the subject of an emergency search.”
Charles remained calm.
He adjusted his cuffs.
“I am Mrs. Ross’s financial adviser.”
“You are also recorded instructing her caregiver to increase unprescribed medication.”
Vanessa looked at him.
He did not return the glance.
That was the first crack in their alliance.
My wife turned toward me.
“Daniel, you cannot honestly believe your mother.”
“I believe the camera.”
Her face hardened.
“Elena manipulated her.”
“Elena wants money.”
Elena stood near the bedroom door.
Blood had dried beneath her bandage.
She said nothing.
Vanessa pointed at her.
“She has been trying to replace me since the day she arrived.”
The accusation was so absurd that I almost missed its purpose.
Vanessa wanted me to see Elena as a romantic rival.
She wanted every act of protection turned into ambition.
Detective Brooks ordered both Vanessa and Charles separated.
A second team searched the bathroom cabinets.
They found bottles containing my mother’s name.
The labels listed mild blood-pressure medication.
Laboratory strips inside the bottles identified sedatives and anticoagulants.
In Vanessa’s closet, officers found completed incapacity forms.
A physician named Dr. Mason Reed had signed them.
He claimed Mom suffered advanced dementia and could not manage financial decisions.
Mom had never been evaluated by him.
Inside Charles’s briefcase were transfer papers dated for the following morning.
Mom’s signature line was empty.
Mine was already filled.
The signature was forged.
Vanessa watched the documents enter evidence bags.
Then she smiled at me.
“You should call your company before they hear this from someone else.”
My phone rang immediately.
It was my chief financial officer.
Ross Energy had received an emergency board request.
The request claimed I was under investigation for mismanaging company assets.
It called for my immediate removal.
The filing carried my mother’s electronic authorization.
May you like
The vote was scheduled in twelve hours.
Charles had already begun the takeover.
