Chapter 7 - The Arrest on New Year's Day
New Year’s Day arrived with a bitter, howling blizzard, mirroring the storm that was about to crash down on my son's house.
Detective Vance, backed by a dozens of state troopers and federal agents, surrounded the property just as the moving truck pulled into the driveway. Mark and Claudia were frantic, throwing expensive designer clothes and stolen family heirlooms into suitcases.
I sat in the passenger seat of Detective Vance’s unmarked police cruiser, watching from a distance. Ethan insisted on being there. He needed to see the end of his nightmare.
"Are you ready, Ethan?" I asked gently.
He nodded, his face illuminated by the flashing red and blue lights of the police cruisers suddenly converging on the mansion. "I'm ready, Grandpa."
The police breached the front door with a thunderous crash. “State Police! Don't move!” echoed through the quiet suburban neighborhood.
Claudia screamed as she was tackled to the ground in the foyer, her expensive mink coat staining with dirt as she was pinned down. Mark immediately fell to his knees, sobbing hysterically, begging for mercy, throwing his hands in the air.
"It was her! It was all her!" Mark wailed, his voice carrying across the snowy lawn. "She made me do it! She poisoned him! I just wanted to keep her happy!"
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"Shut up, you pathetic coward!" Claudia shrieked, spitting at him as the handcuffs clicked around her wrists.
From the car, Ethan watched them being dragged out into the snow—the very same snow they had forced him to stand in barefoot just a week prior. They were thrown into the back of separate police transports, their faces pale with the sudden, absolute realization that their lives were completely over.
