Chapter 18 - THE GROVELING
Two weeks later.
The summer storm season had finally arrived in Phoenix. The sky over the valley was bruised purple and black, sheets of monsoon rain crashing against the reinforced glass windows of Sienna’s new penthouse in downtown Phoenix.
The penthouse was located on the fiftieth floor of the elite Lumina Tower, purchased entirely through her separate corporate equity bonus. It was sleek, minimalist, and peaceful. No shouting. No demands for money. No passive-aggressive insults over family dinners.
Sienna stood on the covered balcony, holding a warm mug of green tea, watching the lightning flash across the desert mountains.
Her phone buzzed on the glass patio table.
It was an email from Victoria Sterling:
*Sienna,*
*The federal grand jury has returned a twelve-count indictment against Christian Mercer for wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy. The judge denied bail, citing flight risk due to the offshore accounts we uncovered. He will remain in federal custody until trial.*
*Elena Vance has signed a full cooperation agreement, surrendering the Camelback villa lease, the boutique inventory, and two point two million dollars in recovered assets to Meridian Global. In exchange, she will testify against Christian at trial.*
*Gwen Mercer has been formally evicted from Maricopa County emergency housing due to behavioral disturbances. Her criminal assault trial for striking you is set for next month. Her public defender reached out today asking if you would consider a plea deal for probation.*
*I told him to choke on it.*
*Enjoy your evening.*
*Victoria*
Sienna set the phone down. A gentle, deep sense of peace washed over her chest.
She walked back inside, sliding the glass doors shut, cutting off the sound of the rain.
Her private intercom chime sounded.
She walked to the wall panel and pressed the camera view.
Standing in the ground-floor security lobby, soaked to the bone from the monsoon rain, was Christian Mercer.
He had been released on a temporary twenty-four-hour furlough under armed federal electronic monitoring to meet with his court-appointed defense counsel. An ankle monitor bulged beneath his soaked, frayed trouser leg.
He was looking directly into the security camera, weeping, holding a handwritten sign against his chest through the glass partition:
*SIENNA, PLEASE. JUST FIVE MINUTES. I LOVE YOU. SAVE MY LIFE.*
The building’s head of security looked into the camera from his desk. "Mrs. Mercer? Do you want us to have the Phoenix police escort him off the block? He is in violation of the protective distance order."
Sienna looked at the screen.
She saw the man she had loved for five years. She saw his desperate, swollen eyes, his shivering body, his pitiful, ruined posture.
She remembered the slap that split her lip. She remembered the way he twisted her wrist. She remembered the photo of him on the Cabo yacht with Elena, laughing at the woman who paid for his life.
Sienna leaned toward the microphone.
"Yes, Chief Davis," Sienna said, her voice completely devoid of hatred, anger, or pain. "Call the federal marshals. Tell them their prisoner has violated his bond conditions."
"Right away, Mrs. Mercer."
Sienna turned off the intercom screen. The display went completely black.
May you like
She walked into her modern kitchen, poured herself a fresh cup of tea, and sat down at her desk to review Meridian Global’s European expansion proposal.
***