Chapter 7 - The Arrest at the Extended-Stay
The sun had barely begun to tint the Texas sky with bruised shades of purple and orange when two marked patrol cruisers pulled into the parking lot of the Extended Stay America off the Dallas North Tollway.
Dad and Uncle Robert sat in the front seat of Uncle Robert's truck across the street, watching through the windshield. I sat in the back with Paige, who had spent the entire night curled in an armchair in Grandma Helen's living room, giving formal statements to Dad’s divorce attorney over the phone.
The officers didn't take long. Thanks to Paige's audio recording, Grandma’s canceled check, and the clear evidence of identity theft and loan fraud, the magistrate had issued an emergency arrest warrant within hours.
Through the tinted glass of the hotel lobby doors, we watched the scene unfold.
Monica emerged between two uniformed officers. She was handcuffed behind her back, wearing an oversized gray tracksuit and no makeup. Her hair was tangled, and her face was twisted into a mask of pure, unbridled fury as she fought against the officers' grip, screaming obscenities that we could faintly hear even through our closed truck windows.
When she was escorted toward the back of the lead cruiser, her eyes scanned the parking lot and locked onto Uncle Robert's truck.
She saw Thomas sitting in the driver’s seat. She saw me sitting beside the window. And then, she saw Paige.
The realization that her own daughter had delivered the kill shot hit Monica with visible force. Her knees buckled for a split second before the officers caught her and shoved her firmly into the back of the squad car. The heavy metal door slammed shut, cutting off her screams, and the cruiser pulled out onto the highway, its red and blue lights flashing against the dawn.
""That's over,"" Uncle Robert breathed, letting out a long exhale. ""Now comes the hard part.""
""No,"" Dad said, turning around in his seat to look at me. The exhausted, defeated man from yesterday was gone. In his place was a father who had finally woken up. ""The hard part was letting her poison our lives for six years. The rest of this is just fixing what’s broken.""
He pulled out his phone and dialed the police impound lot where the white Honda Civic had been towed after Paige voluntarily surrendered the keys. ""We sell the Civic back to the dealership today. Paige agrees, and the paperwork will clear the remaining lien. Whatever cash equity comes back goes straight into an escrow account for Eliza.""
""What about you, Paige?"" I asked quietly, looking at my stepsister. ""Where are you going to go?""
Paige looked down at her hands, where the diamond stud earrings her mother had given her were already gone, tucked safely into an envelope to be pawned for legal restitution. ""Grandma Helen said I could stay in her guest bedroom for the summer if I got a job and paid rent. She told me she was going to teach me how to bake, how to budget, and how to apologize like a human being.""
A faint, surprised smile touched the corner of my mouth. ""Grandma doesn't mess around.""
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""I know,"" Paige whispered, giving a small, weary laugh. ""She already told me my first chore today is scrubbing the floorboards where the blue frosting stained the baseboard.""
""Come on,"" Dad said, shifting the truck into drive. ""We have a three-hour drive to Austin, and we need to be standing outside the admissions building before the doors open at eight.""
