Chapter 9 - Turning the Screws
By the time we pulled into the circular drive of Oakridge Elementary, two county sheriff cruisers were already parked out front, their blue lights pulsing rhythmically against the brick walls.
Deputy Miller, a young man Walter had helped put through the police academy a decade ago, tipped his hat as I stepped out of the vehicle. "Evening, Mrs. Vance. Arthur Campbell called the department fifteen minutes ago. He forwarded an emergency order for temporary protective custody filed through Judge Harmon's office."
"Arthur works fast," I muttered, my jaw set.
"When Arthur Campbell calls Judge Harmon at home, mountains move," Deputy Miller said. "The judge signed an interim ex-parte protective order placing Jake and Lily Vance in your custody pending a formal welfare hearing on Monday. We have a car dispatched to the pre-K right now to retrieve Lily."
Inside the administrative office, Jake was sitting on a vinyl sofa, his small knees pulled up to his chest, clutching a tattered stuffed dinosaur Walter had given him for his fifth birthday. When the door opened and he saw my face, his lip quivered, and he launched himself across the room.
"Grandma!" he sobbed, burying his wet face into my coat. "Grandma, you came! You said you’d see me soon!"
"I told you I wouldn't leave you, darling," I whispered, dropping to my knees on the linoleum floor, holding him so tight I could feel his frantic little heartbeat against my ribs. "Grandma’s got you. You're safe now. Nobody is going to yell. Nobody is going to break anything."
Just then, the front doors of the school burst open.
"Where is my son?!" Derek’s voice bellowed down the hallway.
He charged into the lobby, his eyes wild, his tie undone, looking like a man completely unhinged. Two deputies immediately stepped into his path, their hands resting firmly on their duty belts.
"Mr. Vance, step back," Deputy Miller ordered sternly.
"Get your hands off me!" Derek screamed, spittle flying from his lips as he pointed at me holding Jake. "She stole my money! She stole my house! And now she’s stealing my kid! Mom, give him to me! Jake, get over here right now!"
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Jake shrank behind me, trembling violently. I stood up slowly, putting myself directly between my grown son and his terrified child.
"Look at him, Derek," I said, my voice cutting through the lobby like a scalpel. "Look at your son. He isn't running to you. He is hiding from you. Look at what you've become."
