Chapter 6 - The Noose Tightens
By 7:00 AM, the blizzard had broken into a pale, crystalline morning. My Land Rover roared back into Chicago under a police escort arranged by Marcus Vance.
Elena sat in the passenger seat, gripping the letters tightly in her lap. Her knuckles were white, her eyes fixed on the horizon. We hadn't spoken for two hours; the gravity of the impending reunion filled the car with a sacred, terrifying tension.
My phone rang through the dashboard console. It was Marcus.
"Richard, where are you?"
"Crossing into Lincoln Park on Lake Shore Drive. We’re five minutes from Lurie."
"Good. Because the hammer just dropped at O'Hare," Marcus said, his voice crackling with grim satisfaction. "Homeland Security and Cook County tactical teams boarded Julian’s private charter on the tarmac fifteen minutes before takeoff."
"Did they get them?"
"Julian tried to run through the maintenance tunnel with two duffel bags containing four hundred thousand dollars in bearer bonds and fifty thousand in cash. They tackled him near Gate C12. He’s in custody at the Cook County central lockup right now."
"And Beatrice?"
"She refused to leave the aircraft cabin," Marcus said. "She told the arresting officers that her family practically owned the city of Chicago and that she would have them all reassigned to traffic duty in Gary, Indiana. Detective Miller personally put the steel cuffs on her wrists. The press caught the entire thing on camera. It’s leading every morning news broadcast in the country."
"What are the charges, Marcus?"
"Aggravated child abuse, unlawful restraint, felony embezzlement, identity theft, grand larceny, and conspiracy to commit fraud," Marcus rattled off without hesitation. "Julian cracked the moment they put him in the interrogation room. He sang like a canary. He signed a full confession admitting that Beatrice framed Elena with the brooch, forged the child custody transfer agreements, and used your monthly ten thousand dollar transfers to service his gambling debts."
"Make sure Judge Holbrook goes down with them," I said, remembering the corrupt judge who signed the original eviction and warrant against Elena.
"Holbrook resigned forty minutes ago," Marcus replied coldly. "The Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board is convening an emergency panel at noon. The FBI’s public corruption squad is seizing his office files as we speak. Elena’s record has already been expunged by an emergency order signed by the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court. She is a completely free woman."
I glanced at Elena. A single tear rolled down her cheek, but her jaw remained firm. Freedom meant nothing to her right now. Only one thing mattered.
"We’re pulling up to the hospital now, Marcus," I said. "Keep Beatrice in a cell. Do not let her post bail."
"She’s not getting bail," Marcus promised. "The prosecutor is asking for remand without bond based on flight risk and the severity of the child battery charges. She’s going to rot in Cook County Jail until trial."
I parked in the emergency ambulance bay, killed the engine, and turned to Elena.
"Are you ready?" I asked gently.
May you like
Elena looked down at her hands, then took a deep, shuddering breath. "I have waited one thousand and ninety-five days for this, Richard. I was born ready."
***
