Chapter 6 - The Midnight Injunction
The blue light of Tessa’s phone screen illuminated her pale, strained features in the dim bedroom, casting harsh shadows across the high-end wallpaper.
“Read it,” she whispered, holding the screen closer to my face.
I didn't need to take the phone to recognize the official court header stamped across the digital PDF document. County Superior Court, Probate and Guardianship Division. Emergency Petition for Temporary Conservatorship and Medical Incompetence. Filed twenty minutes prior—at 12:04 AM—by Dominic Vance, citing immediate risk to corporate assets and severe cognitive impairment following spinal trauma.
“They didn't just want the shares, Mr. Corvino,” Tessa breathed, her voice shaking with suppressed fury. “If this judge signs off before the morning board meeting, Dominic takes legal control of your entire medical and financial estate. You won't even be allowed inside the building. They’ll have you transferred to a private sanitarium by sunrise.”
My grip on the edge of the mattress tightened until my fingers ached. The water running in the master bathroom continued to roar, masking Arya’s movements behind the frosted glass. She was washing away the scent of her corporate meetings, completely unaware that her accomplice cousin had just pulled the trigger on our checkmate a few hours too early.
“A midnight filing,” I said, my voice dropping into an icy, measured register that felt colder than the rain lashing against the windows. “Dominic thinks he’s playing chess, but he’s just kicked over the board.”
“What do we do?” Tessa asked, her brown eyes locking onto mine with fierce, unwavering loyalty. “If the county magistrate grants the emergency stay before nine o'clock, Silas and your port authority friends won't be able to let you into the boardroom. A court-appointed conservator overrides corporate bylaws.”
“We don't wait for the magistrate to wake up,” I replied, reaching under the headboard to pull out the heavy steel frame of the Sig Sauer. I checked the magazine—twelve rounds of hollow-points, fully loaded. “We make sure the judge never sees that petition.”
Before Tessa could answer, the bathroom door swung open with a soft hiss of hinges.
May you like
Arya stepped out into the bedroom, wrapped in a plush silk robe, her hair damp and smelling faintly of jasmine and hotel soap. She stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening in genuine shock as she saw Tessa standing beside the bed, and more importantly, saw the black barrel of the pistol resting casually across my thigh.
---
