Chapter 4 - The Sheriff at the Carousel
The front door opened again, but this time, it was not family. Sheriff Robert Higgins, an old friend of Harold’s who had served the township for twenty-five years, walked through the door. Behind him stood two uniformed deputies, their utility belts creaking in the tense quiet.
“Vera,” Sheriff Higgins said, taking off his hat out of respect. “Margaret called me down. We have the emergency arrest warrants signed by Judge Miller.”
Dominic scrambled to his feet, holding his hands up defensively. “Uncle Bob! Please! It’s me, Dominic! You used to fish with my dad at the lake! This is a private family matter! We’re settling it right now out of court!”
Sheriff Higgins’ expression remained stone-faced. “I knew Harold Vance for thirty years, Dominic. Harold was a man of honor who would have taken a bullet before stealing a crust of bread from anyone, let alone his own widow. Calling this a private family matter when you forged a legal deed and abandoned your mother in a third-tier rest home is an insult to your father’s memory.”
The deputies stepped forward, their metal handcuffs jingling with a sound like ice cubes clinking in a glass.
“Dominic Vance, Amber Vance, you are both being placed under arrest for first-degree grand larceny, criminal possession of a forged instrument, and felony elder financial exploitation,” Higgins recited calmly. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”
Amber began to shriek, thrashing wildly as the female deputy pulled her arms behind her back. “Get your hands off me! I’m an influencer! I have brand deals! You’re ruining my life! Dominic, tell them! Tell them it was all your idea!”
Dominic didn't fight. His shoulders slumped as the cold steel clamped tightly around his wrists. He looked toward Vera one last time, his voice barely a squeak. “Mom… please don’t let them take me in. If I go to the county lockup, it’s over. Everything I built is gone. Please drop the charges. I’ll sign whatever you want. I’ll work three jobs to pay back the cash.”
Vera stood up from Harold’s chair. She walked over to him, standing so close he could smell the lavender soap she had used since he was a boy.
“When you put me in that taxi three months ago, Dominic, you didn't look back once,” she said softly. “I watched your reflection in the side mirror as the car pulled away. You were laughing with Amber. You were already calculating how to spend the money before my bags even cleared the driveway. You told me I could stay at the nursing home because Amber deserved the world.”
Dominic flinched as if struck.
“You forgot one thing,” Vera continued, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “A mother gives her children the world when they are young. But when a child tries to steal the roof from above her head, she is no longer dealing with her son. She is dealing with a predator. And a mother must protect her home.”
“Mom—” Dominic sobbed.
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“Take them away, Robert,” Vera said quietly, turning her back to him.
The deputies guided the weeping couple out the front door. Through the bay window, Vera watched as neighbors stepped out onto their porches, watching in stunned silence as the golden boy of the neighborhood was pushed into the back of a black-and-white cruiser. The red SOLD sign on the lawn had already been pulled up by Sarah’s husband and lay snapped in half beside the curb.
