Chapter 3 - The Sanctuary and the Sister
By midnight, the trauma suite at St. Jude’s Memorial Hospital was illuminated by the soft fluorescent glow of fetal monitors and IV pumps.
I lay in the bed, my injuries cleaned, my skin wrapped in sterile dressings, and a heated blanket pulled to my chin. My left ankle was sprained, three of my ribs were severely bruised, and dark purple welts covered my thighs and lower back. But the doctors had managed to halt the premature labor contractions with medication. My unborn baby girl was stable.
The door to my private room burst open.
My sister, Maya, stood in the doorway. She was breathing heavily, her leather jacket dripping with rain, her face pale with shock. Behind her stood a tall man in an immaculate navy suit holding a thick leather briefcase.
"Elena!" Maya cried, rushing to my bedside and gently throwing her arms around my neck. "Oh my God, Elena! I got Claire's text and drove straight from Denver! What did that monster do to you?!"
"He tried to keep me from leaving," I rasped, my throat raw from the dirt I had swallowed in the garden. "He... he buried me, Maya."
Maya pulled back, her eyes shining with fierce, protective tears. She looked at my bandaged body, her hands trembling. "I knew it. I knew he was slipping into something darker. When you stopped answering my calls yesterday, I had a terrible feeling."
She turned to the man in the suit. "Elena, this is David Vance. He's the senior partner at Vance & Associates and one of the best criminal prosecutors turned victim advocate in the state."
David stepped forward, offering a soft, respectful nod. "Ms. Elena, your neighbor Claire gave the police the 47-minute audio recording from your phone. I’ve already spoken with the District Attorney. Because of that recording and the physical evidence in your backyard, Julian is being held without bail on charges of Attempted First-Degree Murder, Felony Aggravated Assault, Kidnapping, and Child Endangerment."
A shudder ran through my chest. "He told Claire I staged it. He told the police I buried myself."
David offered a calm, shark-like smile. "He can tell the wall in his cell whatever he wants. The recording captured forty-seven uninterrupted minutes. It recorded his threats, the sound of the wooden stick hitting your body, the sound of the hose running, and his confession that he knew you were trying to escape."
Maya sat on the edge of my bed, taking my hand tightly in hers. "He's never touching you again, Elena. Not ever."
"There's more," I whispered, looking between Maya and David. "In the recording, he said something about my documents. Before he brought me outside, I found a set of papers hidden in his home office desk."
David's eyebrows raised. "What kind of papers?"
"He took out a two-million-dollar supplemental life insurance policy on my life three months ago," I revealed, tears welling in my eyes again. "And he forged my signature on a property deed transferring my family's inheritance house entirely into his name. He wasn't just abusing me to keep me quiet, Maya... he was setting up an accident."
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Maya’s jaw tightened into a hard, dangerous line. "He wanted you dead before the baby was born."
David opened his briefcase, pulling out a legal tablet. "That changes this from domestic assault to a calculated, premeditated conspiracy for financial gain. We aren't just going to send Julian to prison, Elena. We are going to strip him of every dime he has ever touched."
