Chapter 9 - The Arrest-9
"HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM! GET ON THE GROUND NOW!"
David immediately dropped to his knees, throwing his hands above his head, crying hysterical tears. "Don't shoot! Don't shoot! It was my mother! She planned everything! She told me Valerie was going crazy!"
"David, you cowardly idiot! Shut your mouth!" Theresa roared, struggling wildly as two officers slammed her against the hardwood floor, forcing her arms behind her back to snap steel handcuffs onto her wrists.
"David Vance, Theresa Vance," Detective Briggs announced, reading from a white paper document. "You are under arrest for attempted murder in the first degree, child endangerment, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, and federal wire fraud."
"Valerie! Please!" David sobbed from the floor as an officer yanked him up by his collar. "Tell them it's a mistake! I love you! I love Ethan! She forced me to do it!"
I walked over, standing right in front of my husband. I looked down at him with pure, unadulterated contempt.
"You sat in that armchair three days ago and told me I was delusional," I said quietly. "You took my money, you took my phone, and you kissed our dying son goodbye before flying off to drink cocktails. You are not a father, David. You are a parasite."
"Valerie, please!" he wept, urine staining the front of his designer trousers as the officers began dragging him toward the door. "Give me another chance!"
"The only place you're going, David, is a federal penitentiary," Detective Briggs said, shoving him out the front door into the flashing lights of three police cruisers parked outside.
Theresa was dragged out right behind him, spitting insults, cursing my name, and screaming at the news cameras that had already gathered at the end of Willow Creek Lane.
I stood on the front porch, watching the police cars pull away into the dark rain, their sirens echoing through the neighborhood.
I took a deep, clean breath. The pain in my C-section incision was still there, but for the first time in three days, the weight on my chest was completely gone.
My phone chimed. It was a text from Dr. Thorne at the hospital.
May you like
Ethan just woke up and finished a full bottle of normal milk. His oxygen saturation is 99%. He is waiting for his mother.
I smiled, grabbed my coat, and walked down the steps toward my SUV.
