Chapter 7 - The Ultimatum at the Station
By midnight, the police precinct was a hive of activity. The regional FBI field office had joined the hunt, categorizing Lorraine Vance as an armed and dangerous fugitive wanted for federal kidnapping conspiracy, bank fraud, and child endangerment.
Jackson sat in an interrogation room across from Detective Grant. Through the two-way mirror, Cassandra and I watched.
“Mr. Vance,” Grant said, tossing a folder onto the metal table. “Your mother just attempted to use an ATM in a small town ninety miles south of here. We blocked the withdrawal, but the security camera caught her getting into a black SUV registered to an associate of hers. You have one chance to save yourself from being charged as an accessory before the fact.”
Jackson wiped his swollen eyes. “What do you want from me?”
“Your mother called your private cell phone twenty minutes ago,” Grant said, leaning forward. “We traced the ping to a motel near the interstate. She’s going to call you back. You are going to answer that phone, you are going to keep her on the line, and you are going to convince her to stay put until our tactical team arrives.”
Jackson hesitated. Even now, with his daughter in the hospital and his wife demanding a divorce, the invisible umbilical cord held him paralyzed. “If I do that... she’ll spend the rest of her life in prison.”
Grant slammed his hand on the table. “If you don't do that, you will spend the next fifteen years in federal prison for signing those fraudulent travel papers! Choose right now, Jackson: your mother, or your freedom.”
Cassandra leaned against the glass, whispering, “He’s still thinking about protecting her. Look at him.”
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I felt no pity. The romantic love I had once held for Jackson had evaporated into absolute nothingness. He wasn't a partner; he was an accomplice to my child’s torment.
Jackson finally nodded. “Give me the phone.”
