Chapter 15 - The Ambush at St. Jude's
Claire knew she had the thread, but pulling it without tipping Vance off was dangerous. Predatory lenders with offshore accounts and high-priced attorneys didn't roll over when threatened; they struck hard and fast.
The next afternoon, Claire received a call on her cell phone while she was meeting with a forensic document examiner downtown. It was the nurse from Dr. Henderson’s clinic, where Arthur had his weekly cardiovascular check-up.
"Miss Miller? I’m calling to make sure your father has a ride home. He seemed quite disoriented when he left with that gentleman."
Claire’s blood ran cold. "What gentleman? Dad went to the clinic alone by taxi!"
"A man in a dark suit came in toward the end of his appointment," the nurse said, sounding concerned. "He said he was Arthur’s legal representative. He had some papers for him to sign while he was waiting in the lobby."
"My God!" Claire dropped her notebook, sprinted out of the office building, and threw herself into her car.
Marcus Vance had bypassed her. He had tracked an ailing, frightened, seventy-two-year-old man to a doctor’s office, knowing Arthur’s mind was fragile under pressure.
Claire ran two yellow lights, speeding across town toward the medical plaza. When she pulled into the parking lot, she saw Vance’s black Range Rover parked under the shade of an oak tree near the rear exit. Inside the tinted vehicle, she could see Arthur’s hunched silhouette and Vance’s cold profile leaning over him, pointing at a clipboard.
Claire slammed her car into park, jumped out, and sprinted across the asphalt. She grabbed the passenger door handle of the Range Rover and yanked it open with all her strength.
"Get your hands off my father!" Claire screamed.
Inside, Arthur was trembling, a ballpoint pen clutched loosely in his liver-spotted hand. A document titled *Voluntary Surrender and Quitclaim Deed* lay on his lap.
Vance looked at Claire with infuriating calm. "Your father is making a sensible decision, Claire. He surrenders the deed, I forgive the entire debt balance, and I grant him a ninety-day grace period to vacate. It saves him the public humiliation of the sheriff’s auction."
"Get out of the car, Dad," Claire commanded, her eyes locked onto Vance with murderous intensity.
"Claire, I... I just wanted it to stop," Arthur whimpered, tears streaming down his face. "I don't want you and Lily to be out on the street. If I give him the house, at least he won't sue you..."
"He can't sue us for a fraud he committed against himself!" Claire roared, reaching inside, snatching the clipboard from Arthur’s lap, and tearing the quitclaim deed in half right in front of Vance’s face. She threw the shredded paper into Vance’s lap.
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Vance’s mask slipped. A dark, vicious snarl twisted his handsome features. "You just made the biggest mistake of your pathetic life, girl."
"No, Marcus," Claire said, leaning in, her voice cold as ice. "Your mistake was thinking the head of this house was the broken old man who hit me on Christmas. He’s not. *I am.* And I’m going to tear your empire down to the foundation."
