Chapter 9 - The Police Knock
At 4:45 PM, fifteen minutes before the evening news broadcasts, Detective Ramirez called Sarah’s direct line.
Sarah put the call on speaker.
"Vance, Mrs. Hayes," Ramirez’s voice crackled through the speaker, accompanied by the distant wail of sirens. "We just executed the arrest warrant at the Hayes estate on Elm Street."
My heart leaped into my throat. "Did you find her?"
"We found her," Ramirez said, a grim satisfaction in her tone. "She tried to barricade herself in the master bedroom while her son screamed at my officers that we were trespassing. When we breached the door, she attempted to slap a female deputy."
I gasped. "Did she hurt anyone?"
"She caught an additional charge for assaulting a peace officer," Ramirez replied flatly. "We led Evelyn Hayes out in handcuffs in front of three neighborhood news vans that happened to be parked across the street."
Sarah smirked across the table at me. "Fancy that. News vans."
"What about Marcus?" I asked.
"He’s currently at the precinct attempting to post her bail, but the magistrate set an initial hold until the formal arraignment tomorrow morning. Felony child abuse with aggravating circumstances means no immediate release. Furthermore, Child Protective Services has issued an emergency order granting you sole temporary custody of Lily. Marcus is barred from coming within five hundred feet of you or your daughter."
Tears sprang to my eyes—not of sadness, but of pure, unadulterated relief. For the first time in twenty-four hours, the suffocating weight on my chest lifted.
"Thank you, Detective," I managed to say. "Thank you for believing me."
"Don't thank me, Mrs. Hayes. Thank the video. Without that footage, this would have been your word against a powerful family. Keep your doors locked tonight. People like Evelyn Hayes don't surrender; they just look for bigger weapons."
The call ended.
I looked at Sarah and Julianne. For a moment, the room was silent.
"Step one is complete," Sarah said, closing her leather folio. "Evelyn is behind bars for the night. But Marcus is still loose, and he’s cornered. Cornered animals do stupid, dangerous things."
"I know Marcus," Julianne chimed in, her expression dark. "He has an emergency key to the safety deposit box at the downtown branch of Chase Bank. If he realizes the commercial empire is lost, he’s going to take whatever bearer bonds and offshore access codes are in that box and run."
"Let him run," I said. "As long as he’s away from Lily, I don't care where he goes."
"You should care, Maya," Julianne warned, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Because inside that safety deposit box isn't just money. It’s Lily’s original birth certificate, her passport, and Arthur Hayes’s original handwritten trust documents. If Marcus gets his hands on those, he can board a private charter out of the country before the grand jury convenes."
My blood ran cold.
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"We need to get to that bank," I said.
***
