Chapter 6 - The Town Turns Its Back
Sheriff Vance turned my father around, pulling his arms behind his back with practiced, professional efficiency.
The click of the second pair of handcuffs echoed like a gunshot down Oak Crest Lane.
Richard didn't argue; he hung his head in absolute, crushing defeat as the deputies led him toward the patrol cruiser.
Diane continued to thrash, screaming obscenities at the neighbors who had supported her through four years of phantom grief.
"Hypocrites! All of you!" she spat, her hair falling loose across her red, sweat-streaked face.
"You loved feeling sorry for us! You loved the drama just as much as we did!"
Mrs. Higgins stepped right up to the police cruiser window, her eyes flashing with righteous southern fury.
"We loved a little girl who used to mow our lawns and play with our grandchildren, Diane," Mrs. Higgins said fiercely.
"You turned your daughter into a monster so you could pretend you were saints."
The camera operator from Channel 4 News zoomed in tight on my mother’s face as she was shoved into the back seat.
Tomorrow morning, every household in eastern Tennessee would wake up to the image of Diane Parker in handcuffs.
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The story wouldn't be about an escaped convict daughter returning to terrorize a quiet suburban town.
It would be about two narcissistic parents who stole their active-duty daughter’s wages to fund a life of fraudulent prestige.
