Chapter 5 - The Ambush at the School
The next morning, Thursday, December 28th, I thought the court injunction would keep the peace. I was wrong.
I had dropped Caleb off at his winter soccer camp at the local community center around ten in the morning. Lily was at home with my sister, who had driven in from out of town to help watch the kids while I handled the legal filings.
At 11:30 AM, my phone rang. It was the director of the soccer camp.
"Mr. Vance? You need to come to the facility right away," the director said, her voice strained. "There's a woman here claiming to be Caleb's stepmother. She’s causing a scene in the lobby, demanding to take him out for lunch."
My blood boiled. "Is Caleb with her?"
"No, sir. We have him locked in the staff office with a coach. But she’s refusing to leave, and she’s shouting at our front desk staff."
I burned three red lights on the way to the community center.
When I burst through the double glass doors of the lobby, Sabrina was standing near the reception desk, wearing dark sunglasses, a furs-trimmed coat, and holding a designer handbag like a weapon. She was screaming at a terrified teenage receptionist.
"—I am his legal stepmother! I have every right to see my son!"
"He is NOT your son!" I yelled, my voice booming off the gymnasium walls.
Sabrina turned around sharply. The moment she saw me, her arrogant posture crumbled slightly, replaced by a desperate, frantic energy.
"Daniel!" she cried, rushing toward me. "Thank God you’re here! These people are treating me like a criminal!"
"You are a criminal, Sabrina," I said, stepping between her and the office hallway. "You forged my signature on a eighty-thousand-dollar loan guarantee."
Sabrina’s face went white beneath her foundation. She looked around quickly to see if anyone had heard, then grabbed my arm, trying to pull me toward the exit. "Daniel, shut up! Don't say that in public! Step outside with me!"
I yanked my arm out of her grip. "Do not touch me. The process server is looking for you right now with an injunction. If you come near my children again, I will have you arrested on the spot."
"Daniel, please!" Sabrina gasped, tears finally spilling over her mascara. "You don't understand! Trent didn't just borrow money from Vanguard! He borrowed money from... from private people, Daniel! Dangerous people! Vanguard was supposed to pay off those people! If Vanguard cancels the loan because of the fraud investigation, those men are going to hurt my brother!"
I looked at her, completely unfazed by her panic.
"Trent is a thirty-two-year-old man who laughed at a nine-year-old child on Christmas morning," I said. "He made his bed. Now he gets to sleep in it. And so do you."
Just then, two city police cruisers pulled up outside, their blue lights flashing through the front windows. Marcus Thorne had called the precinct ahead of time to report a potential violation of the pending protective order.
Sabrina looked out the window at the officers, then looked back at me with pure, unadulterated hatred.
"You ruined everything, Daniel," she hissed, her voice venomous. "You and your pathetic, needy kids."
May you like
"Get out, Sabrina," I said quietly. "Before they carry you out."
She turned on her heel and stormed out the doors, passing the entering police officers with her head held high, pretending she was merely taking a stroll.
