Chapter 13 - Handcuffs in the Foyer
"What?" Margaret gasped, her voice shrill with disbelief. "Are you insane? You are arresting *me*?"
"You just struck a sworn peace officer, ma'am," Deputy Miller said coldly, spinning Margaret around and pressing her against the wall beside the coat rack. "You are under arrest for assault on an officer, and we are detaining you pending formal charges for theft of identification, domestic endangerment, and illegal distribution of a controlled substance."
*Click. Click.*
The sharp, metallic sound of handcuffs locking around Margaret’s wrists echoed through the entire foyer.
"Nathaniel! Stop them!" Margaret shrieked, struggling against the cuffs. "Tell them to let me go! I am your mother! You cannot let them do this to me!"
I stood beside Hannah, holding her hand tightly. Emily was hiding behind Hannah's legs, peeking out, watching her grandmother get led toward the door.
"You stopped being my mother the moment you poisoned my wife and terrorized my daughter," I said, my voice steady and cold. "You brought this on yourself."
"I curse the day you were born!" Margaret screamed, her face contorting with pure hatred as the two deputies escorted her down the front porch steps. "You will rot in hell for this, Nathaniel! Both of you! You have nothing! You hear me? Nothing!"
Her screaming faded into muffled sobs as the deputies placed her into the back of the cruiser and slammed the door shut.
Marcus let out a long breath, adjusting his suit jacket. "Well. That certainly escalated quickly."
"Marcus," I said, turning to him with an exhausted expression. "What happens next?"
"She’s going to jail tonight," Marcus said bluntly. "No bail until morning because of the assault on the deputy. Tomorrow, I will personally file an emergency restraining order barring her from coming within one thousand yards of Hannah, Emily, your house, and Emily’s school. I will also contact the state medical board regarding the psychologist who signed that fraudulent affidavit. If Sterling helped fabricate that document knowing it was false, he might lose his law license."
Hannah let out a long, ragged sob, covering her face with her hands.
"It's over, Hannah," Marcus said gently, offering her a sympathetic smile. "She can't touch you anymore. The law has you covered."
"Thank you, Marcus," Hannah whispered through her tears. "Thank you for saving us."
"Nathan saved you," Marcus replied, looking at me. "He saw the truth and didn't look away. That’s what matters."
After the deputies drove away with Margaret, Marcus promised to handle all the initial paperwork at the station and left us in peace.
I locked the front door, turned the deadbolt, and slid the security chain into place.
May you like
For the first time in six months, our home was truly safe.
***
