Chapter 11 - The Restraining Order and the Parking Garage Trap
Two days later, a judge granted a permanent restraining order against Derek and his mother Patricia, barring them from coming within one thousand feet of me, my family, or any Montgomery properties.
However, a cornered, narcissistic predator is at his most dangerous when he realizes he has lost everything.
On Wednesday evening, after finishing a strategy meeting with Harrison Vance at his Midtown office, I walked down to the private underground parking garage accompanied by Marcus. The garage was quiet, illuminated by buzzing fluorescent lights.
As Marcus unlocked the SUV, a dark figure suddenly stepped out from behind a concrete pillar.
It was Derek.
He was wearing an old baseball cap, his eyes bloodshot and sunken, looking like a man who hadn't slept in days. In his right hand, he was clutching a heavy iron tire iron.
“Claire!” he screamed, his voice echoing off the concrete walls. “You think you can just throw me away like trash? You ruined everything! If I’m going down, I’m taking you with me!”
He rushed toward me with the tire iron raised.
I didn't scream. I didn't panic.
Marcus moved with lightning speed. In one fluid, practiced motion, Marcus sidestepped Derek’s wild swing, trapped his wrist, and swept his legs out from under him. Derek hit the concrete floor with a sickening thud, dropping the tire iron.
Before Derek could recover, Marcus drove his knee into Derek’s back, twisting his arm up behind his shoulder blade and neutralizing him completely.
“Attempted aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, violation of a protective order, and stalking,” Marcus said calmly into his earpiece. “Building security, call 911 immediately.”
I walked over and stood above Derek, looking down at the man who had tried to intimidate and control me for eighteen months.
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“You always said I wouldn't walk away, Derek,” I said, my voice steady and devoid of emotion. “You were right. I didn't walk away. I stood my ground, and you destroyed yourself.”
Derek groaned in pain, tears of rage and humiliation streaming down his face as the sirens of approaching police cars echoed in the distance.
