Chapter 3 - THE ARREST ON THE LAWNThe sound of police cruisers pulling up the long, tree-lined driveway broke the morning air. Red and blue lights flashed through the tall windows, casting jagged streaks of color across the white walls of the foyer.
Outside, Lorraine began screaming hysterically as officers stepped out of their vehicles.
“Get your hands off me!” her voice echoed through the intercom. “Do you know who I am?! My son owns this entire estate! Release me this instant!”
I used my phone app to unlock the heavy front doors.
The double doors swung inward automatically. Standing on the porch were four uniform officers, alongside two plainclothes federal agents wearing brass badges on their belts. Behind them, Lorraine was being handcuffed by a deputy, her expensive coat crumpled, her designer handbag lying turned over in the gravel.
“Audrey Montgomery?” the lead federal agent asked, stepping across the threshold.
“Yes, Agent Miller,” I said, stepping forward. “I am Audrey Montgomery. This is Ryan Sterling.”
Ryan didn’t move. He stood on the bottom step of the grand staircase, frozen like a statue as the agents walked past me and approached him.
“Ryan Sterling, you are under arrest for federal bank fraud, wire fraud, identity theft, and grand larceny,” Agent Miller announced cleanly, producing a pair of steel cuffs. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”
“Wait!” Ryan yelled, snapping out of his trance as an officer grabbed his arm and turned him around. “This is a domestic misunderstanding! My wife and I are having a marital dispute! Audrey, tell them! Tell them it’s a mistake!”
He looked at me, eyes wild with panic, searching my face for the submissive, quiet woman he had spent three years manipulating.
I looked back at him, my expression unreadable. I reached up, pulled my wedding ring off my finger, and let it drop onto the marble floor. It bounced twice before rolling to a stop against his shoe.
“I’m taking my house back, Ryan,” I said softly.
“You bitch!” Lorraine screamed from the driveway as officers led her toward a squad car. “You ungrateful, deceitful little snake! We made you! Ryan made you! You’re nothing without us!”
“Take them away,” Agent Miller ordered.
As the officers marched Ryan down the front steps in handcuffs, he kept looking back over his shoulder, pleading, shouting my name until the door of the police cruiser slammed shut, cutting off his voice entirely.
I stood alone in the grand, quiet foyer. The quiet that had filled my life for three years was gone, replaced by the heavy weight of what was about to come. Because as the police cars drove away, my attorney, Arthur Pendelton, pulled into the driveway.
He stepped out of his car carrying a thick black leather briefcase. He walked up the steps, looked at the torn fabric of my dress, and then looked into my eyes.
“It’s over, Audrey,” Arthur said softly.
“No, Arthur,” I replied, turning back into the house. “It’s just beginning. Where is Helen Sterling?”
Arthur walked into the living room, opened his briefcase on the glass coffee table, and pulled out a single document marked CONFIDENTIAL - INTERPOL ATTACHMENT.
“Helen Sterling isn’t in the country,” Arthur said gravely. “And Audrey... there’s something else you need to know about your grandfather’s trust. Something Ryan didn’t find out until last week.”
May you like
I frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“The money Ryan stole wasn’t just your inheritance,” Arthur said, sliding a photograph across the table. “Your grandfather didn’t build his fortune through legitimate commercial real estate, Audrey. The trust fund you’ve been living off of... it was established to launder money for a syndicate in Eastern Europe. And now that Ryan has moved that money through federal bank channels, those people know where you live.”
