Chapter 6 - Blood on the Will
I sat in the glow of the diner's neon sign, flipping through the pages of my father's living testament with trembling hands. Arthur Vance had known he was dying.
In a series of handwritten journal entries accompanying the lab results, my father detailed the final three months of his life:
*“Evelyn believes I am blind to her visits with Sterling. I found the empty vials in the greenhouse furnace. The numbness has reached my knees; the doctors say my heart is failing, but they refuse to test for heavy metals without Evelyn’s consent as my healthcare proxy. She is isolating me. She has turned Caleb into an accomplice through threats of disinheritance. David has distanced himself to protect his peace, and for that, I am glad. If David were here, she would poison him too.*
*I cannot fight her legally before my organs fail. Sterling controls the legal avenues in this town. Therefore, I have drafted this true and final Last Will and Testament, witnessed by two independent out-of-state notaries. Evelyn receives zero dollars. The family estate, the shares, and all trust assets are left entirely and unconditionally to David Arthur Vance and his lawful descendants. If Evelyn attempts to claim the estate through fraud or if my death is ruled natural without an exhumation, this document, alongside the preserved blood samples in my safe-deposit box at First National, will convict her of first-degree murder.”*
My breath hitched. In the velvet-lined box beneath the documents lay a small brass safe-deposit key, a digital flash drive, and two audio cassette tapes labeled: *Conversations with Evelyn & Sterling — March 2019.*
Evelyn hadn't just tried to break Emma beneath our dining table out of sadistic narcissism. She had been racing against time. She had realized that Caleb was cracking under the guilt, and she knew that if Emma gave birth to a healthy daughter without Evelyn having legal guardianship, the Vance fortune would slip through her bloody fingers forever.
My phone suddenly buzzed violently against the dashboard.
The caller ID showed: *Emma — Hospital Room.*
I snatched the phone, swiping the screen. "Emma?! Are you okay?"
"David..." Emma’s voice was strained, breathless, and filled with sheer terror. "She’s here."
The blood drained from my face. "What?! What about the security guard?!"
"She brought... she brought Detective Miller and two men in suits," Emma sobbed, her voice muffled as if she was hiding in the bathroom. "They showed the charge nurse a temporary emergency court order. David, they're revoking your visiting rights! Sterling produced a sworn affidavit alleging that you assaulted your mother tonight at the cemetery and that you're an armed, unstable suspect! Miller is stationing an officer at my door to 'protect' me from you!"
"Emma, listen to me," I spoke rapidly, throwing the truck into reverse. "Do not let them give you any medication. Do not touch any food or water they bring into that room. Drink only from the tap in the bathroom, do you hear me?"
May you like
"They brought a doctor from an outside clinic," Emma whispered, her voice breaking into hysterical sobs. "Evelyn is standing right outside the bathroom door. She's talking to Dr. Hughes... she's demanding that they induce labor immediately due to 'maternal distress'! She wants the baby born tonight!"
"I'm ten minutes away," I said, slamming my foot onto the accelerator. "Lock that bathroom door and do not open it for anyone. I'm ending this tonight."
