Chapter 12 - The Desperate Ambush
The peace, however, was violently shattered on Friday afternoon.
Arthur Vance had called me to his downtown legal offices to finalize the paperwork transferring the corporate bank accounts. Ryan had parked the car in the underground parking structure beneath the high-rise tower.
"Stay here for a second," Ryan said, unbuckling his seatbelt. "I’ll come around to open your door so you don't strain your shoulder on the handle."
"I'm fine, Ryan, it's just the passenger door—"
Before I could finish, a loud metallic thud rattled the passenger window.
I jumped, my heart leaping into my throat.
Standing outside my window was Paige.
She looked unhinged. Her blonde hair was greasy and matted beneath a baseball cap, her designer clothes stained, and her eyes hollow with terrifying, sleepless mania. She was banging on the glass with both fists, screaming words muffled by the heavy tinted glass.
"Unlock the door!" she shrieked. "Maya! Unlock the goddamn door!"
Ryan moved with lightning speed. He bolted out of the driver’s side, rounding the hood of the car, and grabbed Paige by the shoulders, shoving her back away from my window.
"Get away from her!" Ryan bellowed, his voice echoing fiercely through the concrete garage. "Back off, Paige, right now!"
"Don't touch me!" Paige screamed, flailing her arms, her voice cracking in hysterical fury. "Maya! Look at me! Look what you did to me!"
I slowly pushed the passenger door open with my good left arm, stepping out behind Ryan's protective frame. The cold subterranean air chilled my skin.
"What do you want, Paige?" I demanded.
"The district attorney refused to drop the charges!" she cried, collapsing against the hood of an adjacent car, her hands clawing at her face. "They offered me three years in prison, Maya! Three years! Do you know what happens to someone like me in prison?! I’ll die in there!"
"You should have thought about that before you shoved me into a concrete pool ledge," I said coldly.
"It was an accident! Why won't you just tell them it was an accident?!" she screamed, stepping toward me with desperate tears running down her dirt-streaked face. "Tell the DA you lied! Tell them you exaggerated your injuries! If you drop the charges, I’ll sign whatever papers you want! I’ll leave the state! Just don't send me to jail!"
"You're still lying," I said, shaking my head in disgust. "Even now, with your life falling apart, you still can't look me in the eye and say: *'I hurt you on purpose, Maya, and I am sorry.'* You only care that you got caught."
Paige stopped weeping. The hysterical tears vanished in an instant, replaced by a dark, venomous sneer that made my stomach turn.
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"You think you've won, don't you?" Paige whispered, her voice dropping to a chilling hiss. "You think taking Grandfather’s house and his shares makes you untouchable?"
***