Four uniformed police officers and two armed federal marshals marched onto the pool terrace.
Leading the squad was Detective Marcus Miller from the Major Crimes Division, his gold shield gleaming.
Detective Miller: David Sterling? We received the emergency priority dispatch from corporate security.
David: Over here, Detective Miller. The suspect is standing right by the pool edge.
Victoria: Marcus Miller! Thank goodness it's you! Tell these patrolmen to stand down immediately!
Detective Miller stopped three feet from Victoria, looking down at her stained green gown with cold disgust.
Detective Miller: Step away from the water, Mrs. Vance. Keep your hands where we can see them.
Victoria: Do not call me a suspect! I am the victim of domestic battery! David slapped me across the face!
Detective Miller: Under Texas Penal Code Section 9.32, reasonable physical force is fully justified to defend an infant from violent felony assault, ma'am.
Victoria: Nobody was assaulted! The stroller rolled on the wet stone by accident!
Detective Miller: We have the 4K security footage from your patio dome, Victoria. We watched you push the carriage.
Victoria's jaw fell slack, her eyes darting frantically between the armed officers.
Victoria: You watched the live video already?!
Detective Miller: The feed was routed directly to our dispatch center ten minutes ago, ma'am.
Detective Miller pulled a heavy red leather portfolio from his jacket, holding it up before her eyes.
Detective Miller: Charge one: attempted capital murder of a minor under fourteen years old.
Detective Miller: Charge two: grand corporate embezzlement and wire fraud exceeding twenty-two million dollars.
Detective Miller: Charge three: felony bigamy and fraudulent execution of official marriage certificates.
Victoria staggered back against the lounge chair, her hand flying to her mouth in utter horror.
Victoria: Bigamy?! What are you talking about?!
David: Did you honestly think I wouldn't check your marriage records in the Bahamas, Victoria?
Victoria: Mark signed the foreign dissolution papers four years ago! He promised me the registry was clear!
David: Mark never filed those papers, Victoria. He kept the marriage active to blackmail your father.
Victoria: That cowardly, greedy little parasite! He swore on his life the record was burned!
David: Mark surrendered the original certified Bahamian marriage license to the FBI two hours ago.
Victoria: He gave you the Caribbean documents?!
David: Every single page, Victoria. Which means our wedding license in Texas was a criminal fraud.
Detective Miller: Which also means you have zero spousal immunity and zero claim to the Sterling estate.
Victoria's knees gave out completely, and she collapsed onto the wet flagstones in a heap of green satin.
Victoria: You stripped away everything... I have nothing left to hire a private defense attorney!
David: You have a court-appointed public defender waiting for you at the county courthouse, Victoria.
Victoria: David, please! Look at me! We shared a home for six months! Have some mercy!
David: Did you have mercy when you pushed a two-month-old infant into eight feet of water?
Detective Miller: Officers, secure the prisoner. Maximum felony restraint protocol.
Two uniformed patrolmen stepped forward, grabbing Victoria's wrists and wrenching them behind her back.
The cold steel handcuffs clicked shut around her wrists with a sharp, heavy double-snap that echoed over the water.
Victoria: Ah! You're tearing the seams of a fifteen-thousand-dollar gown! Let go of my arms!
Officer Davis: Hands behind your back, ma'am. You have the right to remain silent.
Victoria: David, you weak, pathetic coward! I hope you rot in this empty house with your dead wife's ghost!
David looked down at her with calm, unshakable disdain, stepping aside to let the officers pass.
David: I am not alone, Victoria. I have my son, I have my family's honor, and I have the truth.