Chapter 7 - THE RECORDED CONFESSION
"Get the stenographer," Lydia wheezed, tears cutting muddy tracks down her pale cheeks. "Get the damn prosecutor in here right now."
Within an hour, ADA Sarah Chen and Detective Reyes entered the interrogation room. Julian and I remained behind the observation glass, watching the woman who had spent fifteen years terrorizing my life break apart completely.
Lydia didn't just confess; she dumped an entire archive of corporate corruption onto the record. She revealed that six months prior, Richard Sterling had approached her with a systematic plan to force the sale of the family estate. When legal loopholes failed to break the ironclad terms of Grandfather’s trust, the scheme turned violent.
"Richard told Cassidy that Meredith needed to be incapacitated," Lydia sobbed into the microphone, clutching a paper napkin. "He said if Meredith suffered severe neurological or facial trauma, the court would deem her incompetent to manage a multimillion-dollar land trust. He sent Cassidy the link to the darknet broker. He transferred the cryptocurrency. Cassidy was terrified of going broke... she just wanted the money for her clothing line..."
"Did Mr. Sterling provide explicit instructions on the method of attack?" ADA Chen asked, her pen flying across the official record.
"Yes," Lydia whispered. "He told Cassidy to use trichloroacetic acid because it mimics standard cosmetics or cleaning supplies on security cameras. He said to mix it with grenadine so it looked like a drink. He told her to throw it directly into Meredith’s eyes."
Through the one-way glass, Naomi grabbed my hand and squeezed it so hard my knuckles went white. I felt a cold chill run from the base of my neck down to my spine.
Cassidy hadn't just aimed for my cheek. She had aimed for my eyes. If I hadn't turned my head to reach for the water pitcher at that exact microsecond, I would be blind today.
"Do you have physical proof of these directives, Mrs. Voss?" Detective Reyes pressed.
Lydia nodded frantically. "In my safety deposit box at First National Bank. Key 412. I kept a backup hard drive containing audio recordings of my phone calls with Richard. I’m not stupid! I knew if anything went wrong, he would try to throw Cassidy and me to the wolves!"
Julian let out a low whistle beside me. "A digital paper trail with voice recordings. That elevates this from county assault to federal racketeering and attempted murder."
Ten minutes later, Detective Reyes stepped out of the interrogation room, his radio already buzzing with tactical dispatch codes.
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"Judge Vance just signed a federal arrest warrant," Reyes said, strapping on his service holster. "Sterling’s private jet is on the tarmac at Miami International. The FBI has already grounded the flight."
***