Chapter 4 - The ResurrectionsThe silence inside the funeral chapel was so absolute that the patter of rain against the stained-glass windows sounded like breaking bones.
Garrett’s jaw sagged open in total, horror-stricken panic. His white handkerchief slipped from his fingers, fluttering pathetically to the carpeted stage. He stumbled backward against the podium, his face turning an ugly, mottled shade of grey.
Penelope let out a high-pitched, hysterical shriek, grabbing her father's arm, staggering two paces back as if she had seen a demon rise straight from hell.
Marcus Sterling went completely rigid, his hands shaking violently as he stared at the young man he had threatened fifteen years ago—standing tall, broad, and unbroken before the entire city.
"Rosalind...?! Tobias...?!" Garrett stammered, his voice cracking into a high, frantic squeak that echoed through the loudspeakers. "How... how are you alive?! The SUV... it went under the river!"
I didn't rush. I walked smoothly down the aisle, my leather heels striking the carpeted floorboards with a quiet, absolute rhythm, stopping three feet from the stage.
"You should have checked the seat belt wire before you swam out the window, Garrett," I stated, my voice calm, smooth, and resonant, carrying to every corner of the chapel. "A cheap iron wire doesn't hold very well when a sister has a brother who can stand up and cut it."
The two hundred guests erupted into a frenzy of shocked, furious whispering. Cameras from four local news crews flashed rapidly, catching Garrett’s sweating, panic-stricken face in high-definition light.
"You're... you're hallucinating!" Penelope shrieked, her voice trembling with frantic rage as she pointed at me. "You drowned! The police search team found the car this morning!"
"The police search team found the empty car, Penelope," Tobias spoke, his baritone voice booming through the room with sovereign authority. "Just like the Federal Bureau of Investigation found the secondary offshore account ledgers in my father's boathouse three hours ago."
Marcus Sterling took a fast, aggressive step down the stage stairs toward Tobias. "You crippled little bastard! You signed a proxy agreement!"
CLICK. CLICK.
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Four uniformed Federal Marshals, accompanied by two detectives from the Baltimore Homicide Division, stepped out from the rear pews, blocking Marcus, Garrett, and Penelope's exits.
"Marcus Sterling, Garrett Sterling, and Penelope Vance," Lead Detective Vance announced cleanly, pulling a heavy leather warrant from his coat. "You are under arrest for Attempted First-Degree Premeditated Murder, Conspiracy to Commit Murder, Corporate Wire Fraud, and the Unlawful Administration of Controlled Toxic Substances."
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