Chapter 19 - Sirens in the NightThe backyard was flooded with flashing red and blue lights within minutes.
Backup units swarmed the property, scaling the perimeter fence and bursting through the front and back doors. Two officers rushed up the fire escape, pulling Marcus off Elena and slapping heavy steel cuffs onto his wrists while paramedics rushed in behind them to secure the scene.
I sat on the bumper of an ambulance outside, holding Maisie tightly in a thermal blanket.
Elena walked out of the house a few minutes later, escorted by two police officers. Her trench coat was torn, her hands scraped and bleeding, but her head was held high. She stopped a few feet away from me, looking down at our daughter with a heart-wrenching expression of longing and guilt.
"Will she go to prison?" Maisie whispered softly into my shoulder, her voice small.
"She has to answer for what she did, bug," I replied softly, my own voice thick with emotion. "Just like Sloane. Just like Marcus."
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Elena knelt down slowly, keeping a respectful distance. She didn't try to touch Maisie. She just looked at her with tears spilling over her lashes. "I'm sorry, my sweet girl. I made terrible choices, and I don't expect you to ever forgive me. But I saved you from Sloane. And I'm ready to pay for everything else."
The officers gently touched her elbow, guiding her toward the back of the second police cruiser. She didn't resist. She climbed inside, the heavy door closing with a dull, final thud.
