Chapter 3 - The Counterstrike
We arrived at the house at 0900 hours.
This time,
I wasn't alone.
I was accompanied by Major Jenkins,
two local police officers,
and a representative from the military police.
Arthur was on the porch,
drinking coffee,
looking as though he hadn't a care in the world.
When he saw the motorcade pull up,
the cup slipped from his hand,
shattering on the wooden planks.
"Elena?"
"What is this?"
"This is the end of the game,
Arthur,"
I said,
stepping out of the car.
Victoria came running to the door,
her face flushed with indignant rage.
"I told you to stay away!"
"You have no right to be here!"
"Actually,"
the police officer intervened,
"we have a warrant for a search of the premises."
"And a warrant for your arrest,
Mrs. Sterling,"
"on charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and tampering with legal documents."
The color drained from Victoria’s face so fast I thought she might faint.
"You can't do this!"
"I have friends in the city council!"
"Your friends can't help you with a federal investigation,"
Sarah Jenkins said,
holding up her badge.
"We’ve already secured a confession from Mr. Miller at the clinic."
"He was quite talkative once he realized he was facing ten years for fraud."
Arthur looked at his mother,
his eyes wide with betrayal.
"Mother?"
"You said it was handled!"
"You said she would just leave!"
"Quiet,
you fool!"
Victoria hissed,
but it was too late.
The officers moved forward,
placing her in handcuffs while she screamed about her dignity.
Arthur sat on the steps,
his head in his hands,
looking small and pathetic.
I walked up to him,
stopping just a few feet away.
"I loved you,"
"I gave you my heart,"
"and you tried to steal my daughter's future."
"I… I didn't know about the money at first,"
he stammered,
"I just wanted to make her happy."
"She was always so hard on me,"
"and she said you were too strong,"
"that I would always be in your shadow."
"You were never in my shadow,
Arthur,"
I said,
my heart feeling like a cold stone.
"You were just too small to stand in the light."
As they led Victoria away to the squad car,
she turned and looked at me one last time.
"You'll never be one of us!"
"You're just a girl in a costume!"
"This uniform isn't a costume,"
I replied,
my voice steady.
"It’s earned."
"Something you would never understand."
We spent the next four hours searching the house.
In Victoria’s safe,
we found more than just the fake DNA test.
We found letters addressed to Arthur’s mistresses,
funded by his mother to ensure he wouldn't stay faithful to me.
We found documents showing they had been trying to find a way to declare me mentally unfit while I was deployed.
The depth of their betrayal was a bottomless pit.
But as I walked out of that house for the final time,
I felt a weight lift from my shoulders.
May you like
The house was no longer mine,
but the truth was.
