Chapter 2: The Ghost of Forensic Files
The chaos that followed was a blur of shouting and shattered decorum. While Marcus tried to maintain control, the sheer, undeniable sound of that second thump—louder, more frantic—had sent the mourners into a panic. A young, rugged detective named Elias Thorne, who had been standing in the back, pushed past the guards.
"Open it," Elias ordered.
"This is an outrage!" Marcus bellowed. "She’s a convicted criminal!"
"And you're obstructing a medical emergency," Elias countered, drawing his baton. "Open it now, or I’ll have the guards do it, and you’ll answer to the Commissioner."
The lid was forced open with a sickening crack.
Isabella Sterling lay inside, her skin pale, but her chest was rising. Maya leaned over, checking the girl’s pulse, then pulled a small, jagged piece of glass from her pocket and pressed it against Isabella’s carotid artery.
"She’s been given a concentrated dose of TTX—a pufferfish neurotoxin," Maya announced, her voice filled with professional authority that transcended her prison garb. "It mimics death perfectly, dropping the heart rate to near zero. Someone wanted her buried, but they didn't account for the dose being too low."
Isabella gasped—a jagged, painful intake of air—and her eyes flew open. She looked at Marcus, and for a split second, the mask of the loving husband shattered into a look of sheer, predatory malice before he forced it back into shock.
"Isabella?" Marcus cried, rushing forward. "Oh, thank God!"
Maya stepped back, her shackles clanking. She looked at Elias. "Don't let him near her. He’s the one who gave it to her. I tracked the chemical signature. I knew he was planning this for months."
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Elias looked at Maya, then at the terror-filled eyes of the woman in the coffin, and then at Marcus. "Guards! Secure the room. No one leaves."
Maya didn't run. She stood tall, the orange jumpsuit suddenly looking like armor. She had been framed for the murder of her own research partner—a crime orchestrated by the very same network Marcus belonged to. She had escaped the transport van not to save herself, but to save Isabella, the only witness to the truth of what happened in that lab three years ago.
