Chapter 8 - Blue and Red Lights
As if on cue, the wail of approaching sirens sliced through the quiet suburban neighborhood.
Eleanor gasped, rushing to the bay windows. Outside, three black-and-white police cruisers pulled up along the curb, their red and blue strobes painting the manicured lawn in ominous colors.
"Sarah, no!" Eleanor wailed, falling to her knees by my chair. "Cancel them! Call them off! Richard, do something! Our reputation—the country club, the firm, David's family—this will ruin us!"
"Your reputation died the moment you chose your baseboards over your granddaughter's flesh and blood," I said, stepping back so she couldn't touch me.
The heavy front door shook under a thunderous knock.
"Oakridge Police Department! Open the door!"
Richard, looking twenty years older, shuffled like a ghost to the foyer and unlocked the latch. Four uniformed officers and two detectives stepped inside, their presence immediately commanding the room.
The lead detective, a stern-faced woman named Detective Vance, held up a folder. "We are here regarding an active investigation into felony child abuse and domestic battery involving a minor."
Lauren immediately pointed a trembling finger at me. "She's lying! She set me up! Officer, my fiancé is David Sterling of Sterling & Croft, he can explain—"
"Actually, Detective," David interrupted, his voice chillingly cold, "I am an officer of the court, and I will be providing a full witness statement regarding the admissions of guilt made by Miss Lauren Vance in this room moments ago."
Lauren looked at David as if he had shot her. "David... no..."
David reached into his pocket, pulled off his engagement ring, and dropped it onto the dining table. It rolled across the polished mahogany, coming to a rest against the stack of medical records. "We're done, Lauren. Don't ever contact me, my family, or my firm again."
Detective Vance nodded to her partner. "Lauren, turn around and place your hands behind your back."
"Get off me! Mom, tell them! Dad!" Lauren shrieked as cold steel handcuffs snapped around her wrists.
May you like
Eleanor collapsed onto the sofa in hysterics, while Richard could only stare blankly at the floor. They weren't being arrested tonight, but Detective Vance made sure they understood their fate: "Mr. and Mrs. Vance, you are named as accessories and mandatory-reporting violators. Do not leave the county. You will be hearing from the District Attorney's office."
As Lauren was dragged out the front door, screaming curses into the quiet suburban night, neighbors gathered on their porches, phones out, recording every second of the fall of the Vance family.
