Chapter 6 - THE PILLS IN THE GRAY BOTTLE
The police arrived twelve minutes later.
Two patrol officers entered through the side gate while a third waited near the driveway. Brandon immediately changed his demeanor.
His shoulders relaxed. His voice lowered. He became the concerned homeowner dealing with an unstable family dispute.
“This is a misunderstanding,” he told Officer Natalie Perez. “My father-in-law has been confused lately. He brought private business records to dinner and started making accusations.”
David said nothing.
Officer Perez surveyed the broken plate, shattered wine bottle, scattered documents, and frightened faces.
“Did anyone become physical?”
Emily raised her wrist.
A red mark was forming where Brandon had grabbed her.
“He did.”
Brandon shook his head.
“I stopped her from falling near the glass.”
“That’s not true,” Melissa said.
Noah pointed toward the camera.
“It’s recorded.”
Officer Perez looked at Brandon.
“Stay where you are.”
She asked the second officer to review the footage.
Brandon’s confident expression began to crack.
David sat near the table while Patricia cried quietly beside the pool. Richard paced in silence, stopping every few steps to stare at his son.
Emily crouched beside David.
“Dad, are you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“You hit the table.”
“I’ve had worse.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I should have stopped this sooner.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I knew enough.”
David touched her hand.
“Knowing someone is difficult isn’t the same as knowing they’re dangerous.”
The word dangerous hung between them.
Emily glanced toward Brandon.
Then she remembered the vitamins.
“Dad, do you still have the bottle Brandon gave you?”
“In my truck.”
“What was in it?”
“He said magnesium.”
“How long did you take it?”
“A few weeks.”
“Did you feel worse after starting?”
David considered the question.
The dizziness had begun four days after the first dose. His hands sometimes trembled. He had experienced nausea, blurred vision, and irregular heartbeats.
He had blamed heat and exhaustion.
“Dad?”
“Yes.”
Emily stood abruptly and spoke to Officer Perez.
“We need to check something in my father’s truck.”
Brandon turned toward them.
“What?”
Emily did not answer.
The officer accompanied them to the driveway. David retrieved the gray bottle from the glove compartment.
Emily held it beneath the porch light.
The label had been printed at home. There was no pharmacy number, manufacturer information, or dosage code.
She opened the bottle.
Most of the capsules were pale yellow.
Three were white.
“Did they always look like this?” she asked.
“I didn’t pay attention.”
She smelled one.
A sharp chemical odor reached her.
Officer Perez stopped her.
“Don’t handle any more.”
Brandon appeared at the front door.
“They’re vitamins.”
Emily looked at him.
“Where did you buy them?”
“Online.”
“What brand?”
“I don’t remember.”
“You gave my father unmarked capsules and don’t remember the brand?”
“They were supplements.”
“Why did the camera record you saying he would be dead?”
“That was a joke.”
Richard stepped out behind him.
“A joke?”
Brandon turned.
“You know how I talk.”
“I did not know.”
Officer Perez took the bottle as evidence.
David watched Brandon carefully.
For the first time, Brandon appeared less concerned about the forged documents than about the pills.
Officer Perez noticed it too.
“Mr. Hale, do you have any controlled substances, pesticides, or commercial chemicals on the property?”
“No.”
Noah, still holding the laptop, spoke from the doorway.
“The landscaping warehouse stores pesticides.”
“That’s off-site,” Brandon snapped.
“What kinds?” Emily asked.
Noah hesitated.
“One of the commercial treatments contains a heart-toxic compound. It’s restricted now, but Brandon bought several cases through an overseas supplier.”
Brandon rushed toward him.
An officer blocked the doorway.
“Enough.”
Melissa opened the company inventory file on the laptop.
“A container went missing six weeks ago.”
Officer Perez took out her radio.
The situation was no longer merely financial.
David rose.
“Emily, I want you to go inside.”
“No.”
“If those capsules are what we think they are, you shouldn’t be near him.”
She stared at her father.
“I’m not leaving you again.”
Brandon laughed bitterly.
“This is unbelievable. He’s turning everyone against me.”
Emily faced him.
“No. You did that yourself.”
Officer Perez instructed Brandon to place his hands behind his back.
He resisted for only a second.
As the handcuffs closed around his wrists, a vehicle pulled into the driveway.
A black sedan stopped behind the patrol cars.
A tall woman in a dark business suit stepped out, carrying a leather briefcase.
Brandon went completely still.
David saw his reaction.
“You know her.”
The woman approached the officers and introduced herself.
“My name is Evelyn Shaw. I represent Blue Crest Private Capital.”
Officer Perez asked why she was there.
Evelyn looked directly at Brandon.
“I came to collect the collateral documents.”
May you like
Then she turned toward David.
“And to warn Mr. Whitaker that someone inside his family trust has been moving money for more than a year.”
