Chapter 5 - The Claws of the Law
At 10:15 PM, heavy footsteps echoed down the apartment hallway. Through the peephole, Harper saw Richard standing in the corridor. He looked disheveled, his eyes darting nervously up and down the hallway. He wasn't carrying a stuffed animal; his hands were empty.
He knocked sharply. "Harper! Open up. I need to talk to Lila for a second."
Harper stood behind the reinforced door, with Detective Vance standing silently right beside her, his gun unholstered at his side, aimed low.
"She’s asleep, Richard," Harper said, keeping her tone completely flat and even. "Leave."
"Don't play games with me, Harper!" Richard raised his voice, pounding on the wood. "Did she tell you anything? What did she say?!"
That was all the evidence of intimidation Marcus needed. He nodded to the officers stationed inside the stairwell.
"Police! On the ground now!"
The stairwell doors burst open. Armed officers poured into the hallway. Richard spun around in panic, reaching toward his waistband, but he was tackled to the floor before he could react. Handcuffs clicked sharply into place.
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"Richard Mercer," Vance's voice boomed as he stepped out into the hallway. "You are under arrest for child endangerment, criminal coercion, witness intimidation, and felony conspiracy."
As Richard was dragged away, cursing and shouting excuses, Harper stood in the doorway, watching the man who had terrorized her daughter finally stripped of all his power.
