Chapter 4 - The Corrupt Badge
Detective Vance tapped his silver pen against the crisp pages of his notebook, his sharp eyes flicking between Clara’s stained dress and Marcus’s disheveled tuxedo. The air in the hallway grew suffocatingly thick, the scent of expensive perfume mixing heavily with the metallic tang of stage blood pooled on the checkered floor.
“Mr. Sterling, what seems to be the trouble here?” Vance asked, his voice dripping with an oily, practiced concern that didn't reach his cold, calculating eyes.
Marcus immediately stepped forward, playing his part with a theatrical desperation that made Clara’s stomach turn. He gestured wildly toward Elena, who had resumed her trembling, pathetic posture on the floor, her golden gown glistening under the red camera light.
“Officer, thank God you’re here. It’s Clara—she snapped out of nowhere,” Marcus lied smoothly, his voice cracking with feigned emotion. “She attacked my wife with a shoe over some old corporate dispute. Look at Elena, she’s bleeding out!”
Clara let out a sharp, incredulous laugh that echoed off the high walls. “Are you out of your mind, Vance? Look at the floor, look at the cameras—it’s all a setup!”
Vance didn’t even glance up at the ceiling dome. He snapped his notebook shut with a loud pop and took two slow, menacing steps toward Clara, his hand resting casually on the butt of his holstered service weapon.
“Ma’am, I suggest you watch your tone,” Vance warned, stepping directly into her personal space so she could smell the stale tobacco on his breath. “Assaulting a corporate executive and his spouse in a private facility is a Class A felony. I’m placing you under arrest.”
Clara felt a cold chill run down her spine as the heavy steel handcuffs suddenly appeared in the detective’s hand, gleaming menacingly under the red light.
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“You don’t have jurisdiction here, Vance, and you know it,” Clara said, narrowing her eyes as she spotted a tiny green blinking light on the underside of his lapel badge—a live audio transmitter streaming every word directly to the federal prosecutor’s office.
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