Chapter 4 - The Ambush in the Dark
I pulled the sheer linen curtain back half an inch.
From the twenty-second floor, the black town car looked like an insect pinned against the curb of Riverside Drive. But the streetlights caught the silver roof rails, and the license plate was Pennsylvania.
They hadn't waited for December 21.
Judy knew that if she waited for the scheduled moving date, I would have legal barriers in place. She had driven Dad up three days early, hoping to slip into the building under cover of darkness, exploit the doorman's hesitation, and plant herself in my foyer before I could stop her.
I threw on a dark wool coat, slid my phone into my pocket, and took the private elevator down.
When the doors opened into the lobby, Kurt was already standing near the vestibule, flanked by the night doorman, a broad-shouldered man named Marcus.
Through the glass revolving doors, I saw them.
My mother was standing on the granite steps, wrapped in a puffy maroon winter coat, her silver hair styled into its rigid perm. Beside her stood my father, Robert, his shoulders stooped, clutching a scarred leather suitcase in one hand and a stack of manila folders in the other. He looked exhausted, his breath clouding in the freezing air, his eyes fixed on the pavement.
Judy jabbed her finger at the intercom panel beside the exterior brass doors.
Kurt looked at me. "Do you want me to call the 24th Precinct right now, Tasha?"
"Not yet," I said. "Keep the doors locked. Marcus, stay by the latch."
I walked forward until I was standing two feet from the glass.
Judy saw me. Her face instantly transformed from bitter annoyance to an exaggerated, theatrical beam of maternal affection. She tapped on the glass with her manicured fingernail, gesturing emphatically for me to unlock the doors.
"Tasha! Open up, sweetheart!" she shouted, her voice muffled through the double-pane tempered glass. "It's freezing out here! Your father's knees are acting up!"
I didn't reach for the latch. I stood perfectly still, looking at her through the glass.
"Mom," I said through the exterior speaker grate. "Step back from the doors."
"Don't be ridiculous, Tasha! Let us in!" Her smile began to fray around the edges, the sharp, brittle anger peeking through. "We drove three hours through sleet! Your father needs to sit down! We have our bags!"
"You were told not to come here," I said, my voice level and perfectly calm. "You forged my signature on building service documents. You attempted to access my home under false pretenses."
"Oh, stop making a mountain out of a molehill!" Judy barked, taking half a step toward the glass. "It was just paperwork to expedite the elevators! A mother shouldn't have to ask permission to visit her own daughter! We are family!"
"You sold your house to Brooks's LLC for three-quarters of its value," I said clearly.
My father’s head snapped up.
His rheumy, tired eyes widened in shock. He looked at Judy, then back at me.
"What did you say?" Dad rasped, his voice barely carrying through the grate.
Judy’s face went dead white. For a fraction of a second, the mask of confident entitlement slipped, revealing pure, cornered panic.
"Tasha doesn't know what she's talking about, Robert!" Judy snapped quickly, reaching out to yank Dad's sleeve. "She's just trying to stir up trouble like she always does! Open the door, Tasha! The children need to see their grandparents!"
"My children are asleep," I said. "And they will not be waking up to find their bedrooms stolen so Paige can renovate a house bought with your stolen equity."
"You selfish, ungrateful little monster!" Judy lunged at the glass, her hands smacking against the cold pane. The theatrical grandmother was gone; in her place was the woman who had dumped my childhood belongings into laundry baskets and locked me in the cellar. "We gave you life! You owe us! You have three bedrooms and millions of dollars, and you're letting your own parents freeze on the street! I am your mother!"
"And I am Iris and Rusty's mother," I replied. "Which means their protection comes before your comfort. It always will."
Behind them, the headlights of a black SUV swept across the curb.
May you like
A silver Audi with Pennsylvania plates pulled violently into the loading zone behind Dad's sedan. The driver's door flew open, and Brooks Montgomery stepped out into the biting wind, followed closely by Paige.
***
